Official Beginning

Times Square subway station

"Of the thousands of New Year's Eve parties happening across America, there's one that nearly everyone is watching. It's also the one nearly everyone seems to be attending. It's New Year's Eve in New York's Times Square. As the year comes to a close, a million people there and a few billion more at home believe that what they are witnessing marks the official beginning of the new year.
You know, they're probably right."
Gary McKechnie, USA 101

Everything

Teachers College

"New York taught me everything. New York is everything."
Ad-Rock, quoted in Jambands

Identity

Alphabet City

"While America will always, I think, feel foreign to me, New York City is my home. This is where I can construct my own identity freely and reject labels imposed on me."
Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise