The Bowery and Delancey Street — © Brian Rose

Not many know this, but  Hitler was obsessed with inflicting direct damage to the United States, and had plans to drop a nuclear bomb on New York. Ground zero was this exact corner — the Bowery and Delancey — equidistant between Downtown and Midtown. Fortunately, the Nazis ran out of time, and were defeated before they developed the bomb.

It is still an epicenter of sorts. Traffic going to and from the Williamsburg Bridge congeals at this point where restaurant supply outlets and lighting stores vie with sidewalk cafes for dominance. It feels a little like the center of all things.