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by belowlightsblue
4689 days ago
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The NYT is doing alot of coverage about him with the elections coming up and all: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/nyregion/what-new-yorkers-... I think jobs and the economy matter most to people and since Bloomberg was mayor during the 2008 recession, that's going to make him seem worse than he might have though he may not have been able to affect the worst of the economical situation in any way. In the story linked to above, it says less than half of surveyed think that crime has improved under BLoomberg. That is just plain absurd no matter how you look at the stats...Bloomberg's (arguably too strong) law policies have made the city safer than it was in 2002. IT just shows how hard it is for people to remember what things were like a decade ago, due to nostalgia, etc. Also you say he won his re-election "just barely" but that's because he bent the term limit rules for what most people considered in an illegitimate way |
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Certain neighborhoods are still high crime. Yes, I would say that 99% of Manhattan is about as safe as Disneyland, but the policing has been especially disproportionate between the use and effectiveness of things like Stop & Frisks, constant & disruptive patrol car drills crosstown during rush hour, and "Show of Force" demonstrations of the ESU in full body armor and M4 rifles stationed outside popular tourist areas. Some see these things as safety and security and others see them as waste and symbols of a state abusing its power.
A lot of the revitalization efforts for areas of the city have been in the works since the 1950s (pay attention in NY to how much is named after or dedicated to Robert Moses). Case in point, the Times Square Redevelopment Project (though that was completed under Giuliani). When I was a child growing up in this neighborhood, there were porn theaters, street prostitutes, hustlers, con men and pickpockets everywhere. People got mugged in my elevator or at the payphone on my corner regularly.
Nearly 80% of the storefronts in Midtown were vacant. My mom was a corporate real estate broker in the 70s and had a listing on 57th street and 5th avenue going for $5/sqft (in what was later the Playboy Enterprises building). Let that figure sink in for a second.
I'm not nostalgic for those times, but back then we also had a bit more community than now. I actually knew by name the homeless people and the street hustlers in my neighborhood. My mom took care of most of them in her nursing work at St. Luke's Roosevelt. That sense is totally gone. Nightlife and entertainment in the city is _dead_ (we'll see how the Space nightclub does when it opens though). You used to regularly have people playing music on the street without too much bother. I remember a lot more people just being in the street and friendly (for NY standards) all the time. Everything is much more conservative and elitist than it used to be, but that's just as much times changing and culture moving on as Bloomberg is lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
I get really passionate about this topic and am being a bit rambly, but two years ago I left New York City. I'm likely returning next year, but I had to get away and it's no longer somewhere I could imagine living the rest of my life. It's just not that much fun a place to live anymore. Almost every NY-native I know in my age group either can't stand to live there anymore or has been priced out. Most of my friends have moved away or want to. We're going to places like Portland and New Orleans...or moving to Europe.