On New York, by Edgar Allan Poe
"I have been roaming far and wide over this island of Manhatta… the city is thronged with strangers, and everything wears an aspect of intense life. Business has experienced a thorough revival, and 'all goes merry as a marriage bell.' Notwithstanding the Croton water, or 'the Crot'n', as the Gothamites have it, the streets are, with rare exception, insufferably dirty. The exceptions are to be found in Bond Street, Waverly Place, and some others of the upper, more retired, and more fashionable quarters…"
-Edgar Allan Poe