Shrine of the Good Time

Sightseeing cruise on the Hudson River

"For most visitors to Manhattan, both foreign and domestic, New York is the Shrine of the Good Time. This is only natural, for outsiders come to New York for the sole purpose of having a good time, and it is for their New York hosts to provide it. The visiting Englishman, or the visiting Californian, is convinced that New York is made up of millions of gay pixies, flittering about constantly in a sophisticated manner in search of a new thrill. 'I don't see how you stand it,' they often say to the native New Yorker who has been sitting up past his bedtime for a week in an attempt to tire his guest out."
Robert Benchley, The Benchley Roundup

Camping Out

Tent at Columbia University

"If you are not in New York, you are camping out."
Thomas Dewing, quoted in The American Artist and His Times

Off the Coast of America

The East River

"I fled New England and came to Manhattan, that island off the coast of America, where human nature was king and everyone exuded character and had big attitude."
Spalding Gray, Life Interrupted