America

Top of the Rock

"New York is not America, but it is plain to all beholders that all America would like to be New York."

Yvon Lapaquellerie, quoted in New York: The Big Apple Quote Book

Good and Bad Times

Coney Island boardwalk

"In good times, New York is really good, but in bad times, New York is even better; it offers myriad ways to pass the time and heal."
Jake Dobkin, Ask a Native New Yorker

Mumbai

Little India

"New York, I decided, was like Mumbai, only cleaner. It didn't have the rainy-day prettiness of Paris, but the people could be as gruff. Everything felt rushed, as if time was slipping away and everyone had to eat, move, talk, and think faster than if they were anywhere else."
Brinda Charry, Naked in the Wind