Brigid Bergin: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I'm Brigid Bergin, filling in for Brian today. We are closing out today's show with a thank-you note to New York City. Now, if you listen to WNYC regularly or even just keep up with your neighborhood chatter, gratitude may not be the most obvious word used to describe people's feelings towards the city, particularly on a very rainy day, but there's a reason so many of us choose to live here, right?

In fact, there are many reasons. As we approach the end of the year, we're going to take stock of them. Here to help, New York Magazine has just published a list of 39 reasons to love New York. It's a roundup of some of the bizarre and idiosyncratic things happening in the Big Apple and why, despite everything, we continue to love this place. Joining me now to run through some of those reasons is Eric Maza, editor-at-large of New York Magazine. Eric, welcome to WNYC.

Eric Maza: Hi, Brigid. Thanks for having me.

Brigid Bergin: There's a lot of things on this list I want to talk to you about. First, listeners, we need your voices in this conversation. What is your reason for loving New York City? Call or text, 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. Is it a person, a place, a thing, a general vibe, a new leader, or a new law? Is it the fact that despite the odds, the old New York still feels ever-present, or do you love this place because the city is ever evolving, or maybe it's just a combination of all of those things? Give us a call, 212-433-9692. You can call or text that number.

Eric, I want to start with number two on your list. You and I both have a copy of the magazine itself. Different covers, I will note. Number two is, "Because we're sharing headphones on the subway again," which is also the cover photograph with some different iconic pairings that New York Magazine put together. Why was this the one central to round up the whole issue? What does this trend say about New York?

Eric Maza: Obviously, it was a challenging year for everyone. We wanted to capture a sense of community, a sense of New Yorkers embracing each other. The photographer who took the cover images had brought us something that she had noticed on the train. She goes by subway hands. She had noticed people sharing headphones again. There's something very sweet about it. We thought, "All right, we can blow up this idea and bring it to life with New Yorkers that we all know, we recognize, we are fans of." You might be a cat person.

Brigid Bergin: Ben Stiller cover. I love that cover. [chuckles]

Eric Maza: Whereas I'm more Jinkx Monsoon, Lauren Santo Domingo rising person.

Brigid Bergin: Very nice. Very nice. Let's skip to reasons three and four, which are also character-riven. Reason three is because a truck driver built a meticulous replica of the city out of balsa wood. Reason four is because an architect made exact replicas of some of the graffitied trucks around the Newtown Creek storage lot. What is it about these amateur craftsmen that makes us filled with pride?

Eric Maza: I think it's the fact that it comes across the ingenuity of New Yorkers. They have regular jobs. They have personal, professional lives. They still take time to devote to a hobby that pays respect to the city in this very artisanal way. These are time-consuming projects. Joe Macken, who built this maquette of the city in balsa wood, has been working at it for 21 years. I think the dedication is pretty impressive.

Brigid Bergin: It's pretty impressive. What's also impressive, Eric, is it took us, what, about two minutes for our lines to fill with callers who want to get in on this conversation. Let's start with Josie in Brooklyn. Josie, real quick, because we're going to get in as many people as we can. Why do you love New York?

Josie: Because of all of the opportunities for a time like anonymously helping each other, holding the door open. Yesterday, a baby carriage woman, I held the door open for her, but then I was struggling with my own cart. A random guy passing on the subway, just passing on the street, just held open the door for me. I got in, and we all got in. It's really nice.

Brigid Bergin: Josie, thanks for that call. Let's go to Sally on the Upper West Side. Sally, what makes you love New York?

Sally: Well, first of all, because I don't have to know how to drive, which I do, but I didn't ever like it, and I don't have to own a car, but also for all the cultural things that are available. If you've been here long enough, you can figure out free or very low-cost ways to take advantage of them. The diversity, as you have said, and the fact that the city changes all the time.

Brigid Bergin: The city does change all the time, but there are a lot of callers who want to echo part of what Sally said on the transportation piece of this conversation. Let's get Terry in Manhattan very quickly. Why do you love New York, Terry?

Terry: Well, I'm crowding 70 here, but maybe I'm just a big kid at heart. When I was a kid, I loved to ride my bike. I love to take a ride on a train. Here in New York, I get to do those things every day. In fact, I can ride my bike more here in Manhattan than I can in the Hudson Valley, where I grew up as a kid.

Brigid Bergin: Terry, thank you so much for that call. I want to slip in a couple of texts. One listener writes, "As a lifelong aficionado of social dance in New York City, a person can find a community and a place to dance for just about every social dance out there. Cuban salsa, Argentine tango, West Coast Swing, Spanish flamenco, Bollywood, belly dancing, you name it. You can probably find a place to do any of those dances any night of the week." Thank you so much for that text.

