Its Alive!

New York, the city that never sleeps, the big apple, regardless of what you choose to call it the city maintains a personified status. There’s more to it than just the name, walking on the street its easy to feel the energy being emitted; from the lights, from the people and even from the air – slightly polluted with a crisp and a choke that’s hard to find elsewhere. What makes this possible is the fact that New York is more than just concrete foundations lifted to unreasonable heights by metal beams, New York is a living thing. The concrete and high beams are merely a skeleton that allows the city to stand as tall as it does. What brings the city to life are the communities, like the organs in an animal they are all slightly different, different roles with different compositions – but all necessary for the existence of a greater entity. More than anything New York City is alive.

As we look on the outermost layer of New York City we find a highly condensed, self-sufficient, entity. This entity gets its energy from the friction of millions of unique people who are constantly rushing to get from one place to another. In the world of New York the population is constantly late although the view from outside shows the exact opposite, New York tends to set the pace of the world. The reason this is possible is because New York has distinguished itself from the world by adopting a certain mentality, as well as physically, through its geography. As an island, New York has grown “oblivious of the cosmos” and “indifferent… to its marine surround” (Cynthia Ozick)

When looking at New York from a distance what we find is an isolated oasis, a single image that that boasts its grandeur. When we look past the outermost layer, the layer that separates New York City from the world, we don’t find a homogenous community of people that all seem to slightly resemble one another, like in certain areas around the world. Every few streets or every few avenues mark the end of a community, and the start of a new one, each community having a slightly different composition, and a slightly different atmosphere.

While some of these communities are separated by noticeable barriers, that of Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge are separated by the Gowanus Expressway which is only passable at only a few sections, most communities are not. A man made barrier between communities is hard to find, the majority of the population having welcomed the diversity rather than try to avoid it. One of the only instances of a physical barrier is the barrier between Sea Gate and Coney Island, on which there is a gated pass and actual walls that separate the two communities.

Most other communities are separated by a single street, which doesn’t seem to hold much significance or have any form of distinction. In the Dyker Heights community we find about five blocks that stand out from the rest, showing off some of the few villas one can find in Brooklyn. The same holds true for Bay Ridge, the houses under Third Avenue are all cramped, close to the constant rush of shoppers along Eighty-sixth Street. The atmosphere completely changes upwards of Third Avenue, greenery is easier to come by and there is a constant sense of warmth, and an autumnal spirit in the air. Right by the modest houses is again an area showcasing some of most luxurious houses in Brooklyn, rivaling those found in Dyker Heights.

While each slightly varied, every community is able to maintain some unique attributes, and in the end play a vital role in the definition of New York as a whole. Some communities might not have a famous landmark associated with them, or a characteristic that greatly distinguishes it from others but each community has a major role that it is constantly playing; being a home for the very beings that bring New York to life.

Only when examining New York more closely do we see a symphony of colors and people, the rhythm of red and green traffic lights in accordance with the stop and walk signs for pedestrians, mimicking the rhythm of a heart. Each person is a cell in this living entity and carries the vital, and balanced, role of influencing the city all the while absorbing the influence of the city. Like the role of the cell in an organism, each resident of New York is constantly traveling and supplying the city with necessary resources. These resources fueling the city are all natural, be it the awe and curiosity or the passion of travelers or settlers alike, its not the just settlers that give the city passion like E. B. White said, but everyone and almost equally. This energy is then dispersed throughout the city with its intricate infrastructure, the bus and train system that connects ever corner of the city. What is even more remarkable are the train stations, packed with people on a daily basis, the arteries of the city, without which the city would surely perish.

Comparing the essays on New York written by Cynthia Ozick and E. B. White there is a major difference, a difference that isn’t accounted for by the change in time between which the two pieces have been written. Cynthia Ozick builds the city of New York block by block, and then places herself in it while E. B. White places you in the setting and as the reading progresses builds the city around you. In this respect nothing changed since the time E. B. White wrote his essay, New York has not changed in the sense of it showing characteristics that mirror those of organisms. In an organism we find that each cell plays a role, each cell is a vital building block in the formation of the entity as a whole, not the other way around. The population is not defined by New York but rather the population defines New York.

Every individual, regardless of wealth, ambitions or character is the true foundation of New York. Like in almost every other living thing, the smallest part is rarely noticed, the anonymity of New Yorkers is mentioned in both essays, and it holds true not having changed since. But as the individual it is important to realize that you are the very core of the city, and are nothing short of a necessity, unfailingly serving as the bond that binds New York together.