"I can't drive, so I can only live in New York, which is fine with me"
About this Quote
A sly confession doubles as a love letter to New York and a critique of American car culture. Michael Musto, the longtime Village Voice nightlife columnist and pop culture gadfly, turns a personal limitation into a compass that points straight to his natural habitat. Not driving is not merely a logistical fact; it becomes an aesthetic and social choice, one that favors density over sprawl, sidewalks over interstates, and a city tuned to the rhythm of walking, subways, and cabs.
New York stands almost alone in the United States as a place where not having a car is not an impediment but a perk. Its transit grid, 24-hour energy, and abundance of everything within reach suited Mustos beat: roaming clubs, theaters, and after-parties, collecting gossip and documenting scenes that live and die by proximity. The line carries his campy, deadpan wit, yet behind it sits a genuine urbanist sentiment. If mobility shapes identity, then New Yorks frictionless carlessness shapes a version of self that thrives on serendipity and crowd electricity. No parking, no problem; the city itself chauffeurs you.
There is also a tacit jab at the American expectation that adulthood equals driving. Choosing a city that removes that requirement becomes an act of self-alignment. Rather than lament a gap, he reframes it as destiny. The shrugging cadence of fine with me understates the deeper truth: he wants what New York offers, and New York rewards what he wants to do. In that sense, the line reads as both practical and aspirational, a reminder that environment is not just backdrop but collaborator.
Hyperbolic as only live in New York may be, the exaggeration underscores a real scarcity of comparable options in the U.S. For Musto, a non-driver and consummate urban chronicler, the city is not a compromise. It is the precondition for his work, his wit, and his way of being seen.
New York stands almost alone in the United States as a place where not having a car is not an impediment but a perk. Its transit grid, 24-hour energy, and abundance of everything within reach suited Mustos beat: roaming clubs, theaters, and after-parties, collecting gossip and documenting scenes that live and die by proximity. The line carries his campy, deadpan wit, yet behind it sits a genuine urbanist sentiment. If mobility shapes identity, then New Yorks frictionless carlessness shapes a version of self that thrives on serendipity and crowd electricity. No parking, no problem; the city itself chauffeurs you.
There is also a tacit jab at the American expectation that adulthood equals driving. Choosing a city that removes that requirement becomes an act of self-alignment. Rather than lament a gap, he reframes it as destiny. The shrugging cadence of fine with me understates the deeper truth: he wants what New York offers, and New York rewards what he wants to do. In that sense, the line reads as both practical and aspirational, a reminder that environment is not just backdrop but collaborator.
Hyperbolic as only live in New York may be, the exaggeration underscores a real scarcity of comparable options in the U.S. For Musto, a non-driver and consummate urban chronicler, the city is not a compromise. It is the precondition for his work, his wit, and his way of being seen.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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