Sense of Recognition

Chrysler Building

"I think when people first come to New York they often experience a very strong sense of recognition, because we’ve all seen the movies and the TV shows and the photographs. We look for the landmarks and the clichés that we expect, and there they all are. There is the Chrysler Building, glinting, and there are all the yellow cabs surfing the green lights. We all feel as if it is our city. But that recognition proves—not untrustworthy, exactly, but to some extent a mistake. It is a different culture, and there are rules that you have to learn; you are, at first, a stranger. It takes time to adjust to the reality rather than the image."
Deborah Meyler, The Bookstore