(voices in the background)

These are the people I think of when I think of New York
It’s Eugene the doorman
Ronald the fireman
Christie on Christopher Street
Tony at the flower market
Lou Reed on every corner
Songs at every light
Great grin, asymmetrical like his songs
Diversification
Post-Medication
Concentration
Not for the whole nation
Just New York

In New York summers get hot, well into the hundreds
You can't walk around the block without a change of clothing
Hot as a hairdryer in your face
Hot as a handbag and a can of mace
New York, I just got a place in New York

New York, New York

In New York you can forget
Forget how to sit still
Tell yourself you will stay in
But it's down to Alphaville
New York
New York, New York
New York, New York
New York, ah-ooo

The Irish have been coming here for years
Feel like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall, dance hall, dance floor
They even got the police
Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics
Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew
Happily not like me and you
I lost and found you in New York

New York, New York
New York
New York, New York
New York, ah-ooo
In New York, ah-ooo

In New York I lost it all to you and your vices
Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid life crisis
I hit an iceberg in my life
You know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat
You got to put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York
New York, New York
New York, ah-ooo…

(Background voices)