It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. This provocative pensée by Oscar Wilde has a certain depth to it, despite his brazen rejection of “deep ideas”. When he visited New York in 1882, a city then of a mere million, the tallest building was Trinity Church at Wall Street. But it was even then a brash place dedicated to appearances, quick success and teeming streets of display and envy where the nouveau riche jostled with poverty-stricken immigrants.Over the years I have loved and fallen out of love with this impossible city. Our community’s hope for a network of meditation groups throughout the five boroughs is still a work in progress. The aim is to alleviate the frenetic pace and isolation that affects so many residents, while giving short-ter