New Alexandria: An Alternate History

This whole post came out of a misremembering of the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty, a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus called "The New Colossus":

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Well, despite the fact that even the title references the Colossus of Rhodes, my dumb ass remembered the first line as, "Just like the blazing lighthouse of Greek fame" because it was 6:30 AM, the coffee hadn't kicked in, and I was listening to a podcast about Cleopatra ("Timesuck" if anyone is curious)

So I was thinking (until two hours later when I remembered the poem is literally called The New Colossus, for fuck's sake Nym) that it was a reference to another wonder of the ancient world - the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

And it occurred to me that, in a way... it wouldn't exactly be incorrect to say New York City is sort of a New Alexandria. I mean, not for nothing, but certain areas of New York wouldn't look out of place in the classical world:

Alexandria and New York City both have reputations as multicultural metropolises (metropolii?) by the water, but what particularly sells it for me is the fact that Alexandria was one of many ancient cities named for Alexander the Great. And in a way, New York City has its own Alexander the Great in the form of Alexander Hamilton, who was so associated with this city even in his lifetime, that his enemies (Jefferson and his cronies) nicknamed it Hamiltonopolis. (And not for nothing, but I think that makes John Laurens Hephaestion, which is weirdly fitting, all things considering.)

I'm sure Amsterdam and York are both great cities, but perhaps it's time to associate NYC with another city entirely...

I know this was a short, somewhat silly post. But it's food for thought, isn't it?
-Nymicus Lesbianicus

P.S. There's a novel idea in here somewhere, something with Cleopatra as mayor of NYC and Marc Antony and Gaius Octavian both running for governor, but I'm probably not gonna write it anytime soon.