From a Hotel Window

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           New York opened out on several levels at once. The highest level was occupied by the tops of the skyscrapers, higher than ours. They were crowned with spires, glass or gold cupolas burning in the sun, or little towers with big clocks. The little towers themselves were the size of a four-story building. On the next level, totally open to our gaze, apart from pipes, dormer windows and cats, we could see flat roofs on which smallish one-story houses sat with gardens, sickly little trees, and small brick alleys [...]. [Tracks for the elevated train] took up the next level of the city of New York. The elevated tracks rest on iron posts two or three stories high and only rise up to five or six stories high in a few places in the city.

Chapter Three: What You Can See from a Hotel Window.