“Reports of New York’s death are not greatly exaggerated, though some would argue otherwise, insisting that the city’s undomesticated heart still beats in far-off corners of Brooklyn and the Bronx, that you’ll find a faint pulse in whitewashed Manhattan if you look hard enough. These insistent optimists, deep in denial, point to any trace of the old town and say, “There is New York.” Yes, there it is. But it’s only a remnant, a lone survivor from an endangered species rapidly vanishing.”
