Fran Lebowitz Quotes

I am a New Yorker. I like New York. And I like cities. And it's not my desire to make New York more suburban. I would personally just like to vet each person.

New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city.

New York is the only city that I have ever lived in that I have felt at home.

I have always believed that every great city in history needs a vibrant center.

I loved experiencing city life in New York.

I love New York. I love the multicultural vibe here. Los Angeles doesn't inspire me in any way. Everyone is in the same industry, yet you feel very isolated.

It's hard to leave New York: this is where my friends are, my parents are. It is so vital. The whole world seems to look to New York.

It's a nice neighborhood, like the one I left. My home borough is Brooklyn and Queens.

I love L.A. - don't get me wrong. But I miss everything about New York. I don't eat cheese, but I miss the smell of pizza in the city. I'm a really big fan of Latino food. I want to go back home and have some good arroz con pollo.

I get my jolt of energy in New York. I get mi familia vibe in New York.

I always miss New York when I leave it.

If I could live anywhere else in the world, I would probably want a place back in New York.

I actually grew up in the City of Pasadena.

New York is so unique, and you are not always encouraged to consider the people in the city your neighbors because of the fast pace and surface anonymity.

Growing up in New York, there are a lot of tenement buildings and a lot of projects. You don't leave your projects too much. The laundry's there. The grocery store is there. Everything takes place right there. When I got knowledge of myself and thought about moving around the city, hip-hop was something that helped me.

Neighborhood is a word that has come to sound like a Valentine. As a sentimental concept, 'neighborhood' is harmful to city planning. It leads to attempts at warping city life into imitations of town or suburban life. Sentimentality plays with sweet intentions in place of good sense.

New York is an ugly city, a dirty city. Its climate is a scandal, its politics are used to frighten children, its traffic is madness, its competition is murderous. But there is one thing about it - once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.

New York is just New York. It's a hard city, it's a hard city to live in. It's a desperate city. It's filled with scam artists and people who are always looking for a way in and a way out and the majority of people have to really negotiate their way through that jungle to get to the other side; the other side being a place of tranquility and peace and home and safety.

New York City isn't Chuck E. Cheese. We don't have ball pits for the kids to play in. We have titty bars and crack.

People had said to me New York is kind of cutthroat and people walk past you on the street. I find it the opposite. I find that people want to talk.

I love New York. You're never alone, but you're always on your own.

I do not think there is anything deserving the name of society to be found out of London.

Reformers have long observed city people loitering on busy corners, hanging around in candy stores and bars and drinking soda popon stoops, and have passed a judgment, the gist of which is: "This is deplorable! If these people had decent homes and a more private or bosky outdoor place, they wouldn't be on the street!" That judgment represents a profound misunderstanding of cities. It makes no more sense than to drop in at a testimonial banquet in a hotel and conclude that if these people had wives who could cook, they would give their parties at home.

I wonder that no criminal has ever pleaded the ugliness of your city as an excuse for his crimes.

For in that city [New York] there is neurosis in the air which the inhabitants mistake for energy.