New York Belongs to the Young

"Everyone thinks the New York City of his youth is the real New York City, and it is. New York City belongs to the young; it belongs to those who fervently believe they can mold it to their purposes."
David Marcus, The Federalist

Nationality

"I don't see myself as either Irish or American, I'm a New Yorker."
Frank McCourt, Irish Times

Every Human Being

"I fell in love with New York. It was like every human being, like any relationship. When I was a young New Yorker, it was one city. When I was a grown man, it was another city."
Mikhail Baryshnikov, quoted in Historic Landmarks of Old New York

Pretense of Humanity

"New York is beginning to wear on my nerves, and now that spring is coming I want to leave. The novelty has worn off; the city, with all its excitement and grandeur, is a terrible place. The tide swarms on; how people manage the pretense of humanity in such a jostling, surly ant-heap is beyond me."
William Styron, Selected Letters of William Styron

Forty-Second Street

42nd Street (Pixabay)

"Where the underworld Can meet the elite
Forty-Second Street
Forty-Second Street Naughty, bawdy
Gaudy, sporty
Forty
Forty-Second Street."
Al Dubin, 42nd Street

The Soul's Price

Wall Street (Pixabay)

"New York is ever bustling and crowded
With business deals and pressures, life is shrouded
With people spinning dollars, the soul's price
Offered to Hell.. by way of sacrifice."
Harindraeth Chattopadhyaya, Lotte: The Power of Love

Thousand New Yorks

Downtown Manhattan

"Nothing in New York is isolated: the bridges lead to the streets and the streets to the parks, and around the parks are the homes of the rich and behind them the shops of the poor; Wall Street is cheek by jowl with Chinatown. There are, to be sure, a thousand New Yorks— or ten million—one for every human being who lives in the city or comes to it."
Gilbert Seldes and Leigh Irwin, This is New York

Whirlpool

Midtown East (Pixabay)

"New York is a whirlpool. If you carry with you a memory from home that overwhelms you, throw it in that vortex and you will be sure of having got rid of an enemy."
Dora Colonna, Voices of Italian America

The Most Diverse Borough

"I grew up in Queens, which is the most diverse borough: the rich and the poor and homeless and people of every sexual orientation and gender and age group. Everyone is saying we live in this bubble, and there’s some truth to that. But I do not think it is healthy to all of a sudden invalidate the way we live in New York. I don’t mean to sound like a Pollyanna, but for me New York is the ideal because of the diversity here."
Billy Eichner, Vulture

Unhealthy Energy

"I loved it the moment I moved here. I think the best thing about it is there is an unhealthy energy to the place that I happen to like. Humans are not built to live at this pace. Yet it seems to be a pace that I’m the happiest with. I can’t relax. I find vacations problematic. The speed here is actually something I like -- or it has completely ruined my DNA."
John Oliver, The Hollywood Reporter

Paradise

"She'd been to paradise, otherwise known as New York City."
Marilyn Kaye, Gloss: Summer Scandal

Getting Along

"People say New Yorkers can't get along. Not true. I saw two New Yorkers, complete strangers, sharing a cab. One guy took the tires and the radio; the other guy took the engine."
David Letterman, quoted in Words to Live By

Two New Yorks

"There are two New Yorks: Manhattan and everything else. I'm a Manhattanite. I feel sorry for those people who aren't."
John Catsimatidis, quoted in Business Insider

Un-American

"My one thought is to get out of New York, to experience something genuinely American."
Henry Miller, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare

Greatest Show in the World

Wall Street subway station (Pixabay)

"The New York subway is really the greatest show in the world. I've unintentionally skipped my stop due to being mesmerized by something occurring in my car."
Eduardo Yanes, quoted in Humanos y marcianos en Nueva York

Chinese Saying

"People in China say: 'If you love your children, send them to New York. If you hate your children, also send them to New York.'"
Li Na, The New York Times

Hurried

"They say New Yorkers are always in a hurry; but I can't say as they've hurried much to make our acquaintance."
Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country

Most European City

"New York is the most European city in the world, more European than Europe itself. New York has everything. There one can find bits of Paris, a corner of old Holland, and we Russians even see, in certain streets and houses, Moscow and our beloved Petersburg."Mikhail Shemiakin,Transformation, New York Period

New York Toll

"Living in New York City takes a toll on your pocket book, psyche, body, and soul that is hard for those who have never done it to understand. It weighs and grates on you every moment of every day. And I wouldn’t live anywhere else."
David Marcus, The Federalist

New York Energy

"Different locations have different energies, and for her, New York is glittering eye shadow, Basquiat graffiti, and strangers with bold dreams."
Ann Napolitano, Dear Edward