Real

Financial District

"If 1,668,172 people (out of New York's total population of 7,710,346) are to be set down in one narrow strip of land between two quiet rivers, you can hardly improve on this solid mass of buildings and the teeming organism of human life that streams through them. For better or worse, this is real."

Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times

Old Ways and New Ways

Astor Place

"The odd, old-fashioned pragmatism of New York's ways fascinated her. People who didn't live in the city always thought about it on two ends of the spectrum, magnificent and forward thinking, or dark and violent. But Elly was learning the truth. New York was the keeper of all things good. Old ways and new ways gathered together in a perfect hum of logic."
Suzanne Palmieri, The Witch of Little Italy

Masculine Energy

FDR Drive

"The French capital, with its round arches, curvaceous bridges, flowing water, incandescent light, and street names such as rue Madame and rue Princesse, represents a feminine energy, whereas New York exudes a masculine one, with its towering skyscrapers, rigid city blocks, and raw aggression."
Isabelle Laflèche, J'adore Paris