New York City has inspired countless people with its energy, culture, and unique atmosphere. From famous landmarks to everyday moments, there’s always something to experience in this iconic city. These 160 quotes capture the spirit of New York, offering a glimpse into what makes it so unforgettable.
New York City Quotes
- “One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.” – Tom Wolfe
- “New York is not a city – it’s a world.” – Iman
- “New York City is a great monument to the power of money and greed… a race for rent.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
- “New York provides not only a continuing excitation but also a spectacle that is continuing.” – E.B. White
- “I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant hellhound loping behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.” – Rick Riordan
- “When I first moved to New York, I bought Vogue instead of dinner. I just felt it fed me more.” – Carrie Bradshaw, “Sex and the City”
- “New York is the meeting place of the peoples, the only city where you can hardly find a typical American.” – Djuna Barnes
- “The flag of New York City should be someone with four bags opening a door with their shoulder.” – Alex Baze
- “New York is made up of millions of different people, and they all come here looking for something.” – Lindsey Kelk
- “If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.” – Peter Shaffer
- “A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times: It is a beautiful catastrophe.” – Le Corbusier
- “If you want to become a real New Yorker, there’s only one rule: You have to believe New York is the center of the world. And you have to keep this faith no matter how many times the city breaks your heart.” – Ellen R. Shapiro
- “There is more sophistication and less sense in New York than anywhere else on the globe.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.” – John Updike
- “Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book — and does.” – Groucho Marx
- “Skyscrapers are the trees of New York.” – Bernhard Zuelzer
- “Once you have lived in New York and made it your home, no place else is good enough.” – John Steinbeck
- “New York is the only real city-city.” – Truman Capote
- “Give me such shows — give me the streets of Manhattan!” – Walt Whitman
- “New York is a city of daily irritations, occasional horrors, hourly tests of will and even courage, and huge dollops of pure beauty.” – Pete Hamill
- “New York is an exciting town where something is happening all the time, most of it unsolved.” – Johnny Carson
- “My favorite thing about New York is the people, because they’re misunderstood. I don’t think people realize how kind New York people are.” – Bill Murray
- “You can try to change New York, but it’s like Jay-Z says: Concrete bunghole where dreams are made up. There’s nothing you can do.” – Liz Lemon, “30 Rock”
- “The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- “More than anything else New York is a city of superlatives, a place where the best, the brightest, the biggest is the norm.” – Marilyn J. Appleberg
- “New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city.” – Lewis Mumford
- “I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, ‘There’s no place like New York. It’s the most exciting city in the world now. That’s the way it is. That’s it.'” – Robert De Niro
- “One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
- “New York had all the iridescence of the beginning of the world.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- In New York, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener, the girls are prettier, the steak is thicker, and the jazz is hotter.” – Duke Ellington
- “There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless.” – Simone de Beauvoir
- “The city is like poetry: it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines.” – E.B. White
- “New York is the only city in the world where you can get run down on the sidewalk by a pedestrian.” – Russell Baker
- “New York is a city of bricks and steel, and the heart that beats beneath it is a strong one.” – Nora Ephron
- “In New York you’ve got to have all the luck.” – Charles Bukowski
- “When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.” – Fran Lebowitz
- “I remember perfectly my first visit to New York City. Other places make me feel like a serf; New York gives me the feeling of power.” – John Steinbeck
- “The glamour of it all! New York! America!” – Charlie Chaplin
- “New York is really the place to be; to go to New York, you’re going to the center of the world, the lion’s den.” – Zubin Mehta
- “Each man reads his own meaning into New York.” – Meyer Berger
- “New York is a city where the past and the present collide on every street corner.” – Melissa de la Cruz
- “There’s something about New York, a certain rush that gets into your bloodstream.” – Janette Rallison
- “In New York, you’re always searching for a city within the city.” – Chloe Thurlow
- “New York is not a city – it’s a world unto itself.” – Daniel Humm
- “To me, New York is the gateway to America.” – Johannes Huebl
- “New York City is where your wildest dreams come to life.” – Stefano Gabbana
