“Manhattan’s never been welcoming. It’s our perception that changes. In fact, it seems to me that whenever a person comes to New York, the year that they arrive gets coated in amber, in a way. Frozen for perpetuity. You walk around memorizing every block, every corner, because it’s all new and that’s how you navigate the neighborhoods. That’s the year everything is perfect. From then on, as the city changes—and of course, the city has always been changing—we yearn for the past and fight against anything new.
