90 New York Quotes That Will Make You Want to Visit the Big Apple

The Big Apple is calling your name in these New York quotes about the wonders of the city.

You don’t have to be a New Yorker to realize how much people love NYC.

Those who live in the city can’t imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else, and those who visit quickly fall in love with the culture. 

There are five boroughs that make up the city, where you can visit some of the most famous landmarks in the country, from the Statue of Liberty to Time Square. 

If you want a better understanding of what people love about the city so much, check out these New York quotes. 

Short Quotes About New York

Get a quick feel for the city with these short quotes about New York.

1. “I run New York City” ― Conor McGregor

2. “I love New York City; I’ve got a gun.” ― Charles Barkley

3. “The name Joe Shapiro is not uncommon in New York City.” ― Mary L. Trump

4. “I was born and raised in New York City, Manhattan, uptown.” ― Ana Ortiz

5. “I’m trying to change the culture in New York City; that’s hard enough” ― Michael Bloomberg

6. “Since moving to New York City, I’ve become such an indoor slippers girl.” ― Tayshia Adams

7. “And the most unusual and surrealistic place in New York City is Central Park.” ― Christo

8. “My favorite bar in New York City is called Milk and Honey, a great cocktail bar.” ― Chris Thile

9. “Shortly after college, I was working in New York City at ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine.” ― Lisa Lampanelli

10. “New York City is a great monument to the power of money and greed… a race for rent.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright

Why people love New York quotes

Although New York is a small city, it offers popular historic and amazing places you can’t find elsewhere. 

11. “London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful. Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it.” — Dorothy Parker

12. “My favorite thing about New York is the people because I think they’re misunderstood. I don’t think people realize how kind New York people are.” — Bill Murray

13. “One belongs to New York instantly. One belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.” ― Tom Wolfe

14. “The buildings are shimmering verticality, a gossamer veil, a festive scene-prop hanging there against the black sky to dazzle, entertain, amaze.” — Frank Lloyd Wright

15. “I wake up every morning and say to myself, ‘Well, I’m still in New York. Thank you, God.” ― Ed Koch

16. “Make your mark in New York and you are a made man.” ― Mark Twain

17. “Quite simply, I was in love with New York. I do not mean ‘love’ in any colloquial way; I mean that I was in love with the city, the way you love the first person who ever touches you, and you never love anyone quite that way again.” — Joan Didion

18. “I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, “There’s no place like New York. It’s the most exciting city in the world now.” — Robert De Niro

19. “When I’m in New York, I just want to walk down the street and feel this thing, like I’m in a movie.” ― Ryan Adams

20. ‘‘I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York’s skyline.” ― Ayn Rand

New York quotes with an energetic vibe

The following New York quotes are filled with energetic and good vibes.

21. “Sometimes, from beyond the skyscrapers, the cry of a tugboat finds you in your insomnia, and you remember that this desert of iron and cement is an island.” ― Albert Camus

22. “When it’s 100 degrees in New York, it’s 72 in Los Angeles. When it’s 30 degrees in New York, in Los Angeles, it’s still 72. However, there are 6 million interesting people in New York and only 72 in Los Angeles.” ― Neil Simon

23. “But I love the city in an emotional, irrational way, like loving your mother or your father even though they’re a drunk or a thief. I’ve loved the city my whole life — to me, it’s like a great woman.” ― Woody Allen

24. “What I love about New York is the electricity I feel right away.” ― Jack Dorsey

25. “More than anything else, New York is a city of superlatives, a place where the best, the brightest, the biggest is the norm.” ― Marilyn J. Appleberg

You will also enjoy our article on Great Gatsby quotes.

Quotes about the culture in New York

New York is a multi-linguistic city where citizens speak over 800 languages collectively.

26. “New York is made up of millions of different people, and they all come here looking for something.” ― Lindsey Kelk

27. “The culture in New York is just impossible to replicate. It’s such an incredible feeling to be walking on the streets of New York. You can literally find everything you need in a five-block radius oftentimes.” ― Max Schneider

28. “Given New York’s cultural diversity, it has always attracted creative people.” ― Fred Wilson

29. “The diversity, the food, the culture, the constant change—New York is truly one of the most inspiring places on the planet.” ― XXMK

30. “The art and culture that is New York, communications, finance, all these things help make up New York. The rest of the country should be happy that we are what we are.” ― David Dinkins 

31. “If most American cities are about the consumption of culture, Los Angeles and New York are about the production of culture—not only national culture, but global culture.” ― Barbara Kruger

Living in New York quotes

NYC is a city where many dreams are born and goals are achieved.

32. “The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.” ― John Updike

33. “Once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.” — John Steinbeck

34. “Every true New Yorker believes with all his heart that when a New Yorker is tired of New York, he is tired of life.” — Robert Moses

35. “I live in New York City, so there’s so much stimulation when you walk outside, it does not require a television in the home.” ― Jesse Eisenberg

36. “I live in New York, and I’m in New York basically all the time. I spend a lot of time in restaurants, and I feel like that’s why they’re successful.” ― Bobby Flay

 37. “That’s the problem with living in New York. You’ve got no New York to run away to.” ― Amor Towles

38. “I currently live in the Plaza in New York, and I love it- all that history, all those interesting stories.” ― Tommy Hilfiger

39. “If you want to become a real New Yorker, there’s only one rule: You have to believe New York is, has been, and always will be the greatest city on earth. The center of the universe.” ― Ellen R. Shapiro

Pursuing dreams in New York quotes

You can see for yourself what people love about the city so much.

