In the beginning and ending chapters of the autobiography, Whalen provides valuable insight on the many things he values and loves about his city. In the first few chapters, Whalen writes with a nostalgic pen recollecting memories of the family culture of the close-knit neighborhood he grew up in on the Lower East Side. Contrasted against his writing emphasizing efficiency and organization regarding later years, particularly when working for the Mayor's Office and as Police Commissioner, Whalen longs for his childhood days, when everyone in his neighborhood knew everyone by first name.