How different will New York REALLY be in 75 years?
While reading Cynthia Ozick’s The Synthetic Sublime, I discovered that I actually enjoyed E.B. White’s piece on New York more. However, there were many points of agreement that I made throughout the article. I agreed with Ozick that “New York disappears and then it disappears again… so that every seventy-five years or so another city bursts out, as if against nature – new shapes, new pursuits, new immigrants with their unfamiliar tongues and worried uneasy bustle… Catapult us forward a thousand years, and we won’t recognize the place; yet it is certain to be, uninterruptedly, New York, populous, evolving, faithfully inconstant, magnetic, man-made, unnatural – the synthetic sublime” (946-947). I find it startling that in such a condensed time, a city that seems so concrete to me is constantly changing. These changes occur gradually, and I believe, that we evolve with New York, instead of being cluelessly left behind. A city can not just change immediately and on its own; it’s inhabitants create this atmosphere.
(Click the picture if you actually want to see it as a GIF)
“In the run-of-the-mill world of getting ahead, the young were at the bottom, and stayed there until judged – by their elders at the top – to be sufficiently ripe… Everywhere in New York the knowledgeable young are in charge of the sound, the image, the latest word; ambition need no longer stand in line and wait its graying turn” (959-960). I thought her statement about the differences between the changing work environment was correct. I have not actually given a lot of thought about it before this article, but now I realize this omnipresent change. In this modern era, it is more likely that younger people are hired as opposed to older people due to a number of factors, including the advancement of technology and the notion that younger people can more easily adapt to these changes.
“Influence is power and planning and money… Influence means money” (953-954). I thought it was interesting how Ozick capitalized “influence” to personify the noun, as if it were a class of people. I found myself in complete agreement with this statement. Just the other day, I decided that the way to succeed in New York was to be encompassed with ambition, money, and influence. It is highly unlikely that you will survive New York without the zealous motivation to succeed. Some people say that New York is cutthroat; I believe that most people in New York are selfish in their pursuits and ambitious enough to generate such a stereotype.
Like E.B. White, Cynthia Ozick mentions the diverse conglomeration of people in New York. I grew up in a town that mostly inhabited Irish Roman Catholics, so being immersed in all these different cultures, religions, races, personalities, etc is overwhelming but I definitely have an appreciation for it.
I personally agree that New York thrives in the winter. I find New York much more enchanting in the winter. When Ozick says, “A New York summer is frenetic, syncopated, blistered, frayed, dusty. There is a desperation in its heat, and a sense of letdown, despite relief, in its air-conditioned indoors. Melting squads of tourists, in shorts and open shirts or halters, sweat pooling under their camera straps, their heads swiveling from one gaudy carnival sight to the next, push through Times Square in anxious quick-march,” I could not help but picture Time Square overcrowded (as it usually is).
(This could be an exaggeration, but you get the point.)
I, overall, am in agreement with Ozick; although, there were several moments that confused me, such as the stolen baby brother. However, I am excited to see a different New York bloom in quite a long time from now (even though I love New York as it is).
