The ferry is pretty fragile and there's intense pressure from the condo developers on the waterfront to kill that ferry stop entirely. Luckily if you're going to midtown, you don't really NEED the ferry - taking the G to the E or 7 is fine

I've struggled with depression and so have a lot of new yorkers... When you're depressed you naturally walk around thinking "wow, this is all shit." Another person in a bright mood might walk down the exact same block and think "I love this city." If you're seeing darkness and dehumanization everywhere you look, you might be depressed (and there's nothing wrong with that as long as you realize it's a possibility)

This honestly just reads like depression. There's always been a shitload of annoying ads, construction sites, and areas where it's a pain in the ass to walk around. also, the "overlay of smog" was just an unusually foggy morning, which actually looked pretty cool imho