Blind Crowd

West 23rd

"You could live in New York, I had begun to realize, without ever having to open your mouth except for life's necessities. You could even be invisible, not because you were hidden by the crowd but because the crowd was blind to your being a part of it."
Mary Cantwell, Manhattan, When I was Young

Hive

"New York was a hive. You could not just live here. You had to be somebody, do something, it didn't matter what."
Mary Cantwell, Manhattan, When I Was Young

New York Disease

Mount Sinai Hospital

"Already I was possessed of the New York disease: a feverish desire to appear knowing, no matter how deep one's ignorance."
Mary Cantwell, Manhattan Memoir