“The Rough Adventure of the Street…”

Cities, like dreams,” Calvino tells us, “are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspective deceitful, and everything conceals something else” (Invisible Cities).

Calvino is right, of course. New York is the ultimate dream city: monstrous, rude, gentle, brilliant, and dumb. It has all the arrogance and snobbery of a small village, and the pure delight of an empire sitting by the sea. It can ...