- “If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting on canvas.” – Peter Shaffer
- “New York is a symphony of diversity in perfect harmony.” – Michael Bloomberg
- “In New York, you’re always looking up – there’s just so much sky.” – Karina Yan Glaser
- “New York is really the place to be; it’s the city of opportunities.” – Henrik Lundqvist
- “New York is like poetry – it compresses life and glorifies it at the same time.” – Rebecca Solnit
- “New York is a city with music in its soul and rhythm in its heart.” – Lang Lang
- “I love New York City; it’s a giant melting pot of culture and vibrancy.” – Marcus Samuelsson
- “New York is the city that never sleeps but always dreams.” – Billie Jean King
- “New York is a city that rewards those who dream big.” – Lin-Manuel Miranda
- “In New York, the energy is palpable – it’s a city that inspires you to go further.” – Diane von Furstenberg
- “New York City is a mosaic of stories waiting to be discovered.” – Edward Norton
- “In New York, ambition is your best friend.” – Cynthia Nixon
- “New York has a way of making you feel like you can conquer the world.” – Alicia Keys
- “Every corner in New York has its own unique story.” – Andy Warhol
- “New York is the only city where you can find a restaurant for every country.” – Anthony Bourdain
- “New York City is not a city; it’s a world of its own.” – Vera Wang
- “In New York, you can be a different person every day.” – Lady Gaga
- “New York is a city of dreams, and for dreamers.” – Sarah Jessica Parker
- “New York City: where the streets make you feel brand new, and the lights inspire you.” – Jay-Z
- “Every true New Yorker believes with all his heart that when a New Yorker is tired of New York, he is tired of life.” – Robert Moses
- “New York is not a city – it’s a world.” – Iman
- “Manhattan is an accumulation of possible disasters that never happen.” – Edward I. Koch
- “In New York, everyone is an immigrant, even the natives.” – John Gregory Dunne
- “New York is the only city where you can get run down on the sidewalk by a pedestrian.” – Russell Baker
- “New York is a city that keeps reinventing itself, and I love it for that.” – Madison Cox
- “A bad day in New York City is still better than a good day anywhere else.” – Unknown
- “New York City is a place where the extraordinary is commonplace.” – Lynn Sweet
- “New York is a city with a great capacity to astonish and inspire.” – Chiara Barzini
- “New York City is a jungle, they tell you. Keep your head down. Mind your own business. It’s a city of millions, and no one knows your name.” – Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
- “The whole of New York is so well built, that you could scrape off the whole city and still have a New York.” – Kurt Vonnegut
- “To be in New York is to be busy, to be successful, to be filled with inexhaustible hope.” – Sholem Asch
- “New York is the city of visible history.” – James Baldwin
- “New York City is the most fatally fascinating thing in America.” – James Weldon Johnson
- “New York is a diamond iceberg floating in river water.” – Truman Capote
- “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.” – Frank Sinatra
- “New York is a city that’s larger than life, where the buildings, the streets, and the people all vibrate with an energy that’s hard to describe.” – Daniel Humm
- “New York is a city that’s constantly evolving, but it always remains true to its roots.” – Iman
- “New York City is a place where the most unlikely of people come together and create something beautiful.” – Alicia Keys
- “New York is not just a city, it’s a world of its own.” – Marcus Samuelsson
- “New York City is not just a place, it’s a feeling. It’s the energy, the excitement, the diversity.” – Lin-Manuel Miranda
- “New York is a city of endless possibilities, where every corner holds a new adventure.” – Sarah Jessica Parker
- In New York, you can be whoever you want to be, and no one will judge you for it.” – Lady Gaga
- “New York is the only city in the world where you can get run over on the sidewalk.” – Fran Lebowitz
- “New York is a city of things unnoticed. It is a city with cats sleeping under parked cars, two stone armadillos crawling up St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and thousands of ants creeping on top of the Empire State Building.” – Gay Talese
- “New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillac’s, and the beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.” – Duke Ellington
- “New York is the only place where a person can wake up homeless in the morning, and by the end of the day be a millionaire.” – Ed Koch
- “New York is the thing that seduced me.” – Lena Horne
- “New York is a city that plays hard to get. You want me? You better work for it.” – Anh Do
- “New York is a city of secrets: the secret of the tunnels under Grand Central, the secret of the skyline from Brooklyn, the secret of the High Line park… but the greatest secret of all is that New York is a city of dreamers.” – Emma Straub
- “New York is an exciting city where art meets commerce, power meets grit, and the spirit of possibility pervades everything.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- “The city of New York is itself the ultimate exhibit.” – Jerry Saltz
