COME TO NEW YORK CITY

This town is a sponge, New York is. A pretty big one one too, already full of 8 million officially counted souls and who knows how many more. Always room for sopping up one more, though, and people keep coming here to live both from overseas and from the rest of America. It's not for the feint of heart and it's certainly not for any crusader who thinks he's going to come here and change the joint. It is you who will be transformed, not Gotham. New York will work its spell on you and before you even realize it you will be a New Yorker, and the New Yorker part of you will take precedence over wherever it is you came from or whatever national identity you claim. You'll be a New Yorker and that's that.

What will happen is that one day you'll wake up and realize you couldn't possibly live anywhere else. It might take 6 months, it might take a number of years, but New Yorkers know who they are and know there is no other place on earth for them. It's a pace, a feel and an attitude that becomes part of you. Myself, I'm a lifer here, Brooklyn born and bred so I have a good perspective on watching the process in others. When they first arrive they're in shock, then they accept the glorious madness that is New York and finally they become a part of it and it becomes a part of them and they think no more about it, they just live their New York lives.

I have been asked by newbies what to expect and what can I say? Anything. I tell them the place is indescribable and is probably 8 million different cities to 8 million minds. Just keep your mind open and embrace the pace. Which is not to say there is no relaxation in New York, just that it doesn't happen by accident. You've got to find your own ways and places to relax. Some never do and that's because that's how they like to operate, not through any fault of the city. You are who you are, period, amen. New York will never strip you of your personal identity, that's yours to keep and your own business and none of anybody else's. And the more personality you have, the better. You're going to need it here, believe me. And I'm not saying that New York is for everybody or is the best place on earth. My own siblings and many of my good friends have moved away. Born here or not, it turned out they were not New Yorkers.

What I am saying is that new York City, that citiest of cities, is the best place on earth for me and my 8 million neighbors. I've seen other paces, some of them pretty cool and just fine to live in, I'm sure. The only problem with those other places is that they weren't New York. Many people feel that way about their home towns, but not many home towns have somebody from everybody else's home town all over the world living there. In New York we have people living here that come from every nation on the planet, and if there's enough of you here from one place you form your own neighborhood. Brooklyn and Queens are especially like that, with Little Odessa full of Russian immigrants and their American children, Astoria with the sons and daughters of Greek immigrants, Crown Heights split between the descendants of Eastern European Jews and West Indians and sattellite Chinatowns in both boroughs to complement Manhattan's world famous Chinatown.

And if you hang around New York long enough odds are you'll meet people from every state of the union and almost every nation on earth. For all you know the people you share your subway ride with every morning might come from a hundred different places, but if you ask where they're from they'll tell you "Park Slope," "Jackson Heights" or "The Village." Asking where they were born or where their parents were born is a whole other question and one that doesn't always come up. To a New Yorker that's not all that important, just a point of curiosity at best. What matters is who you are, what you do, what you enjoy, are you a Yankee or a Met fan and what you like to argue about.

We're real good at arguing around here, but don't be alarmed, it's mostly friendly arguing in the style of Italians or Israelis. We're a passionate bunch here, and don't mind letting the other guy know what's on our minds. And if you have a hard time understanding people's accents, that too will pass once you get a feel for the rhythms of speech. There's a good reason the United Nations is in New York, and their representatives would do well to observe life around them in their host city. If 8 million people with 8 million opinions and a thousand ethnic backgrounds can combine to be the most vibrant city on earth, then don't tell me there's no hope for peace in this world. It's here, it's working and it's a hell of a lot of fun. All I can say is, there's a working model for international peace and prosperity in this world and it's called New York City. So come to New York City and join us, you'll be glad you did. We'll leave a whole bunch of lights on for you.