40. “I live in New York City. The stories of my films take place in New York; I’m a New York filmmaker.” ― Spike Lee

41. “I have to listen to New York; I live there. I wasn’t born there, but I’ve been living there all my life.” ― Thelonious Monk

42. “We live in New York. To be able to have a steady job and take your kids to school, and be around and work hard, is the perfect life.” ― Brooke Shields

43. “I realized the other day that I’ve lived in New York longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. It’s amazing: I am a New Yorker. I never thought I’d be.” ― David Bowie 

44. “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.” ― John Steinbeck

45. “This is the city of dreamers and time and again it’s the place where the greatest dream of all, the American dream, has been tested and has triumphed.” ― Michael Bloomberg

46. “People go to LA to “find themselves.” They come to New York to become someone new.” ― Lindsey Kelk

47. “Somewhere between living and dreaming is New York.” ― Unknown

48. “New York is made up of millions of different people, and they all come here looking for something.” ― Lindsey Kelk

Visiting New York quotes

See why you should plan a trip to the Big Apple.

49. “Welcome to New York, it’s been waiting for you.” ― Taylor Swift

50. “Something’s always happening here. If you’re bored in New York, it’s your own fault.” ― Myrna Loy

51. “New York is really the place to be; to go to New York, you’re going to the center of the world, the lion’s den.” ― Zubin Mehta

52. “I get out of the taxi, and it’s probably the only city which in reality looks better than on the postcards, New York.” ― Milos Forman

53. “Visiting New York City is like being on a giant movie set.” ― Unknown

New York quotes that will make your day

Learn more about the draw of the city with the following quotes.

54. “This isn’t a fairy tale; it’s New York City.” ― Alex Flinn Beastly

55. “When you leave New York, you aren’t going anywhere.” ― Jimmy Breslin

56. “I look out the window, and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance.” ― Nora Ephron

57. “Concrete Jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do…” ― Alicia Keys

58. “There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless” ― Simone Beauvoir

59. “It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story.” ― Agatha Christie

60. “It was never built for the comfort and happiness of its citizens, but to astonish the world.” ― Susan Ertz 

61. “New York had all the iridescence of the beginning of the world.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

62. “Every person on the streets of New York is a type. The city is one big theater where everyone is on display.” ― Jerry Rubin

More New York quotes and sayings

Here are some more New York quotes for you to enjoy.        

63. “As for New York City, it is a place apart. There is not its match in any other country in the world.” ― Pearl S. Buck

64. “New York is appalling, fantastically charmless and elaborately dire.” ― Henry James

65. “New York is an exciting town where something is happening all the time, most unsolved.” ― Johnny Carson

66. “New York now leads the world’s great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn’t make a sudden move.” ― David Letterman

67. In New York, you’ve got to have all the luck.” ― Charles Bukowski

68. “People in France are very intrusive when they recognize you. In New York, they are very polite, with quick words, so it’s great.” ― Audrey Tautou

69. “One of the reasons why I chose to live in New York was that there is this sense of your environment constantly changing.” ― Taraka Larson

70. “New York has been the best gift, in that the city pushes me to so many next levels.” ― Baratunde Thurston”

New York Quotes To Inspire Adventure

From late-night live music to street vendors and Broadway shows or museums, the options of things to do are endless. 

71. “New York is not a city – it’s a world.” — Iman

72. “There’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York! These streets will make you feel brand new; big lights will inspire you. Let’s hear it for New York.” — Jay-Z

73. “Autumn in New York, it spells the thrill of first-nighting.” — Billie Holiday

74. “The only people who can afford to be artists in New York are rich.” — Sophie

75. “Spend the rest of your life out west, but you’re still a New Yorker.” — James Brogan

76. “And I always heard people in New York never get to know their neighbors.” — Paul Varjak

77. “One thing about New York City. You are here, or you are nowhere” — Gatsby Welles

78. “In Hollywood, actors learn to act from watching television. In New York, people learn to act by walking down the street.” — Sidney Lumet

79. To me, the difference between New York and London is that things are boring and staid in London. — Theo James

80. “ The wanderer in Manhattan must go forth with a certain innocence because New York is best seen with innocent eyes.” — Pete Hamill

New York quotes that fills New Yorkers with pride

The diversity and rich culture of the city make it a place that is incomparable for many.

81. “New York is not just a place — it’s an ideal that embodies excitement, energy, and endless possibilities.” — Kathy Hochul

82. “I have a very focused agenda. And I hold myself to the highest standards. I judge myself more harshly than any voter, or any New Yorker, will.” — Kathy Hochul

83. “It is our time to unleash the power of New York’s women.” — Kathy Hochul

84. “When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.” — Fran Lebowitz

85. “If Louis was right, and you only get one great love, New York may just be mine. And I can’t have nobody talking shit about my boyfriend.” — Carrie Bradshaw

86. “I don’t like cities. But I like New York. Other places make me feel like a dork.” — Madonna

87. “Some of us claim that New York City is the capital of the country, indeed the capital of the world. Now that may be a bit much for those who don’t come from New York, but clearly, we are an important city for reasons of our cultural advances.” — David Dinkins

88. “Whoever is born in New York is ill-equipped to deal with any other city: all other cities seem, at best, a mistake, and, at worst, a fraud. No other city is so spitefully incoherent.” — James Baldwin

789. “Being a New Yorker grounds you in every way. Before you walk out of the house, you can dress in the nicest clothes and be whoever you think you are, but when you’re on those streets, you’re just in the school of fish.”— Awkafina

90. “New York is a sucked orange.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Get caught up in the excitement

If you’ve never been to NYC before, now is the perfect time to plan a trip.

Even with the crowded streets, obnoxious cost of living, and cold winter temperatures, there’s something about the city that takes hold of a person and leaves them wanting more. 

Did you enjoy these New York quotes and sayings?

If so, share in the comments what other cities you would like to have featured on Everyday Power.