With all the "big box" stores and chain restaurants moving en masse into Manhattan, it's easy to lament the bygone city we either lived in or grew up on vicariously by way of movies, novels, TV shows, and the myriad other ways that New York lore has been dispersed over the years.

Where is the romantic New York of Woody Allen and the Gershwins? Or the decadent, high-concept scene of Andy Warhol? And what about the troubled, crime-infested city of early Spike Lee and even earlier Martin Scorsese?

New York has countless identities, and like our own identities, they evolve and sometimes fade away. One of them, however, enjoyed renewed validation on Saturday by hundreds of people that it does, in fact, still exist: a New York art scene that pulses with life.

For the fourth year, the New Yorker magazine partnered with 28 galleries in Chelsea to sponsor its annual Passport to the Arts festival, a self-guided tour that wound through the post-industrial blocks of the West 20s in Manhattan to view some of the most politically, socially, and aesthetically progressive work currently on display in this burgeoning arts epicenter.

Under a gray November sky that occasionally purged itself in a downpour, art enthusiasts of all sorts hopped from one gallery to the next, absorbing works by artists like Eric Fischl, Mia Westerlund Roosen, and Yayoi Asoma. They could be identified by their white tote-bags, gifts from the magazine, as they wandered in and out of buildings and down the wet sidewalks.

The spirit was genteel but not pretentious, inclusive but also challenging. The art called its viewers to think, and the event inspired discussion.

Passport to the Arts also benefits Friends of the Highline, a non-profit organization that has been working tirelessly since 2004 to transform a 1.5-mile stretch of derelict elevated train tracks on Manhattan's West Side into a usable park space, a long and narrow urban oasis floating just above the city streets.

The works, some of which are still on display at their respective galleries, ranged from whimsical to serious; some were figurative, others abstract. Oils, sculpture, photography, video, found-objects, and drawings were all on display, with each gallery establishing a unique, immersive aesthetic. Subjects included the environment, 9/11, garbage, and indicating some good faith on the part of the artist, president-elect Barack Obama. (The latter work has been up since October.)

Following the day of gallery-hopping, Passport to the Arts welcomed its patrons to La. Venue, on 28th Street and 11th Avenue, for an after-party and silent auction. Door prizes were awarded to everyone who attended about half the galleries, and caterers liberally passed around Don Julio-based cocktails and appetizer-sized burgers, phyllo dough-wrapped asparagus, and chicken skewers. Dee-jays updated this New Yorker event to the 21st Century, a sign of the magazine's ongoing effort to court new and younger readers.

With its fresh combination of old-school New York elegance and the energy of "Generation O," Passport to the Arts reminded this former student of modern art history that fine art can be at once accessible and intellectually stimulating.

And after growing ever-more cynical about the purpose of art in contemporary society, I was both refreshed and relieved by what I saw yesterday.