Post by sciwriter on Jan 10, 2007 12:53:03 GMT -7
If you will allow a native son to amplify... NYC is now a 3rd world city and has been one for 20 years. The roots of the problem go back to 1975:
New York City literally went bankrupt that year, prompting a major overhaul of priorities. As it began to get its financial house in order, in 1977 "Son of Sam" went beserk and ghetto brothers rampaged the streets, looting billions during the blackout that wiped out Beame's administration and paved the way for a guy you probably remember, Ed Koch.
Crime had taken over New York in a way hard for you to imagine - except if you think of Sao Paolo. Movies like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, After Hours, Death Wish realistically captured the terror and paranoia that defined every New Yorker's psyche for about 30 years, 1965-1995.
While middle-class whites continued to leave by the millions (the NYC diaspora was especially fond of New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, Florida and California) the late 70's saw Koch, "Big Mac", Realtors, Financiers attempt to reposition New York as a high-rise yuppie capital to bring wealthy whites into Manhattan. No expense was to be spared. Rent control was rapidly eliminated. The J-51 law encouraged demolition of buildings and eviction of marginal tenants everywhere. Homelessness (NYC never made an official count) skyrocketed to 6 figures within 10 years. You had to literally clear bodies to navigate Grand Central, the LIRR etc. It was all over the boroughs too.
At the same time yuppies *did* start coming back to New York - Manhattan, NOT the boroughs. It was successful. They came even if they lived 10 to an apartment. NYC was "hot" again, Jazz and theater returned. Real Estate prices began to skyrocket. Manhattan experienced a skewed renaissance as white people asserted their economic control over various neighborhoods, from the East Village to the Upper West Side. It looked strange - this juxtaposition of homeless, criminals and young wealthy whites who had just moved in, many of whom had no traditional connection or understanding of the city.
Meanwhile New York's historic immense energy of generations of white working class and middle class who had defined the city (not to mention the New York accent!), built and raised it to its immense power, fueled its culture since the 1600's was essentially dead. They were all in the suburbs and the sunbelt. It relied now on people of color from the boroughs (where real estate costs eventually also spread like wildfire although the boroughs have remained cultural wastelands since the mid 60's), shipped in like cattle to feed the reconstituted Manhattan beast and shipped back out at night. The transformation to 3rd world city was complete.
Manhattanites were even granted their own area code. 212 was for winners, 718 was for losers.
By 1984 renting a dipshit tenement studio which had gone for $350 in 1975 would cost $1000.00. Today that could easily be $5,000.00! The speculation surged uninterrupted except for a very brief slowdown in the late 80's (9/11 did nothing to stem the tide). These days a paltry 1000 sq. foot 2 bedroom condo in a mediocre neighborhood now easily commands over 1 million dollars. It shows no signs of let up until perhaps a major calamity wipes out the whole game. New York real estate is like San Francisco, but at least there the view is 1,000 times prettier.
Giuiliani applied the finishing touches between 1993 and 2001. New Yorkers had rightfully been screaming for 30 years that crime was getting out of hand. The
major sticker in car windows was "NO RADIO" begging thieves not to break the glass. Poor blacks and Hispanics felt entitled to prey on everyone and everything. Criminals controlled the city. We had 10 cars stolen or broken into, not to mention numerous other encounters far more frightening. Again, think of those movies. That's how we all lived.
Giuiliani, with 30 years of white backlash behind him, would have none of it. Rather brutal policing was applied. Much more vigilant reporting and prosecution of crime. An increase in police numbers and presence everywhere. Laws were changed diluting the 4th amendment. New Yorkers welcomed the infringement on their own civil liberties to enjoy a safer city, symbolized by the total makeover in Times Square. It had its logic and certainly felt better for most. The new Times Square, remade in a cross of Orlando, Manhattan and Broadway was unbelievably a family-friendly destination now. Decades of hookers, pimps, porno, druggies dominating the streets like Midnight Cowboy had come to an end. It was indeed accomplished amazingly quickly, with only a few naysayers like Jimmy Breslin questioning how it was done. White New York, wealthy Manhattanites were happy.
It also had a dark side. New York declared war on its own homeless population (most the innocent victims of a housing market they could no longer afford or mental health facilities which had closed). They were an eyesore and finally an impediment to business, ergo successful "sweeps" to permanently remove thousands from major intersections and underground areas. The symbolic coup de grace was the notorious "bum-proof" chair - if you tried to sleep in it, it would fold back and prevent you from doing so. NYC gave up welfare for workfare - it was now work, or you starve. This put millions of poor New Yorkers in a very risky if not desperate position. Clinton and Guiliani were ideological brothers.
The Wall St. boom of the 90's had NYC awash in cash, and this is how it spent a lot of the $$. Very little of it was aimed at the cheap labor in the boroughs - those darkies, orientals and the newly arriving Mexicans would have to fend for themselves albeit it with better policing. It was all about business, making the very wealthy elite even wealthier beyond what anyone could have imagined.
