A New Year in Old Manhattan

A New Year in Old Manhattan

A short description of New Years in the 1890's and comparing it to what it used to be.

The article I have chosen describes the difference between New Year’s Day when New York City was first established to New Year’s Day in the 1890’s. The title of the article is The New Year in Old Manhattan. The audience for this article would be anyone who enjoys to read short stories or opinion due to the fact that this is essentially the author’s opinion of life in New York City. I think after reading this article I can say that he or she is really not too fond of what New York City is becoming. You can tell that the author misses the more simplistic times of New York City even though he or she would not have be born. You can also tell the author loves New York City through the thought and research that is behind this article. I think this article is very interesting because it does not tell us what life is like in New York City during the 1890’s except for the last paragraph. Instead it tells us what life in New York City is not or how it has changed. The point of this article is to tell us that the friendliness that used to fill the streets in New York is no more. That the evolution of the city has made the inhabitants more private and recluse. The author goes on to tell us how friendly and interactive the citizens of New York used to be. The author describes the festivities that took place on New Year’s Day and how it would bring people together through parties and just the overall kindness and friendlessness of New Yorkers. However the author says that the hospitality and overall friendliness of New York citizens is nonexistent by saying ‘but the old-time friendliness shall be known in Manhattan no more.” The author also state “As New York has grown…the quaint Dutch characteristics with which it began, the simple hearted primitive neighborliness has naturally vanished.” To me, this relates to our entire English class as a whole. We study the natural growth and evolution of the city and this article is describing one of the effects of this growth.

Unknown Author

"A New Year in Old Manhattan." Collier’s Weekly [New York City] 1899, Vol. 23, No. 13: 16-17. Print.

1899

Edward Regler