This is a one off, an occasional piece that purcolated over the course of our most recent trip to New York, the highlight of which was a day's hike from our hotel at 56th and Broadway down to the waterfront (the South Street Seaport, now a mall), coming and going through Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park, up Fifth Avenue and Broadway, past my beloved Flat Iron Building (which, somewhat ironically, I did not get a good view of this time around, probably the first time that has ever happened since I first visited Manhattan in 1988).

Again, I ought to aknowledge the contribution of Natalie Merchant: the first lines, you might notice, are directly lifted from her song "Carnival;" in addition, the next two lines crib from that "Streets of Old New York" song, the legit name of which I can never remember. The last lines, in case you didn't notice, hark to the song "Somewhere," which I love, from the musical West Side Story, which I hate. What the hell? What can I say: when in New York, steal.