No matter what you called this place, there is no doubt that you have heard of it. This is a state that has been mentioned in so many movies, shows, songs, and so much more, that it’s the type of place that you may feel like you have visited before, even if you never have.
If you’re lucky enough to be visiting New York, or you actually live there, you may want to think of some cool, ‘unique’ captions for your social media posts while you are there.
In this article, we have listed 125 quotes that, we believe, really capture the heart and essence of this magical place. We have split each of these quotes into sections so that you can take a look through, and work out what kind of quotes you are looking for.
From song lyrics, to quotes from fictional characters, we have really thought about everything. There is a quote here for everyone, to those who are visiting, to those who have never actually been, but are dreaming about the day that they finally do.
So, let’s jump straight into it. Here are 125 quotes that encapsulate New York.
Quotes About New York By Famous People
Here are some quotes from names that you’ll likely recognize. Some of these people are native New Yorkers, whilst others have visited from time to time, yet they all share a similar opinion; there really is no place like New York.
Here are plenty of quotes about New York, spoken by some of the most well-known people around the world.
“New York is not a city. It’s a world.” — Iman
“I regret profoundly that I was not an American and not born in Greenwich Village. It might be dying, and there might be a lot of dirt in the air you breathe, but this is where it’s happening.” — John Lennon
“I don’t like Los Angeles. The people are awful and terribly shallow, and everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to play the game. I’m from New York. I will kill to get what I need.” — Lady Gaga
“New York is the only city in the world where you can get deliberately run down on the sidewalk by a pedestrian.” – Russell Baker
“When you leave New York, you ain’t going anywhere.” — Jimmy Breslin
“I love New York.” — Hillary Clinton
“As for New York City, it is a place apart. There is not its match in any other country in the world.” — Pearl S. Buck
“I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance.” – Nora Ephron
“This isn’t a fairytale. It’s New York City.” — Alex Flinn
“I get out of the taxi and it’s probably the only city which in reality looks better than on the postcards, New York.” – Milos Forman
“New York means the world to me.” — Donna Karan
“When I’m in New York, I just want to walk down the street and feel this thing, like I’m in a movie.” – Ryan Adams
“There is more sophistication and less sense in New York than anywhere else on the globe.” — Elbert Hubbard
“Things always change and New York teaches you that.” – Richard Hell
“One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to its as much as five minutes as in five years.” – Tom Wolfe
“There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless.” – Simone de Beauvoir
“You haven’t lived until you died in New York City.” – Alexander Woollcott
“One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.” – Georgia O’Keefe
“A hundred times I have thought: New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times: it’s a beautiful catastrophe.” – Le Corbusier
“The diversity, the food, the culture, the constant change–New York City is truly one of the most inspiring places on the planet.” – XXMK
“I knew I couldn’t live in America and I wasn’t ready to move to Europe so I moved to an island off the coast of America – New York City.” – Spalding Gray
“I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant hellhound loping behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.”— Rick Riordan
“When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.” – Fran Lebowitz
“There is no question that there is an unseen world. The problem is, how far is it from midtown and how late is it open?” – Woody Allen
“Cities have sexes: London is a man, Paris a woman, and New York a well—adjusted transsexual.” – Angela Carter
“I love New York, even though it isn’t mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.” – Truman Capote
“If a man can live in Manhattan, he can live anywhere.” – Arthur C. Clarke
“If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.” – Peter Shaffer
“It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story.” – Agatha Christie
“It is a fact of big cities that one girl’s darkest how is always another’s moment of shining triumph, and New York is the biggest and cruelest city of them all.” – Anna Godbersen
“London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful. Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it.” – Dorothy Parker
“Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book–and does.” – Groucho Marx
“More than anything else New York is a city of superlatives, a place where the best, the brightest, the biggest is the norm.” – Marilyn J. Appleberg
“People go to LA to “find themselves”, they come to New York to become someone new.” — Lindsey Kelk
“But there is one thing about it – once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.” – John Steinbeck
Quotes About New York By Fictional Characters
Next up, we have some quotes from some other names you’ll have heard of. This time, however, these people we’re quoting do not really exist. These are some of the best quotes about New York from your favorite movies, TV shows, and musicals.
