Practically all large to midsize American cities are the same. The local "flare" is being sapped from most cities. Every city is becoming a sterilized replica of the next. Starbucks, Best Buy, Target, Apple stores, a few overpriced bars and restaurants, and that's about it.

The only thing separating New York from any other city is it's reputation. You can't gentrify a reputation, but you can raze, renovate, and remove the infrastructures and populations that spawned it.

Banality truly rules the day...