Without the title of this poem, “Summer Solstice New York City”, the reader would not know where this poem takes place. It could take place anywhere in the world where there are iron stairs leading up to a roof top. But instead the poem shows the diversity that the city embodies, in which anyone can relate to the experience expressed in this poem. The poem starts off with the longest day of the year which is as known as the first day of summer. That is usually when everyone seems to be outside because it signifies that the harsh winter is gone. Furthermore, bringing up the heat could suggest that the man could be suffering from a mental break because of the high temperatures that summer brings which juxtaposes the joy, freedom and relaxation that summer is supposed to symbolizes. The poem then takes the time to bring up sonder, which is the realization that a by-passer has a life as complex as the main character, when the poet takes the time to mention that the cop is a father. The poem goes on to comment on the by stander complex of New York, the people in the neighborhood watch as the man debates whether or not to end his life, knowing that it could be anyone. Furthering that point, no one is given names supporting that everyone could be the jumper in this story. Even though the narrator believes that the police may beat the man after he comes down, no one comes his defense and questions that the people that are supposed to “serve and protect” may be the ones putting us in danger. But instead the police gives him a cigarette without even having to ask embellishing on the idea that we all could have been there before.