"New York" is a sombre
ballad mourning the end of a relationship. Unlike Clark's previous material, "New York" does not contain "fiery
guitar playing, nor the squelching
industrial soundscapes of her great
self-titled album from 2014. It's just her voice, and some simple lilting
piano chords—that's about it." The song finds Clark "singing without apparent
irony about personal loss. The song could also be read as a eulogy for a certain portion of the soul of New York City itself; she sings mostly about locales in the
East Village, painting them with a wild romantic streak that exists mostly in the memory of the city's denizens." Andy Cush of
Spin described "New York" as, "far more straightforward than we've come to expect from Annie Clark," while also comparing the song to
Lorde's "
Liability". ==Critical reception==