New York City literally went bankrupt that year, prompting a major overhaul of priorities. As it began to get its financial house in order, in 1977 "Son of Sam" went beserk and ghetto brothers rampaged the streets, looting billions during the blackout that wiped out Beame's administration and paved the way for a guy you probably remember, Ed Koch.
Crime had taken over New York in a way hard for you to imagine - except if you think of Sao Paolo. Movies like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, After Hours, Death Wish realistically captured the terror and paranoia that defined every New Yorker's psyche for about 30 years, 1965-1995.
While middle-class whites continued to leave by the millions (the NYC diaspora was especially fond of New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, Florida and California) the late 70's saw Koch, "Big Mac", Realtors, Financiers attempt to reposition New York as a high-rise yuppie capital to bring wealthy whites into Manhattan. No expense was to be spared. Rent control was rapidly eliminated. The J-51 law encouraged demolition of buildings and eviction of marginal tenants everywhere. Homelessness (NYC never made an official count) skyrocketed to 6 figures within 10 years. You had to literally clear bodies to navigate Grand Central, the LIRR etc. It was all over the boroughs too.
At the same time yuppies *did* start coming back to New York - Manhattan, NOT the boroughs. It was successful. They came even if they lived 10 to an apartment. NYC was "hot" again, Jazz and theater returned. Real Estate prices began to skyrocket. Manhattan experienced a skewed renaissance as white people asserted their economic control over various neighborhoods, from the East Village to the Upper West Side. It looked strange - this juxtaposition of homeless, criminals and young wealthy whites who had just moved in, many of whom had no traditional connection or understanding of the city.
Meanwhile New York's historic immense energy of generations of white working class and middle class who had defined the city (not to mention the New York accent!), built and raised it to its immense power, fueled its culture since the 1600's was essentially dead. They were all in the suburbs and the sunbelt. It relied now on people of color from the boroughs (where real estate costs eventually also spread like wildfire although the boroughs have remained cultural wastelands since the mid 60's), shipped in like cattle to feed the reconstituted Manhattan beast and shipped back out at night. The transformation to 3rd world city was complete.
Manhattanites were even granted their own area code. 212 was for winners, 718 was for losers.
By 1984 renting a dipshit tenement studio which had gone for $350 in 1975 would cost $1000.00. Today that could easily be $5,000.00! The speculation surged uninterrupted except for a very brief slowdown in the late 80's (9/11 did nothing to stem the tide). These days a paltry 1000 sq. foot 2 bedroom condo in a mediocre neighborhood now easily commands over 1 million dollars. It shows no signs of let up until perhaps a major calamity wipes out the whole game. New York real estate is like San Francisco, but at least there the view is 1,000 times prettier.
Giuiliani applied the finishing touches between 1993 and 2001. New Yorkers had rightfully been screaming for 30 years that crime was getting out of hand. The
major sticker in car windows was "NO RADIO" begging thieves not to break the glass. Poor blacks and Hispanics felt entitled to prey on everyone and everything. Criminals controlled the city. We had 10 cars stolen or broken into, not to mention numerous other encounters far more frightening. Again, think of those movies. That's how we all lived.
Giuiliani, with 30 years of white backlash behind him, would have none of it. Rather brutal policing was applied. Much more vigilant reporting and prosecution of crime. An increase in police numbers and presence everywhere. Laws were changed diluting the 4th amendment. New Yorkers welcomed the infringement on their own civil liberties to enjoy a safer city, symbolized by the total makeover in Times Square. It had its logic and certainly felt better for most. The new Times Square, remade in a cross of Orlando, Manhattan and Broadway was unbelievably a family-friendly destination now. Decades of hookers, pimps, porno, druggies dominating the streets like Midnight Cowboy had come to an end. It was indeed accomplished amazingly quickly, with only a few naysayers like Jimmy Breslin questioning how it was done. White New York, wealthy Manhattanites were happy.
It also had a dark side. New York declared war on its own homeless population (most the innocent victims of a housing market they could no longer afford or mental health facilities which had closed). They were an eyesore and finally an impediment to business, ergo successful "sweeps" to permanently remove thousands from major intersections and underground areas. The symbolic coup de grace was the notorious "bum-proof" chair - if you tried to sleep in it, it would fold back and prevent you from doing so. NYC gave up welfare for workfare - it was now work, or you starve. This put millions of poor New Yorkers in a very risky if not desperate position. Clinton and Guiliani were ideological brothers.
The Wall St. boom of the 90's had NYC awash in cash, and this is how it spent a lot of the $$. Very little of it was aimed at the cheap labor in the boroughs - those darkies, orientals and the newly arriving Mexicans would have to fend for themselves albeit it with better policing. It was all about business, making the very wealthy elite even wealthier beyond what anyone could have imagined.