- “New York is a city of dreams and a city of dreamers. I dream in subway stations and taxis. I dream walking down Broadway, past the marquees.” – Roxane Gay
- New York is a place where anything and everything can happen.” – Taylor Swift
- “There’s no place like New York. It’s the most exciting city in the world now. That’s the way it is. That’s it.” – Robert De Niro
- “New York is really the place to be; to go to New York is to go to the world.” – Diane von Furstenberg
- “New York is the place of opportunities. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” – Jay-Z
- “In New York, you’ve got to have all the luck.” – Charles Bukowski
- “New York is a city that’s always changing, but it never loses its spirit.” – Michael Bloomberg
- “New York is not a city, it’s a world.” – Iman
- “New York is the place where the future comes to rehearse.” – Edward Koch
- “New York is a city where you can be surrounded by thousands of people, yet feel completely alone.” – Alicia Keys
- “New York is a city of skyscrapers, a city of ups and downs.” – Daniel Libeskind
- “New York City is a place where the impossible becomes possible.” – Lin-Manuel Miranda
- “New York City is a place where one can never be lonely, yet always be alone.” – Sarah Jessica Parker
- In New York, the past and the present collide on every street corner, creating a city that’s always moving forward.” – Michael Bloomberg
- “New York is not a place, it’s a feeling.” – Unknown
- “In New York, the impossible is often the untried.” – Jimmy Breslin
- “New York is not a city, it’s a world.” – Iman
- “New York City is a great monument to the power of money and greed.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
- New York is the only city in the world where you can fall asleep to the sounds of a million lives unfolding all around you.” – Unknown
- “The rhythm of New York is unique. It is the only city where you can fit in by standing out.” – Unknown
- “New York is a place where one can experience the entire world in one city.” – Unknown
- “New York is the city that other cities can only dream of being.” – Unknown
- “In New York, you’re never alone, but you’re always on your own.” – Blair Waldorf, “Gossip Girl”
- “New York is a city of layers. Each layer revealing a different story of its own.” – Unknown
- “New York is a city that’s constantly in motion, but always grounded in its past.” – Unknown
- “In New York, every street is a story.” – Unknown
- “New York is the city where dreams are made, and occasionally, they even come true.” – Unknown
- “New York is a city that’s as tough as it is inspiring.” – Unknown
- “New York City: the only place where you can be completely surrounded yet utterly alone.” – Unknown
- “New York, the city that never sleeps because it’s too busy dreaming.” – Unknown
- “New York is a city built on dreams and ambition.” – Unknown
- “New York: The city where the American dream is tested every day.” – Unknown
- “New York City – where the unlikely becomes the ordinary.” – Unknown
- “New York is a city where every street corner has a story to tell.” – Unknown
- “In New York, the skyscrapers aren’t just buildings, they’re a testament to human aspiration.” – Unknown
- “New York is not just a city, it’s a world of its own.” – Unknown
- “In New York, you can find the entire world in one city.” – Unknown
- “New York: where the streets are paved with ambition.” – Unknown
- “New York is a city with a pulse, it’s alive and it’s invigorating.” – Unknown
- “The streets of New York have their own melody.” – Mahtab Narsimhan
- “New York City: where the streets are filled with stories.” – Unknown
- “New York is always a good idea.” – Unknown
- “New York City is a jungle of its own, and absolutely no one ever questions that.” – Shania Twain
- “Walking through New York, you feel like you’re in the heartbeat of the world.” – Unknown
- “The spirit of New York is unbreakable.” – Unknown
- “New York City is a microcosm of the world.” – Wynton Marsalis
- “Every corner in New York tells a different story.” – Unknown
- “New York is not a place you go to, it’s a place you become.” – Unknown
- “In New York, the world is at your fingertips.” – Unknown
- “The magic of New York lies in its people.” – Unknown
- “New York City – the epicenter of dreams.” – Unknown
- “New York teaches you to appreciate the chaos.” – Unknown
- “In New York, every street has its own rhythm.” – Unknown
- “New York is where the world meets.” – Unknown
- “New York City: constantly moving, never still.” – Unknown
- “New York has a way of making you feel both big and small at the same time.” – Unknown
- “New York, a city of endless possibilities and relentless dreams.” – Unknown
- “In New York City, the buildings tell stories.” – Unknown
- “New York is not just a city, it’s an experience.” – Unknown
- “New York City is where life is written in the streets.” – Unknown
- “New York: the city that holds the key to every heart.” – Unknown
- “New York is the city of a million lives, all different, all unique.” – Unknown
- “In New York, every day is a new adventure.” – Unknown
