I remember looking out the window of the little maid's room where we had been installed, seeing the lights of the Palisades across the way, and thinking, There! There it is! There's New York, this wonderful city, I'll go live there someday. Even being in New York, the actual place, I found the idea of New York so wonderful that I could only imagine it as some other place, greater than any place that would let me sleep in it--a distant constellation of lights I had not yet been allowed to visit. I had arrived in Oz only to think, Well, you don't LIVE in Oz, do you?
The author reflects on his childhood dream of New York City, recalling a moment when he looked out from a small room and saw the city’s lights. This sight filled him with a sense of wonder and hope, inspiring him to think that one day he would live there. Rather than seeing the city as a tangible reality, he viewed it as a distant and magnificent place that seemed unattainable at that time, like a constellation that was out of reach.
Even when he eventually arrived in New York, the essence of the city surpassed his expectations. He likens his experience to arriving in a magical land, yet he still felt a sense of separation, as if he was merely visiting a dream. This reflects the profound allure that New York had for him, symbolizing both aspiration and an elusive paradise that felt more like a fantasy than an everyday reality.
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