The City We Became

Bronca dislikes the other boroughs immediately. She bristles at Brooklyn’s perceived superiority, Manhattan’s suspicious charm, and Queens’s innocence, which she assumes must be a ruse. Bronca’s defensiveness is the chip the Bronx carries on its shoulder, the feeling of being left out in the cold to fend for itself. Overwhelmed by anger and fear, she throws them out of her office. Then, Veneza reminds Bronca why New Yorkers love their city so passionately and why it’s worth fighting for, and Bronca reluctantly agrees to give the other boroughs an hour of her time.

As the borough with the most history, Bronca has a more comprehensive understanding of events than the others, including how to use and how not to use their powers. The first order of business, she says, is to find Staten Island and the sixth avatar, New York City. Together, they discuss the two realities they find themselves in and are struggling to adapt to. Bronca explains that new dimensions are created by human decisions and desires, but our minds are not wired to perceive these new dimensions. All these dimensions are layered, one atop another, and when a city is born, “the birth process kind of smashes through them” (302).