Nectar of a City

The stench of New York is not really a stench at all. See, there's a series of smells one's nostrils pick up while walking down any street or avenue. That's not to say it's bad though. They are neither invasive nor subtle. The whiffs are usually fast and fleeting. They don't cause dry heaves or those Febreze induced nose-inhales from their commercials. Unless you're walking in China Town where the smell of raw fish sticks to clothing like a dried burdock plant, nothing gets my stomach churning because the scent never lasts. It is all a coincidence actually that I don't smell the odor of the city. Why you ask? Because typically each block has a bakery, coffee shop, pizza parlor, laundromat, or Subway Restaurant which does wonders for the quality of air. In most cases the smell of garbage or sewers are masked or effectively eliminated by these businesses which all have a distinctive scent of their own. And now that McDonalds' McCafe has taken off, they don't smell so bad either. Of course on days when the temperature is pushing the mercury up into the 80's, a trip on the subway can get unbearable, especially when the majority of people on the train have made some sort of unofficial social protest against showers or deodorant. I guess for the most part it's easy breathing.