New York in My Hand

"I got Staten Island on my pinky, 
Queens on my thumb, dude
The Bronx on my middle finger screamin' fuck you
Rock ice in Manhattan so there's the ring finger
You know I had to keep Brooklyn on the trigger finger."
Busta Rhymes, Touch It

World Traveling

"It is a short and easy method of traveling around the world to take one's stand on Broadway: the world will pass by you if you stay long enough."
M.D. Conway, Fraser's Magazine

Strange Grace

"The reason people love the city is that it is difficult to live here. Come visit New York and observe a strange grace born of a hard and crazy life."
Roger Rosenblatt, Where We Stand

No Explanation

"New York needs no explanation. I mean, if you come from Ohio or New Jersey, you have to start explaining."
Jason Alexander, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Quintessential Collection of Notable Quotables

New York Roommates

"When you're young in New York, roommates are your family. They drive you crazy, they share every moment of their life with you, but if you do it right, they'll have your back forever."
Tina Krissman (Anna Deavere Smith), For the People

Vast Jungle

"New York is actually not a city but a vast jungle that to explore and get to know would take an entire lifetime. During the past six weeks I have barely become acquainted with its outer borders, but i keep on working to get to know this monster."
Max Beckmann, Max Beckmann in New York City

Avidity

"Avidity is New York’s middle name. It used to be said, when Boston and New York were the two poles of East Coast life, that Bostonians think New York is brash, vainglorious, and money-obsessed, while New York thinks Boston is hidebound, smug, and defensive. They’re both right!"
Jonathan Galassi, Words Without Borders

Melting Pot

Lego store

"Everyone came to the Big Apple. The Statue of Liberty was there, the very symbol of America to many. Immigrants from all over the world had met prejudice here, then become accepted as Americans here, and it was still one of the most wonderful melting pots to be found anywhere."
Heather Graham, Flawless

Run Over

"Yes, in New York City it is possible to get run over by a pedestrian. Everybody is eager to tell me where to go, and it isn't exactly Times Square. Man, I love the city."
James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, I Funny

Appendage

"He knew all the possibilities of his life were intertwined with this city. He felt attached to New York like it was an appendage of his body."
Jim Carroll, The Petting Zoo

Mark

"There's no arguing with this. New York is the mark against which all cities measure themselves. Because New Yorkers say so."
A.A. Gill, The Golden Door

Rooms and Vistas

Central Park West

"In New York, a citizen is likely to keep on the move, shopping for the perfect arrangement of rooms and vistas, changing his habitation according to fortune, whim, and need. And in every place he abandons he leaves something vital, it seems to me, and starts his new life somewhat less encrusted, like a lobster that has shed its skin and is for a time soft and vulnerable."
E.B. White, Essays of E.B. White

People Watching

Dumbo

"The best thing about living in NYC is the people watching! New York is home to many different cultures, and one of my favorite things is to observe how different people operate. It's fascinating and you learn so much about humanity. "
Victoria Konefal, BELLA NYC

Continent

"New York is a peninsula and Manhattan is an island and it doesn't belong to America — it is a continent by itself in a sense. That is why we are comfortable in New York; it is very European in one sense and very American in another and so it feels comfortable for an ex-patriot."
Massimo Vignelli, Lella and Massimo Vignelli

Sense of Awe

"New York always awakened a sense of awe in me, big and busy enough to dwarf anyone's ego."
Michelle Obama, Becoming

Rollercoaster

Luna Park

"New York is one big rollercoaster of emotions, you have to decide early on whether to buckle up and enjoy the ride."

Amy Purssey, Metro UK

Theatrical

St. Ann's Warehouse

"There is something about New York City that is so theatrical. I used to feel when I walked out of my apartment on the way to school that I was walking out on stage."
Dabney Coleman, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader

Best Version

"You should only move to New York because you know you won’t feel whole if you live anywhere else. Move here because you are terrified and because you crave adventure with every inch of your soul. Don’t move here for love, money, or to escape your past. Move here to become the best version of yourself, the version you were always meant to be."
Giana Ricci, Thought Catalog

Wonderful City

"I like the excitement, I like the energy, I like that there is always something new. New York is a wonderful city."
Stan Lee, Soul Crime. New York

No Rest for the New Yorker

"This wonderful new city of New York has three hundred and sixty-five days of mad, maddening, wild, and delirious carnival every year. Her merriment is a type of madness. She never rests. She never sleeps."
Joaquin Miller, The Destruction of Gotham

New York Locals

"Hardly anything that New York is famous for is actually happening for the locals. Broadway shows. Carriage rides through Central Park. Those dumb theme restaurants. The stores on Columbus Avenue."
Francine Pascal, Kiss and Lust

More New York Than New York

"It strikes me that other cities of the world are more New York than New York. London, say, or Hong Kong or Melbourne or Berlin. Something has left this town.” 
Jeet Thayil, The Book of Chocolate Saints