Under Siege

"New York—this hard nipple of the New World. In lush times and mean, it's a city under siege, as much from within as from without—hence chaffed, even bloody; alternatively calloused and to all appearances, unfeeling. And yet, for all of the bluster and confidence it exudes, New York is finally just one long swath of concrete and asphalt, none of which feels pain or delight, exaltation or misery, surfeit or hunger. "
Russell Bittner, Trompe-l'oeil