“The blab of the pave … the … talk of the promenaders”
— Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” (cataloguing the delights of the City)
I continuously see people on the street, in the park on sidewalk benches, in gathering places such as cafes and bars — everywhere — in pairs or larger groupings, engaged in deep conversation and repartee.
People feel less self-conscious in New York. Free to express themselves. New York encourages thought and exchange of ideas.
It’s wonderfully liberating.
— Roger W. Smith
June 2019; updated April 2024
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Addendum: Another thought. The fact that NYC is in large part a city in which people are on foot when they are outdoors, and not in cars, but instead are walking, or resting on benches, say; and, when they are traveling, are often on subways or buses, where conversation frequently occurs, is a facilitator of conversation and interaction.
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photographs by Roger W. Smith
42nd Street
42nd Street
59th Street
Battery Park City
Bryant Park
Central Park
Central Park near Columbus Circle
Central Park
City Hall Park
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue
Grand Central Oyster Bar
Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park
Hudson Yards
Lexington Avenue
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Madison Square Park
Ninth Avenue coffeehouse
P. J. Carney’s pub, Seventh Avenue
P J. Carney’s pub
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P J. Carney’s
P .J. Carney’s
P J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
P. J. Carney’s
Rockefeller Center
Seventh Avenue
Seventh Avenue
Seventh Avenue
Sixth Avenue
Soho
Union Square Park
Union Square
Upper West Side
West Side, Midtown
R train
R train
R train
R train
R train
R train
R train
R train
A train