I grew up in Carteret. I left 35 years ago. I have lived in the south or overseas for 22 years. When I hear myself speak, I have a weird accent. Otherwise, when I was a kid, I could pick out a New Yorker in a heartbeat.
A New Yorker from where...Manhattan's UES, UWS, the West Village, Yorkville, the 4 blocks of Gramercy Park, Little Italy,the different sections of Brooklyn , Staten Island, SoHo, Whitestone, Flushing, Upper Brookville, Manhasset, Glen Cove, Schenectady,Buffalo, Rome, Albany, Binghampton, Erie, Elmira, Lock Port, and/or all of the other cities and towns, and villages of the state?
Lots of people now have a "weird", or conglomerate accent, because we, as a people, move around a lot, today.
Accents are a fascinating study.