"All those new office buildings of glass were lit up. [Park] Avenue was sparkling with Christmas lights, and the effect was stunning in its brilliance—as if the heart of the city, the imperial avenue was literally made of light. . . . Christmas in New York with all the nostalgic old-American gestures toward the star and the tree, is really [the] celebration of the city's wealth. And this Friday evening before Xmas on Park Avenue, this wealth is experienced in light. Every window gleamed as a showpiece. . . . If a native is so astonished, a stranger would be blinded."
~~ from Alfred Kazin's Journals, Selected and Edited by Richard M. Cook
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