Separate Species

"Real New Yorkers didn't risk stiff necks to stare up at the city skyline. No, real New Yorkers were a separate species, for whom not looking up was as much a point of honor as not riding the elevator up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building."
Leonard Kriegel, Voices from the Edge

Testimony of Virtue

"New Yorkers view the city's shortcomings as testimony to their own virtue, a virtue built upon the idea that the proof of any individual's humanity is how well he can endure the irritation of living in this city."
Leonard Kriegel, Voices from the Edge

Subaltern Parent

Empire State Building

"New York is more than bricks and mortar to those who grow up here; it is a subaltern parent."
Leonard Kriegel, Voices from the Edge