The Capital of the World
Cynthia Ozick’s first two lines really caught my attention, “More than any other metropolis of the Western world, New York disappears. It disappears… new shapes, new pursuits, new immigrants with their unfamiliar tongues and worried uneasy bustle.” New York is a city that is constantly changing, yet it never loses itself. Construction occurs 24/7 in the city, from new office buildings to condominiums. But no matter how much New York physically changes, it will always be recognizable. People will always be moving into the city to chase their dreams, and people will also be moving out to experience a new adventure.
When the author mentions the “pitiful maternal scene” that she witnessed in Paris, it made me a little angry. I have read some articles about people pretending to be beggars in very wealthy areas as an easy form to earn a decent amount of money, and at the end of the day, the “beggars” would get into their sports car and drive home. I also saw this “homeless man” a few years ago in Chinatown. He was in a wheelchair and he was holding a sign that said he needed money for surgery on his legs, but because he was holding the sign with his two hands, he moved around the wheelchair by using his feet. I was very shocked as a child, and thought how horrible it was that the man was lying. These types of people are lowering the chances for people who are actually in need of help to receive donations. I believe currently that people are less willingly to give some change to a homeless person because you cannot know for sure if they actually need it or they are just deceiving you. But like what Ozick said, “In New York you cannot lose sight of the poor.”
One of the reasons that I love New York City is that you can find every different type of person here. It does not matter if you live in Chinatown, Little Italy, Chelsea, Harlem, or Tribeca, because you will find many different people with unique and great personalities. Beside New York City being the Melting Pot due to the fact there are so many different ethnicities, there is also a giant range of personalities. You will never find one person that is exactly like another in New York City. I loved when Cynthia listed just a small fraction of people you can find in the city, “Jazz and blues and nightlife aficionados, movie buffs, gays, rap artists, boxing and wrestling zealots, singles,…all these, and inconceivably more, can emerge from any locality to live, if only for a few hours, in a sympathetic neighborhood of affinity.”
I completely agreed when the author said, “The true city is the winter city.” New York City is really beautiful during the winter, and it reminds me of such a happy season with the holidays. Her description of winter in the city, reminded me of one of the Home Alone movies when it took place in the city during the winter time. I don’t know why but I keep picturing the scene, where the main boy Kevin is outside I believe in a park, and he is giving this elderly woman a dove-like figure. I feel like winter is such a magical time especially in the city.
