But whatever it means； it is a rather rare gift； and I believe it has a positive effect on the creative capacities of New Yorker—for creation is in part merely the business of forgoing the great and small distractions。
Although New York often imparts a feeling of great forlornness or forsakenness； it seldom seems dead or unresourceful； and you always feel that either by shifting your location ten blocks or by reducing your fortune by five dollars you can experience rejuvenation。 Many people who have no real independence of spirit depend on the city’s tremendous variety and sources of excitement for spiritual sustenance and maintenance of morale。 In the country there are a few chances of sudden rejuvenation—a shift in weather； perhaps； or something arriving in the mail。 But in New York the chances are endless。 I think that although many persons are here from some excess of spirit （which caused them to break away from their small town）； some； too； are here from a deficiency of spirit； who find in New York a protection； or an easy substitution。
There are roughly three New Yorks。 There is； first； the New York of the man or woman who was born here； who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable。 Second； there is the New York of the muter—the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night。 Third； there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of som