To sell your idea to someone in New York you have to battle a barricade of rejection. Here, you slog through a fog of distraction. I remember certain panel discussions at places like Artists' Space and the School for Visual Arts which turned into instant Congressional subcommittee hearings. People just don't grandstand like that here. But that was then.
Sensation is now.
To my mind, Ken Friedman has the answer. Ken observed that all the hoo-ha about this year belonging to the 20th century because there was no year 0 is so much pedantry.