There are so many things that inspire me.

Cities inspire me.

Paris inspires me because of it’s architecture, it’s people, the food and the art.

Los Angeles inspires me because of the sheer diversity of people, beautiful weather, entertainment industry and weird people from almost everywhere.

Florence inspires me because of the art (and food), but mostly the art.

But no city inspires me more than New York City. Even the name… New York City… has meaning.

Let’s hear it for New York!

There’s no place like New York. It’s crowded but lonely. It’s where some of the richest people in the world live and ignore the cockroaches. It never sleeps, yet is silent on Sunday mornings. New York is Lou Reed, not Sheryl Crow. It’s Jackson Pollack, not David Hockney.

It’s monumental. It constantly changes, but yet, it stays the same.

My favorite bar has been serving Manhattan politicians, entertainers and socialites for decades, yet seems different every time I go.

This is just the coolest, most inspired ode to New York I’ve seen in a long time.

Let’s hear it for New York!

The great and talented New Yorker, Alicia Keys wrote the song in the video above. I’ve taken the liberty to copy the lyrics here:

Uuuu, New York
Uuuu, New York

Grew up in a town
That is famous as a place of movie scenes,
Noise is always loud
There are sirenes all around,
And the streets are mean
If I can make it here,
I could make it anywere,
That’s what they say
Seeing my face in lights,
Or my name in marquees found down Broadway

Even if ain’t all it seems
I got a pocket full of dreams

Baby I’m from New York!
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
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,
Hear it for New York!
(New York, New York, New York)

On the avenue,
There ain’t never a curfew, ladies work so hard
Such a merlting pot
On the corner selling rock
Preachers pray to God,
Hail a gipsy cab,
Takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn Bridge

Someone sleeps tonight
With a hunger for more then an empty fridge…

I’m going to make it by any means,
I got a pocket full of dreams,

Baby I’m from New York!
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
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,
Hear it for New York!
(New York, New York, New York)

One hand in the air for the big city,
Street lights, big dreams, all looking pretty
No place in the world that can compare
Put your lighters in the air,
Everybody say Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
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,
Hear ït for New York!