"One woman asked if it was still possible for a young artist to come to New York City and do what young artists did when Smith was starting out. Patti recalled coming to New York without money, when it was 'down and out,' and you could get a cheap apartment and 'build a whole community of transvestites,' artists or writers, or whatever.
Today, she said, 'New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling. But there are other cities. Detroit. Poughkeepsie... New York City has been taken away from you... So my advice is: Find a new city.'"
I don't know if it's true; I do know that other than Derek Jeter (who went to my high school) I don't know anyone who moved to New York and ended up finding what they dreamed they would there.
Text Source: Vanishing New York
Photo Source: Press Photo from Steven Sebring's 2008 Film Dream of Life.
