NYC.
London’s too short. 
New York.
Not Constantinople?
NYC
I agree with your list except for the Shattuck, Oklahoma part. Possum Holler, Tennessee edges it out in my mind just because of the banjo player and that dog that looks like Groucho Marx.
Without a doubt, New York. I lived there for 25 years, and wish I still did.
I want to be a part of it…New York, New York.
NYC.
But Hong Kong is a close second.
Since I’ve never been to London or Paris, I’ve got to go with NYC.
It’s obviously Manchester. The rest of the world is just behind us, as usual.
London.
I may be wrong, I haven’t been to every city in the world. But so far, London.
No, it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople. Why’d Constantinople get the works?
My answer: Washington, D.C.
All the perks of living in a big city, without the insane traffic and crowds of NYC. More important, it is the capitol of arguably the greatest empire the world has ever known. The Union itself spans a continent, 300 million strong. And the reach of our economy and military is truly global. I would submit that there is no nation on Earth that does not, in at least some realms of policy, cast a nervous eye towards Our Fair City and ask, “What will Washington do?”
Washington, DC. Everything else is an afterthought.
New York City. Never even entertained the thought of another candidate.
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks’
The first one that came to mind, per the op, was NYC.
Upon reflection I would probably go for London, but that’s not what the op asked.
New York, followed by London.
I’ve been to New York, Washington, Tokyo, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Berlin*, Paris, Moscow and Madrid.
I love and hate London in roughly equal parts but there’s no question it’s the greatest city on Earth. Similar current global importanct to New York, but ten times the history.
*stopover at Templehof only.
Am only one that thinks that NYC has a fantastic PR machine? I get the feeling that people automatically ‘think’ of NYC as The World City, even if it doesn’t match others in many areas.
Which means that I’m not surprised that the common answer to the OP is NYC, even if I don’t think it ‘IS’ the greatest city.
apart from history/longevity, what other areas doesn’t it match up in?
London.