(Photo: Peter Hapak)

I LOVE NEW YORK” is the oldest one in the book, conventional wisdom in all caps. And yet, it still somehow retains its potency, and why is that? Because only a fool would think otherwise. Consider the evidence that we have amassed (for the second year running) in the pages that follow. We are a city that rains prosperity down on the whole country, exporting everything from war heroes to canny socialites to great filmmakers rediscovering their top form. We offer hot dates, hot waiters, hot bands, and hot neighbors. We are the base of more political mojo than any state in the nation and of an angry guy who is single-handedly holding up one of the biggest real-estate projects in the city’s history. Plus we hold fast to the faith that our drinking water tastes better than everyone else’s, even though that is almost certainly not true. But if all that is just a little too hard-core for you, wake up early tomorrow morning and walk the streets at dawn. At that hour, the city belongs neither to the corporate machers who run the town nor even to the hardworking millions who sustain it. It belongs simply to you.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Table of Contents: Dec 25, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!