The City Within the City: See Real New York City

New York City boasts itself as the biggest city in the United States, though; few realize that this is not the truth. One could discover by a close inspection of the city that New York is, in fact, not one large city, but rather hundreds of small cultures piled atop, beside, and among each other. Jewish bookshops sit across from Cuban diners, between tourist trap junk shops, and underneath magazine office headquarters. New York itself is like an ecosystem; all the cultures of the world and all the imaginable businesses have set down roots, and yet everyone manages to coexist. Life spills from every alleyway and flows over the top of every roof at all hours; New York is such a full, varied city that it really does have something for everyone.

When thinking about New York, most would picture the chic affiliates of 5th Avenue and the affluent businessmen working in the famed towers of Wall Street. These areas exist exactly as they do in the mind; the most gorgeously outfitted people really do strut down past Tiffany's and Saks 5th Avenue bleeding money and noteworthy people stride into the Stock Exchange buildings with a brisk pace that suggests their importance. Among these quintessential elements of New York, though, are all the other elements which coexist to create such a unique place.

Manhattan is a tiny island, yet it can house such an enormous metropolis because every inch of space is used. Entrepreneurship flourishes like a weed, as every spare lot, every back room, and every extra closet is bursting with business; employment opportunities are created in only the amount of time it takes for a new sign to go on a door. And with the great demand for space comes a great expense; every inch of land and airspace in New York is worth more than the building which sits there. Location is everything, as the most sought-after brownstones on 5th Avenue go for outrageous prices because of the outlook over Central Park. Is it not ironic, though, that the people in these houses pay so much to look over an area where the homeless live?

New York sounds like some crazy mixture of cultures and houses and business where people and companies are devouring each other to stay on top; hardly the place for a tourist to visit. But all the odd elements fit together so well; the street vendor illegally selling knock-off Gucci purses on a blanket on the steps of a legitimate Gucci store does not cause any disharmony. Rather, both businesses seem to realize that they are each attracting different crowds and cater to the needs of such. New York has conquered every market, everyone can find something there; whether it be buying the purse from the illegal vendor or paying top dollar for the real label.

New York is a city for the Broadway fan, the Broadway critic, for the families with kids who spend afternoons at the Central Park Zoo, for the lonely homeless who sleep in the zoo, the lonely who live in an apartment in solitude by night and work a menial desk job by day, and the socialites who party by day and night. New York is a city where if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.