City Limits is a passage from the book The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead. In the passage, Whitehead talks about how everyone has their own view of New York. According to Whitehead, some people “start to build their own private New York the first time they lay eyes on it.” In other words, some people start developing their own view of the city when they first see it. In City Limits, Whitehead talks about how the historical background of New York varies from person to person. Everyone has their very own memories and experiences in New York City. Because of this, Whitehead claims that all the historical facts that you learn about New York are all “hokum” if they aren’t apart of your memories of the city. He then talks about how each and every place in New York contains memories of events and experiences different people had. Each apartment in the city holds countless stories and experiences of different people during certain parts of their lives. Even though the city is constantly changing, it will always stay the same to the people who hold memories of those places. In the end, Whitehead talks about how some of us might have been apart of each other’s New Yorks without even realizing it until now.