Here are quotes about New York, taken from your favorite fictional characters.
“In New York, you can be a new man.” — Aaron Burr, Hamilton.
“I love New York City…you’re never alone but you’re always on your own.” – Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl
“New York is not as big a city as it pretends to be.” — Michael O’Hara, The Lady from Shanghai
“You know, New York is considerably more interesting that I’d expected.” — Newt Scamander — Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.” – Joe Fox, You’ve Got Mail
“This is New York City. A man can do whatever he wants.” — Bloomingsdale cop, Moscow on the Hudson
“Here we are Marv. New York City, the land of opportunity.” – Harry, Home Alone 2
“New York. The big, juicy Apple. The city that never sleeps with the same person two nights running. My favorite place in America, where Sex And The City isn’t just a program, it’s a promise.” — Daniel Cleaver, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
“When I first moved to New York, I bought Vogue instead of dinner. I just felt it fed me more.” – Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
“Nothing shocks these New York cab drivers!” — Joe, Alice
“I’m a New York City girl. It’s a little too quiet around here for me.” — Dale Arden, Flash Gordon
“And I always heard people in New York never get to know their neighbors.” – Paul Varjak, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
“New York has romanced me unlike anything else.” – Serena van der Woodsen, Gossip Girl
“In New York City there’s a fine line between law and chaos.” — Narrator, The Other Guys
“Year after year, twenty—something women come to New York City in search of the two L’s: labels and love.” — Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City
“I’m a New Yorker. Fear’s my life.” — Gordon, Rent
Quotes About New Yorkers
They may not be the friendliest people on the surface, but being a New Yorker is not a choice, it is a lifestyle. Below are some funny yet true quotes about those who truly run this state.
Here are 7 quotes about some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet; New Yorkers.
“Bike like a New Yorker.” — Unknown
“New Yorkers are born all over the country, and then they come to New York City and it hits them: oh, that’s who I am.” — Unknown
“If you want to become a real New Yorker, there’s only one rule: You have to believe New York is, has been, and always will be the greatest city on earth. The center of the universe.” – Ellen R. Shapiro
“You can do what you like, sir, but I’ll tell you this. New York is the true capital of America. Every New Yorker knows it, and by God, we always shall.” – Edward Rutherfurd
“The flag of New York City should be someone with four bags opening a door with their shoulder.” – Alex Baze
“Yet, as only New Yorkers know, if you can get through the twilight, you’ll live through the night.” – Dorothy Parker
“The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.” – John Updike
Funny Quotes About New York
Are you looking for some puns to fill up your Instagram captions? Look no further as we have taken the time to gather up some of the funniest – or, some of the corniest – quotes that we could find about New York.
Here are some funny quotes about New York that’ll surely make you laugh out loud.
“What a brew—tiful day!”
“In New York, the vegan puns are so corny.”
“In winter, NYC is the city of tights.”
“The views from the Empire States couldn’t be any NYCer.”
“Someone tell Gossip Girl I’m here right now.”
“Someone asked me for directions, so you can call me a real New Yorker.”
“Winter in NYC is snow joke.”
“New York is an exciting city where something is happening all the time – most unsolved.”
“Taking a big bite out of the Big Apple.”
“New York Rule #1: Get out of my way.”
“Keep New York tidy. Dump your trash in Jersey.”
‘You Know You’re From New York When’
This section is specifically for all you native New Yorkers. If you don’t relate to the majority of these quotes, where the heck have you been? If you’re from New York, you should be able to relate to these statements.
So, here are some ‘You Know You’re From New York When…’ quotes that you may be able to relate to.
“You know you’re from New York when you get irritated when you see a new Starbucks opening.”
“You know you’re from New York when you get irritated when you hate Midtown.”
“You know you’re from New York when you’ve been to a warehouse party in Bushwick.”
“You know you’re from New York when all your outfits are completely black.”
“You know you’re from New York when your accent is 100% stronger when you’re pissed.”
Song Lyrics About New York
From Frank Sinatra to Jay-Z, everybody knows at least 3-4 songs that either mention the words ‘New York’, or reference the state itself. Below, we have listed a bunch of song lyrics that are about New York.