Let's jump back into your list, and we'll bring in some more callers as they come in. Reason number six is you say, "Because say what you will about Eric Adams, he did get the garbage under control." Now, this is interesting because I've also been hearing some people express maybe a little nostalgia about him, and his particular style of showmanship, I think he would call it swagger, throughout the rollout of what he dubbed, somewhat grandiosely, the "trash revolution." The showmanship was on full display, and it actually worked. I also think that most people probably associate him with some of his corruption scandals. Adams is getting a shout-out in this surprising way. Why did you decide to include him in this list, but in a very narrow fashion?

Eric Maza: Well, first of all, I'll say that I don't think Eric Adams is going away anytime soon. I'm sure we'll be seeing him in an episode of Dancing with the Stars or something.

Brigid Bergin: We can hope.

Eric Maza: We can all hope for Eric Adams on Dancing with the Stars, but I thought we discussed the best way to tip our hat to the Eric Adams administration. We had arrived at the conclusion that the garbage situation was fixed, and we can all be thankful for that. He may have registered a number of corruption scandals, and he may have spent more time at zero bond than anyone should, but he did clean up the streets.

Brigid Bergin: He did indeed. Let's skip to reasons 13 and 14. Both of those two focus on how, during several ICE raids, New Yorkers stopped what they were doing to prevent their neighbors from being taken. Some of them were just passersby on Canal Street, and another was a baseball coach shielding his young players from officers. What makes these moments so New York?

Eric Maza: These are two of the more poignant stories in the issue. I think part of what makes them so moving is something that one of the earlier callers had alluded to, an expression of kindness when you least expect it. These were regular New Yorkers in the middle of Canal Street on a weekday. They heard from ambient conversation that a raid was imminent. They decided to band together with activists and make a statement, and prevent something terrible from happening. I think that fills us all with a great deal of gratitude and warmth for the city.

Brigid Bergin: I'm going to bring in Mary from Staten Island very quickly. Mary, why do you love New York?

Mary: The city that never sleeps.

Brigid Bergin: [laughs] Thank you, Mary.

[laughter]

Brigid Bergin: Very specific, very quick. We've got some great texts that have also come in. One listener writes, "Born in Brooklyn, grew up in St. Albans, now in Maryland, and because it's the greatest city in the world and the greatest city that ever existed, treasure the Big Apple." "I love New York City more as a professional bartender. We've got one of the best cocktail scenes in the world." "I love New York City because of my kind, helpful, compassionate, open-minded fellow New Yorkers." Another listener writes, and I must read, "I love New York because of Brian Lehrer."

Eric Maza: [laughs]

Brigid Bergin: Well, all of WNYC, but especially Brian Lehrer.

Eric Maza: Well, that's very sweet.

Brigid Bergin: Very, very sweet.

Eric Maza: I'll co-sign the cocktails thing. I was just at Indochine last night, having a hell of a martini.

Brigid Bergin: Oh, let's hit reason 18 very quickly because Sunset Park now has its own trilingual newspaper. That is so cool. That's a lot of languages in one paper. Tell me about that project, and why it is so uniquely New York.

Eric Maza: One of my great colleagues, Alexis, is a big fan of the writer of this story, Anne Kadet, and came across the story of The Sunset Post in Anne's newsletter. We just love that this one guy again talking about dedication to a singular project. This one former journalist decided late in life to start his own community newspaper and to find local stories in his neighborhood and get some scoops. I think we can all identify with that.

Brigid Bergin: I think that is great. I'm going to sneak in really quickly. Caller eight, Charlotte, excuse me, in Jersey City. You have about 15 seconds, Charlotte. Why do you love New York?

Charlotte: It's great for birthday parties. I took Sarah 15 years ago and all of her friends to the Marriott Marquis, so they could ride up and down in the glass elevators. They had a blast.

Brigid Bergin: That is wonderful. I love it. There are so many reasons to love New York. You can read about more of them in the latest issue of New York Magazine. I want to thank my guest, Eric Maza, editor-at-large, encourage you all to pick up whatever copy of New York Magazine you can get with various covers and find your own reason to love New York. Thanks for joining me.

Eric Maza: Thank you so much, Brigid. I appreciate it.

Brigid Bergin: The Brian Lehrer Show's producers are Lisa Allison, Mary Croak, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, Esperanza Rosenbaum, and this month, Sasha Linden Cohen. Megan Ryan is the head of Live Radio. Shayna Sengstock and Milton Ruiz are at the studio controls today. That's The Brian Lehrer Show. Stay tuned for All Of It.

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