A walk through New York feels like reading a chapter in a book. Or maybe more like a stanza in a long unending epic poem. You intersect many people's lives at cross angles and speculate silently and usually unconsciously about who they are. A man whose New Balance sneakers have been worn to scraps walks purposefully to somewhere unknown. A sidewalk huckster speaks in a long uninterrupted patter about a newspaper he's selling, ending with a self-effacing, "people say I talk too much." I hand him a dollar and take a small folded up community newspaper that seems fake but has this week's date on it. As I leave the Grand Central area and head towards fifth Avenue, the quality of the shoes and the fashion improves. The women all seem to regularly see their manicurists. I see that the storefronts are evolving too. Not so many mom and pop places and delis and sandwich shops with East European names. There's a newish looking place across the street that says it sells "slime"(?). There are sleek looking CBD shops and high-ceilinged clothing shops that look aloof to my business. Then on a side street I spy a dark little storefront bathed in blue light. It's advertised as a new concept "Hot in Europe." A boxing workout with a full bar." Two girls smiling maniacally pose with glittery gloves. I stop and take a picture at an angle careful not to be seen. The last thing I want in this world is to interact with this new absurd thing I didn't know existed a minute ago. When I turn the corner I see that one of my favorite landmarks, the Union Square Coffee Shop has been turned into a Chase Manhattan bank with a chain coffee shop attached. I rush back home up the Hudson and am relieved to find that the river and the mountains are still there.