Life in Progressive New York City

Progressive social and criminal justice policies are running the show, or perhaps I should say running amok, in New York City.  Such policies are said to aim to help the poor and those who must rely on public services.  Just now I received a small but valuable insight from the brilliant Rafael Mangual who lives in the City.  Judge for yourself how much “help” is being provided.

Rafael writes:

On a quiet F Train this morning, a young kid (between 18-21, I’d guess), boarded at 71st Ave while carrying on the loud end of a conversation he was conducting on speaker phone with his mask down under his chin. He hung up, replaced the other end of the call with expletive-ridden rap music on speaker, loudly emptied his pockets onto one of the benches, and proceeded to roll a blunt. There were two small children sitting across from him.

So as to avoid confrontation and his germs, I switched cars at the next stop, only to find a homeless man with his property strewn across the bench (and his stench occupying the rest of the car) carrying on what seemed to be an urgent conversation with someone who wasn’t there… also without a mask. There were three elderly people sitting on the bench diagonally across from him.

So, at the next stop, I switched cars again. I spent the rest of the trip trying (unsuccessfully) to remember the last time I saw a cop on the subway.

New York City seems to have adopted a policy of surrendering public spaces to disorder, making the city’s high-tax suburbs increasingly attractive. Unfortunately, those who can’t afford to leave will be stuck in a city trying to manage a downward spiral with an eroding tax base.

The new New York is looking more and more like the old New York, and I’m not trying to be here for it.

In the early 1990’s, New York City was a wasteland of crime and squalor.  Life was dirty and dangerous.  Then it had two terms each of Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, with broken windows policing, aggressive patrolling, and tougher enforcement and sentencing.  Life improved dramatically.  No one benefited more than the working poor  —  those who most rely on mass transit and other public services.

Will New York City  —  and will the country  —  learn from the costly lessons of the past and work to preserve what we’ve achieved?  Or will we surrender to the race-huckstering lies of Progressivism and go back to, as Ronald Reagan would say, the failed policies of the past?

Do tell, Mr. Biden.