New York Is a Strange Town

Two stories in today’s papers that could only happen in New York City: the metropolis’ doormen are threatening to strike; and police and firefighters conducted a thrilling nighttime rescue of citizens trapped in Roosevelt Island tram cars stuck high above the East River.

What other city in the country employs an army of doormen? What other city has a tram? Where else do doormen think enough of themselves and their profession, such as it is, that they go on strike and think someone will react (which the media duly has)? Where else would people choose to ride in a metal cage in the sky to get home, when a perfectly functional subway is available for use?

Despite the encroaching and unstoppable demons of gentrification and condoization, New York will remain a peculiar place. Thank God.