New York is so situated that anything you want, you can get in the very block you live in. If you want to be robbed, there is one living in your block; if you want to be murdered, you don't have to leave your apartment house; if you want pastrami or gefilte fish, there is a delicatessen every other door; if it's female excitement you crave, your neighbor's wife will accommodate you.

Nov. 20, 1931, More Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat [1982]