As a boy I grew up in Jersey City, not far outside of New York City. The distance from our apartment to the World Trade Center was virtually the same as between Hays and Lehman. While New York City captured the imagination of millions of people worldwide, for those of us who lived and breathed it regularly life was a daunting task. The eternal rat race and high cost of living often compounded the chip on the shoulder everyone had.

This attitude was exacerbated by the arrival of winter. Just as he...