In City Limits an excerpt from The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead, the author expresses his look on the city of New York. Whitehead uses various examples and interesting forms of diction to express his message to the audience. His important message was that every person living in New York builds their own private version of New York. He states that the first time you start building your private New York is the first time you lay eyes on it. He talks about his time when he first started building his own New York. He started building his own New York in the 1970′s which he looks at in a dirty way. He calls all of the “facts” stated on documentaries about New York, hokum. This shows how he feels that New York is misrepresented by outsiders.

the author later states “there are eight million naked cities in this naked city they dispute and disagree” this mean that each person has their own version of what New York City really is. It is up to us on how we want to see these changes, for example in the future like in 10 years people are going to see the Freedom Tower. But to everyone that was here before the tragedy, we are all going to see the Twin Towers and not the Freedom Tower. After a while buildings will change but they will always remember you as you remember them. Whiteheads main point of view is that you are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.