In addition to Joel (Paul Rudd) mentioning that New York City is like another character in the story, in the first scene of the movie, this idea is mentioned on every poster and advertisement, on the movie's website, and in the credits.
This movie has much of the cast from Wet Hot American Summer (2001), including, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Ken Marino, Christopher Meloni, Michael Ian Black, writer Michael Showalter, and writer David Wain.
Melanie Lynskey initially performed the part of Brenda using her own New Zealand accent - however, David Wain decided during post-production that it wasn't suitable in the context of the narrative, so asked that Lynskey re-record all of her dialogue in a standard American dialect.
Paul Rudd guest-starred on Amy Poehler's show, Parks and Recreation (2009) as her rival candidate, Bobby Newport.