The bright lights and towering buildings, the glitz and glam of high fashion, the rush of the stock exchange, and the never-ending sounds of busy people: this is New York City, the unofficial capital of the world. It is a hearth of innovation, trendsetting, economic activity, and cultural evolution. Movies, television, and books have never failed to remind us how important it is. From “I Love Lucy” to “Sex and the City”, and from “The Great Gatsby” to “Gossip Girl”, New York has provided the quintessential backdrop for life — full of action, attitude and urban adventure.
This national attention is especially evident during the holidays, when all of America tunes in to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, then the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, and finally, the dropping of the crystal ball in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. But seldom are we reminded how fragile it all is.
When Hurricane Sandy struck on Oct. 29, the world watched the news in disbelief as massive apartment buildings fell apart and once-illuminated streets flooded. A world without a beautiful and thriving New York City — that was the fate we all faced in those moments of terror. Hurricanes sweep mercilessly across the Caribbean and Florida at a regular pace, and of course, efforts are always made to help those affected. But the mad rush to provide financial and emotional support for New York in the aftermath of the storm is unprecedented, which is extremely telling about how much people really love the city.
The effects of Hurricane Sandy on New York City and the surrounding urban areas teach us a lesson about a city built on commerce and media. Major networks operate from there, Wall Street is in the middle of everything, and Broadway will never find a more fitting home, so we look to the city for constant inspiration and approval. “Do as the New Yorkers do,” is our mindset, and our eggs are all in one basket, so to speak.
The world has placed so much importance on one city that we have rendered ourselves even more vulnerable to disasters like Hurricane Sandy. Globalization is a scary thing for many reasons: loss of languages, culture, and religion; monopolization; and the general diminishment of variation in human identity. Add our dependence upon one city to the mix, and we’ve created a really dangerous predicament.
If New York City were to really crumble to the ground tomorrow, what would happen? First, panic and grief would seize our nation. Then everything would slow down. The fashion industry would boast many empty runways. Broadway would echo with silence. Movies would be forced to premiere in “lesser locations”, and major television stations would struggle to relocate and get back on the air. Efforts to rebuild the beautiful city would begin, but undoubtedly fall short; we’d have another New Orleans on our hands. And eventually, we would find a replacement. San Francisco, Tokyo, London, Beijing? Take your pick, world, because any of these cities have just as much potential.
I love New York City; there is no question. The sights, the sounds, the intoxicating feeling of the fast-moving air — it all runs through my veins, and my heart ached at the beginning of the month, during the storm’s worst days. But Hurricane Sandy has helped me realize that my intense devotion to the city is a dangerous thing.
I have also realized that there may not be a solution to this precarious love affair that so many of us share in. How can we cease to admire a place that has been the center of entertainment, innovation, celebration and the American Dream, for so long? But in this relationship, we must keep our hearts guarded, and thus remain better prepared for an inevitable loss. New York is situated in the direct path of Mother Nature’s frustration with humanity. Temperatures and sea levels rise annually, which can only bring tides of misfortune to the Northeast. The effects will be most felt by the residents, of course, whose lives will change in the most fundamental ways forever. Yet we too will suffer, unless we find other places to place our loyalities.
Our own hometowns and our cities of residence should also be thought of as irreplaceable. We must treasure other major cities, like San Francisco, Tokyo, London, and Beijing, because they could, someday, inherit the title of the city that never sleeps.
