Content Warning: This section references racial violence and terrorism.

Commuters are people who work in one place and live in another. White uses the term to describe people who work in New York City but live elsewhere, generally suburbs in Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, or Connecticut. These people come to the city each day for their jobs. White describes commuters as “desk bound” (27). He notes that they do not enjoy the spontaneity or life force of the city because they simply come to work and leave as soon as they are finished—“no rover,” as White writes (28). White describes the many elements and experiences of the city that commuters miss out on, from “roaming in the gloaming” to the reading room of the New York Public Library (27).

Cosmopolitan is an adjective referring to something that is international or includes elements of many cultures and types of people. It can also be used to convey a sense of glamor, sophistication, and worldliness. White uses this term to describe New York City, noting that despite the city’s lacking public services, noisiness, overcrowding, and other types of unpleasantness, it compensates by offering its citizens the opportunity to be part of “something unique, cosmopolitan, mighty and unparalleled” (33).