Snowbound

Lower East Side

"New York. This city is snowbound and every time you look round, someone has skidded on to their back in the street. New York is cold in a way London never is: here your face freezes, here the fluid in your eyes seems to ice over."
Hanif Kureishi, Collected Essays

On the Streets

Lower East Side

"New York is a town where you spend a lot of time out on the streets, going from one place to another. You’re out there, and you just have to have a little bit kind of a protective layer over yourself, a little bit of a thicker skin to deal with lots of people coming your way."
Michael Imperioli, Variety

Real New Yorker

Lower East Side

"That's how I know you're a real New Yorker. You don't swim or drive."
Anonymous, quoted in Overheard in New York

Working Class

Public Housing in the Lower East Side

"There’s a popular sentiment in some circles of this city that believe that Manhattan, for instance, has become a place only for the wealthy, that the working-class have all been pushed out. Don’t believe the hype. Working-class people do live in this city. They’re still living side by side with the well-heeled. This has been the case in this incredible city for generations." 
Bobby Cannavale, The New York Times 

Keeping One Grounded

Movie trucks in the Lower East Side

"The best thing about New Yorkers is that they keep you grounded.There’s always some indignant New Yorker walking by right when they’re ready to call action saying, 'Excuse me, this is my apartment building. I don’t care what you’re shooting here.'"
Matt Bomer, Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Lost in New York

Lower East Side

"The thing about New York is, just think it and find out where it is because there is literally anything you could possibly want to do here. I would say get lost—that’s the main thing. Go out, get a bike and just decide that you’re going to spend three hours exploring. I guarantee you you’re going to find food, shops, people, experiences that you weren’t expecting but are going to love."
Josh Groban, NYCGo.com

Not for the Pure of Soul

Lower East Side

"New York is not for the pure of soul, the sweet of spirit, the model of sanity or the paragon of civility. It is the city that gave part of its name to the Bronx cheer and cherishes its Brooklyn Bridge as a symbol of the art of bilking the innocent."
Russell Baker, The New York Times

Fierce Women

Lower East Side

"If I permanently lived in New York City, I'd be unstoppable. Can you believe that there are women who are just born here and can freely choose to continue living their fiercest lives here? The luck they possess is almost unfathomable to me."
Melina Maria Morry, The Manhattan Mishap

Missing New York

Lower East Side mural

"I missed New York, I missed the Met. I missed the lit scene. I missed the warehouse parties with good techno. I missed the subway and the parks and how people totally ignored you on the street."
Liara Roux, Whore of New York

Biggest Personality

Lower East Side

"I love New York City. No matter how long I have lived or worked here, she's just the biggest personality  I've ever met, so there's always an unexpected joy, or moment, a surprise. There's nothing like NYC."
Stephanie J. Block, NYC Next

Heart in New York

Lower East Side

"A heart in New York, a rose on the street
I write my song to that city heartbeat
A heart in New York, love in her eye, an open door and a friend for the night."
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, A Heart in New York

Say Hello to New York City

Lower East Side

"Stroll the midtown streets
And tell me that you don't feel giddy
Lady Liberty ain't throwing us a wink or is she
Travel light and see the world right
You never know you never go so
Run away with me
And say hello to New York City 
Say hello to New York City."
Adam Young, New York City