Here are song lyrics taken from songs that are all about New York.
“History is happening in Manhattan.” — The Schuyler Sisters by the Cast of Hamilton
“These streets will make you feel brand new / Big lights will inspire you.” — Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys ft. Jay–Z
“A hustle here and a hustle there, / New York City’s the place.” — Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed
“Can we get away this weekend? / Take me to Broadway / Let’s go shopping baby then we’ll go to a CafÃ. / Let’s go on the subway, / Take me to your hood, / I never been to Brooklyn and I’d like to see what’s good.” — American Boy by Estelle and Kanye West
But that way you love, darlin’, / Know I’m Brooklyn bound.” — Brooklyn Bound by The Black Keys
“See me walking down Fifth Avenue, / A walking cane here at my side.” — Englishman in New York by Sting
“The great big city’s a wonderous toy, / Just made for a girl and boy.” — Manhattan by Ella Fitzgerald
“New York isn’t New York without you, love.” — New York by St. Vincent
The boys of the NYPD choir were singing ‘Galway Bay’, / And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day.” — Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
“I’m in a New York state of mind.” New York State of Mind by Billy Joel
“Pretty baby, won’t you wake up, / It’s a Chelsea morning.” Chelsea Morning by Joni Mitchell
“Welcome to New York, It’s been waiting for you.” — Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift
“New York, like a Christmas tree, Tonight this city belongs to me.” — Angel of Harlem by U2
“Times Square can’t shine as bright as you.” Hey There, Delilah by Plain White T’s
“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” — Theme From New York, New York by Frank Sinatra
Other Quotes About New York
Finally, here are some random quotes that ring just as true as the others we have mentioned above; it’s just that these didn’t really fit into a category. So, take a look through, and take your pick!
Here are some quotes that, we believe, completely sum up how 99.99% people feel when they get to the Greatest City in the World.
“There is a time of year in New York when, even before the first leaf falls, you feel the seasons click.”
“NYC is always a good idea.”
“Each neighborhood has its own beauty & idiosyncrasies that spark creativity.”
“Keep calm and go to New York.”
“My life didn’t begin until I got to New York.”
“There’s an inherent energy in New York City that it’s famous for. It makes you want to get up and do a million things all day and stay up all night.”
“New York is not a place. It’s a feeling.”
“A bad day in New York City is still better than a good day anywhere else.”
“A new life in New York.”
“The people who say Las Vegas never sleeps must never have visited New York.”
“I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps.”
“Follow your heart, even if it takes you all the way to New York.”
“New York is like nothing else in the world.”
“Something’s always happening here. If you’re bored in New York, it’s your own fault.”
“You cannot stop New York City.”
“You’re going to make it happen. This is New York.”
“New York state of mind.”
“I think I was made to live in New York.”
“New York. City of dreams.”
“Either you love New York or you are wrong.”
“I fell in love, his name is New York.”
“I’m having an affair with New York.”
“New York. It puts a spell on you.”
“I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York’s skyline. Particularly when one can’t see the details. Just the shapes.”
“Meanwhile, in New York…”
“I went to New York to be born again.”
“Somewhere between living and dreaming, there’s New York.”
“Take me to New York.”
“New York City is where your wildest dreams come true.”
“There is nothing prettier than a city at 5 AM with its empty streets and cold wind.”
“Hello, New York. You’re looking gorgeous today.”
“New York is a 24-hour city. It never stops.”
“People never forget two things: their first love and their first day in New York City.”
“New York is the city that other cities can only dream of being.”
There is something in New York City that makes sleep useless.
“Dear New York, I’ll never get over you.”
Final Thoughts
There we have it. You have truly been spoiled for choice with our over-100 different quotes and sayings, all about the Greatest City in the World.
Whether you’re looking for a funny pun to make your followers laugh, or you’re seeking the perfect quote from Hamilton, there is something for everyone in our list above. With 125 quotes to choose from, we have no doubt that something in this list will make you smile!
So, what are you waiting for? Get your cameras out, snap some pictures, and start uploading to your favorite social media site with these crazy captions. Your friends and family are going to love them just as much as you do.
