Barbara Faedda, assistant director of the Italian Academy at Columbia University, offers her personal view of the Big Apple and her daily encounter with a diversity of cultures. Hers is a privileged point of view of the community of Italians who find themselves living in New York for studies, business or state duties.

Lighthouses are by now nowhere to be found around Manhattan, where you can only find ‘lightships’ now, which are by tradition painted red. The only places you’re likely to spot the old beacons of light are around Staten Island, along the Hudson and, especially, along the shores of Long Island.