Here Is New York

Throughout “Here Is New York,” White employs personification, or the assignment of human traits to an inanimate object. Specifically, he refers to New York City as having the characteristics of a human being, able to “carry on its lapel the unexpungable odor of the long past” or have “perished of hunger” (19, 32). Later, White writes of a street having formerly had “a discernable bony structure” (48), further assigning human traits to the physical structures of the city. He also describes commuters as “having fished in Manhattan’s wallet” (27). In personifying New York City, White alludes to an innate energy and autonomy, similar to that of a human being. His use of this literary device supports his claim of the city’s unique vitality. This connects to his theme The City as a Living Ecosystem and his idea that the city is a living organism.

White uses similes in “Here Is New York” to extend and clarify his arguments about the qualities of the city and its cultures. For example, White compares New York City and a poem. “The city is like poetry,” White writes, because it includes a huge amount of people, cultures, and communities, all located in a relatively compact physical space that can be likened to the brevity of a poem (29).