Scapegoat

"Because New York can seem to be such a draining, bullying, overwhelming place, people tend to blame the city itself, rather than themselves, for their problems, blame the city for their loneliness, for their exhaustion, for their frustration, for the violence done to their own nerves, for their own darkness, for their addiction, for whatever ails them, and at times like that, they often dream of escaping to someplace far away."
Francisco Goldman, The Beacon Best of 2001

Gigantic Intellects and Egos

Cornell Tech

"The thing about New York is that it's a repository of brilliance. It's the city itself that deserves credit for attracting these people. The city combines the most gigantic intellects and egos."
Felix Rohatyn, New York Magazine

Intensity

"If I live in New York, it is because I choose to live here. It is the city of total intensity, the city of the moment."
Diana Vreeland, quoted in Access New York City

Not for Happiness

"New York is not the place to live in happiness. I have lived there, and know all about it."
Thomas Holley Chivers, The Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe

Model

"New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city."
Lewis Mumford, quoted in Frommer's New York City 2006

Yourself

5 Pointz

"New York lets you be yourself, and that is why I stayed."
Gavin Schmidt, 1001 Greatest Things Ever Said About New York

The Obligation to Love New York

Souvenirs store on Broadway

"Buck loved New York  — out of obligation, because everybody said it was the greatest city in the world, and, geez, what am I gonna be, an asshole and not love a thing like that?"
Bill Maher, True Story

Everything and Nothing

"This is New York. There is nothing American about it; there is nothing English, French, German, Latin or Oriental about it. It is cosmopolitan; that is to say, it represents everything and nothing."
Harold MacGrath, Half a Rogue

Great Outdoors

Bloomberg L.P. headquarters

"In New York City, a lot of people think 'the great outdoors' is the area between your front door and a taxi cab."
Michael Bloomberg, NYC.gov

All the Luck

A fortune teller in Union Square

"In New York you've got to have all the luck."
Charles Bukowski, quoted in Charles Bukowski

Single Women

Morningside Drive

"It would be practically impossible to write an accurate novel about the quality of life for single women in New York without writing a B novel, for the simple reason that life for single women in New York is a B novel."
Nora Ephron, Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble

Anything, Anyone

Central Park West

"New York was that kind of place: it made you feel like you could do anything or be anyone."
Tess Daly, It's Up to You, New York

Exile

Financial District

"I loved New York, with that powerful love that sometimes leaves you full of uncertainties and hatred:  sometime one needs exile."
Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical Essays

Fortress

Belvedere Castle

"New York is like a fortress and your catapult might seem small."
Donald Maass, quoted by Denise Jaden

Culture of Etiquette

Canal St.

"There are fundamental reasons why a culture of etiquette will never grow in Gotham. First, manners require social interaction while New Yorkers are bred for anonymity; naturally selected to blend in and go unnoticed. Those who accidentally stand out get mugged. Or, worse, end up on reality-TV prank shows."
Jane Borden, I Totally Meant to Do That

Become a New Yorker

23rd Street in Queens

"If you spend enough time in New York, you will become a New Yorker. Only the weak leave before the change occurs."
Justin Townes, quoted in New York Magazine

Impatience

Bowling Green

"I love the impatience of New York. You ever had somebody not ask you for directions, but demand them?"
Jim Gaffigan, Jim Gaffigan Comedy

American Climax

Empire State Building

"America is the extraverted land. New York, its climax."
Waldo Frank, Our America

Social Life

Washington Square Park

"New York is a city for ambition. In Paris people cultivate social life as an art form; in New York people cultivate it as a form of self-advancement."
Edmund White, The Burning Library: Essays

The Stubborn Fact of Annihilation

Hazmat truck on Central Park South

"All dwellers in cities must dwell with the stubborn fact of annihilation; in New York the fact is somewhat more concentrated because of the concentration of the city itself and because, of all targets, New York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer who might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm."
E.B. White, Here is New York

Fallen in Love

I Love NY

"I've fallen in love with many cities, but only an orgasm lasting an hour could surpass the bliss of my first year in New York."
Truman Capote, Answered Prayers

Summer Vacation

East 9th

"New York is very rough. They write themes on: 'What I stole over my summer vacation.'"
Joan Rivers, quoted in The City

Reality Check

Prada store on Fifth Avenue

"One's life and passion may be elsewhere, but New York is where you prove if what you think in theory makes sense in life."
Miuccia Prada, Vanity Fair

Arithmetic

9 West 57th St.

"The city of New York is like a tall sum in addition, and the streets are like columns of figures. What a place for me to live, who hate arithmetic!"
Henry James, The Impressions of a Cousin

Everyday Impact

Thompson Street

"I've lived in a number of capitals around the world, London and Paris, and in a number of culturally exotic cities, such as Venice and Bangkok, but I've always become just a little tired of them after a while. They become mere backgrounds and lose their presence and their force. But not New York. You can't live in this city without feeling its impact day after day."
George Plimpton, The City

Better Late...

Cooper Union

"I came to New York late; I was already past 30."
Jeffrey Tambor, Playbill

The Top

Flatiron Building

"New York can be an intimidating city. It is full of the best and the brightest, the largest and the top. But it is also full of the smallest and the simplest, the clearest and the purest."
Julia Cameron, The Sound of Paper

The Only Place to Live

Manhattan Bridge and skyline

"New York, he asserted, was the most magnificent city on earth, the only place he cared to live, the place he never wished to leave again, the place to which he was aching to return."
Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

Seize the Day

Police Building

"New York is where you go to seize the day, to leave your mark, to live within the nerve of your generation."
Cynthia Ozick, The Best American Essays 2000

Small Part of Something Big

Little Red Lighthouse

"The first time I landed in New York and got a cab to my hotel, I was completely struck by it: a feeling of life and chaos, 24 hours around the clock, just like in London. And whatever your problem is, it's insignificant. You're just a small part of something very big."
America Ferrera, The Guardian