Reading the passage above a person could certainly make a case that New York City will be the Babylon that is ultimately destroyed at the end of the Tribulation period. I will not be dogmatic about the assertion; I just am fascinated by the notion that Babylon could be in the United States. The truth is that Babylon might be anywhere. While others have made a case for it being the Babylon of Iraq, Rome, or even China–I just happen to see New York City as the best fit.
Why NYC?
New York is currently the financial epicenter of the world (ground-zero as it were) and arguably the wealthiest site on the planet. Sorcery in this case, as defined in the original Greek, really pertains to illicit drug use and needless to say, New York City surely holds it own in that arena. As for New York being the literal martyring-capitol of the world, that is yet to be seen, but one could make a pretty good figurative case for it being so. What do the prophets says?
Isaiah 18:1-2
Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
The United States can relate to wings (as long as they are eagle’s wings), we are west of Ethiopia, nations do send their ambassadors to the United Nations, we are a nation that has conquered it’s rightful inhabitants, and oh yes, our rivers are fairly tainted.
Jeremiah 50:12 + 37
Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert… A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people…
I believe that England (our mother) is baffled by our behavior to the point of being ashamed. As for being a mingled people, no one could argue. Who though would say that Iraq or China are mingled?
Jeremiah 51:12a-13, 49, 53
…The LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness…As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth…Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
The United States is the only modern-day kingdom that possess all these distinctives ~and~ ‘dwellest upon many waters.’ Whether or not the United States will stand with Israel to the bitter end is yet to be seen. Finally, and as far as you and I know, we are the only nation with the short-term capacity to mount an attack from the heavens with our moth-balled ‘Star Wars’ technology.
Who Cares
I suppose if the church is going to be plucked-off the planet before any of this takes place, it really does not matter much (to us) who, what, and where Babylon ends up. However God knows and He has established some road signs, and although seemingly vague, they serve to direct each sojourner to a place inside themselves; a place in need of some radical house cleaning—the Babylon of our very own hearts. James warns of this Babylon within.
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:1-8
He Dwells -- The B'log in My Eye 