I appreciate your responses and definitely understand what you're saying.

To me the most important is that it's a flat resistant tire that is not going to start fishtailing the first sign of rain and will last for a bit. The aesthetic of my bike is pretty important to me as well - there's not many things that I'm vain about - but I do enjoy taking pride in the look of my bike.

like I initially mentioned I use the bike basically to ride around nyc/Brooklyn as a means of transportation - not very long distances or intense conditions. so I'm not looking to break the bank with the best- so something like 40-70 dollars for a set would be ideal.
I like to keep the bike light weight with less resistance but still have traction on the street. I've been riding on a very light set of 700x23's for about 3 years so I'm used to a pretty light thin set of tires. Right now my tires are so worn that they are basically bald and the bike definitely skids more than I'd like if I am breaking hard. and looses control when it starts to get wet. which is obviously not good. hah


Hope that sheds some more light on the situation and what I'm looking for?