What's more, the gap between what New York says it is – in its myths and pop culture – and the reality, is widening into total implausibility.
Mr Smeeth and Stanley may be north-east Londoners living within a mile or two of each other, who travel on the same buses, talk the same slang and listen to the same radio programmes, but the gap between their respective childhoods is widening into a chasm, and each of them knows it.
The wealth gap is widening into a chasm.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, "The U.S. crackdown on clients of UBS AG is widening into a global hunt, with the government detailing in court documents how the Swiss bank and outside advisers helped Americans hide money using enterprises set up in Hong Kong".
In the end the case was widened into a class action, but McCorvey remained the anonymous lead plaintiff.
The bustling commercial strip that once traced the path of the wall has been widened into an eight-lane boulevard that can be crossed only by pedestrian bridges.
Every six blocks, streets were widened into avenues for faster moving traffic and, where avenues intersected, squares or roundabouts were placed.
Buildings were torn down, the street was widened into a "boulevard," and where once there were homes, there are now vacant lots and a huge county jail.
At the northern tip of the park, a creek that the Dutch called Spuyten Duyvil, the Spitting Devil, has been widened into a boat canal, joining the Hudson and Harlem Rivers.
The main road taking us to Lue Amnat, the home village of Nòi, my cleaning lady back in Bangkok, is in excellent condition, and is being widened into a dual carriageway.
