. On Thursday, the 24th June, in 1497, John and Sebastian Cabot arrived at New York, but decided not to land, saying, “This is a fine place to visit, but we wouldn’t live here for the world. Visitors from Europe, the Orient, Chicago, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, and Boston have not been ashamed to plagiarise this remark. Yet, rightly, New Yorkers are proud of their city, so proud of it that they can be tolerant of criticism. New York is the one great city to-day which is not reclining on its laurels. It is ever advancing and, in many ways, advanced. It has constructed a new architecture. It is the great world market of to-day, a centre to which artists, writers and musicians must necessarily migrate. It contains the greatest banks, railways, stores, shipping/lines and entertainment. It is the one great world city. New York appears to be a great city in a great hurry. The average street pace must surely be forty miles an hour. The traffic lights switch straight from red to green and green to red, without any nonsense about orange, symbolising the harshness of contrast that dispenses with the intermediary things that others respect. It is usually unwise to cross the road except in accordance with the green light, and even New York dogs are said to understand this symbol. Americans always know their cue. New York is a city of perspectives. The streets are straight tunnels beneath mountainous buildings and, with their metal kerbs and tarmac or concrete surfaces, the noise which reverberates from them is unlike that of any other city. Life is never free and easy in New York. One has too little to do or much too much. In no other city must existence be planned so carefully. Not to go out is to be forgotten, and accepting one invitation means a dozen more. And while New York may be soulless or cheerless, the friendliness, hospitality and courageous cheerfulness of its citizens is its magic. . Cecil Beaton on New York Image courtesy: Pinterest