The Sidewalks Are a Metaphor for Whatever the Hell You Want
In New York magazine's cover story this week about the lonely and nasty ladies of UrbanBaby.com, Emily Nussbaum writes, "the island seems to be filling up with strollers at precisely the moment when the sidewalks have narrowed." The Observer's Real Estate blog, however, contacted New York City Department of Transportation spokesperson Craig Chin, who said that the sidewalks are set at a minimum of five feet, and they most certainly have not grown narrower. If anything, according to the Department of Urban Planning, the sidewalks have grown wider in more densely populated areas.
These findings were taken to Nussbaum, who responded, "It's a metaphor." Brilliant, no? It's the perfect pre-correction defense, wrapping up your errors in a shiny bow, giving the world the gift of figurative language. Like those weapons of mass destruction? Totally just a metaphor for Judith Miller.
