I spent Christmas in the canyons of Manhattan. Had a good time. Uptown, midtown, downtown. Walked through SoHo and the East Village to remind myself how painfully uncool I will always be. Harlem to Hell's Kitchen, and sea to shining sea. Hated Kandinsky at the Guggenheim. We were the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and we had a good time.And somehow the whole thing felt like a history field trip to ancient Rome. Unsustainable. It felt like the end of empire, massively unsustainable as the cracks from Copenhagen continue to widen throughout the teenies - energetically, economically, politically. Forget the no-show noughties, the real change is coming in the next decade.
And yet, I can't see New York just disappearing. Sure, much of Manhattan will be underwater, along with the corpulent, energy-guzzling society that created the present version, but the New York spirit surely means that alternatives will arise from the soggy ashes. New York, New York. It's a hell of a town.
