New York... Babylon-on-the-Hudson, sinful, extravagant, full of the nervous hilarity of the doomed.

A gourmet can tell from the flavor whether a woodcock's leg is the one on which the bird is accustomed to roost.

High blood pressure, cheeriness at breakfast, a mellowing political philosophy, and an inability to drink more than half a bottle of proof spirits at cocktail time without falling over the fire irons all suggest dark wings hovering overhead and the impending midnight croak of the raven.

What is subversive today, will almost certainly be patriotic tomorrow.