“You can do what you like, sir, but I'll tell you this. New York is the true capital of America. Every New Yorker knows it, and by God, we always shall.”

“You know what’s great about New York? The threshold for citizenship as a New Yorker is actually pretty short. If you come to New York and you still like it two years after you arrived here, and you still think it’s great and you’re having a good time and you haven’t been just totally ground down and go limping back to wherever the fuck you came from, you know what? You’re in!”

“Yet, as only New Yorkers know, if you can get through the twilight, you'll live through the night.”

“… In the summer New York was the only place in which one could escape from New Yorkers…”

“Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread.”

“People always have bad news for you when they call you “sir.””

“You know the difference between news and gossip, don't you? News tells you what people did. Gossip tells you how much they enjoyed it.”

“I can tell you, and tell you now, that I am prepared to veto any bill that has as its purpose a Federal bailout of New York City to prevent a default.… It encourages the continuation of "politics as usual" in New York, which is precisely not the way to solve the problem.”

“New York, New York. Big city of dreams, but everything in New York ain't always what it seems.”

“Consolidation didn’t make him a New Yorker, and nothin’ on earth can. A man born in Germany can settle down and become a good New Yorker. So can an Irishman; in fact, the first word an Irish boy learns in the old country is “New York,” and when he grows up and comes here, he is at home right away. Even a Jap or a Chinaman can become a New Yorker, but a Brooklynite never can. p. 41”