wealth, accumulated power, and ambition. architecturally, intellectually, a great city. one of the world's greatest. >> and that was a time when budapest was a really progressive metropolis. the first subway in the continent of europe was in budapest. parliament had like a very sophisticated air-conditioning system. so people wanted to come, they wanted to live here, wanted to start a career. wanted to build places like this, because it was a good investment. >> the new york cafe is one of the last remnants of a society where artists and writers were valued citizens, regardless of financial means. >> when this cafe was built, there were more than 500 cafes in this neighborhood. and this was the biggest and nicest cafe in the world at the time. never to be closed. >> here, like in most cafes at that time, a few cents or a few bucks could buy you space all day long, sipping your coffee, thinking great thoughts. nobody would hassle you. it was a petri dish of creativity. no hipster neck beard barista would make you feel bad about not spending any dough. >> waiters were speaking several languages and you read literature and they invited the writer, occasionally, if he didn't have money, because they appreciated their literature. where are we now compared to there? >> don't try that now, of course. today's new york cafe patrons spend both their time and money on things like goose liver tegrine.