Let the Great World Spin--Setting

New York City plays a central role in the story. As Judge Soderberg describes it: “... it was a city uninterested in its history. Strange things occurred precisely because there was no necessary regard for the past. The city lived in a sort of everyday present. … No, the city couldn't care less about where it stood. He had seen a T-shirt once that said: New York Fuckin' City. As if it were the only place that ever existed and the only one that ever would” (p. 247). Could the book have been set in any other city? Why did the author choose New York? Do you think the author's own perspective as an outsider influenced the way he portrayed the City?