As a New York City patriot, I am greatly pained by various reports on the exodus from New York. We’ve been reading pieces like this from the Wall Street Journal and many other credible sources.
Those of us who had lengthy periods of senior government service – in my case for elected officials of both major parties – have horrific visions about what lies ahead. We see all those others who say, “We survived the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, the 1987 crash, 9/11, 2008; we’ll get through this, etc.” Really?
Who do we see in this one-party town ready to emerge to our rescue? Where is an Ed Koch, a Harrison Goldin, a Rudy Giuliani, a Mike Bloomberg? A state Legislature and an incumbent mayor who opine that the “rich pay their fair share” – now over 50 percent for city-state-federal taxes. Will they be paying closer to 60 percent? No, they’ll continue to flee to Florida and Texas.
The mayor’s priority is an “equal recovery.” What does than mean? And the public knows that when the virus recedes, that we will be left to the mercy of criminals released before AND after the pandemic, under the “No Bail” law, which contrary to false statements by the legislative leadership and the governor, is NOT being amended in the new budget other than cosmetically.
The subway system will be a Petri dish of both potential illness and rising crime. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and his officers will be powerless in this potential return of crime to 1970s-1980s levels.
The $1 billion wasted under the auspices of the mayor’s wife, ostensibly to improve mental health, exhibits its success in the unprecedented number of homeless, many potentially infected, many exacerbating the city’s filth on our streets and subways.
This and more is before we even consider the nigh-impossible recovery of our valued institutions – Broadway, Lincoln Center, theaters, museums and the like.
The titans of industry — real estate, finance, manufacturing, construction and other major industries — must convene, perhaps under the auspices of the NYC Partnership or other respected umbrellas – and find that person who can lead this city to recovery as in the past. That person must have widespread backing fiscally and otherwise to mount a campaign, regardless of his or her party. The New York City party establishment, which defines mediocrity and worse, will equally oppose any such “interloper” from either party.
Alas, absent such a hard-handed approach by business – and leaving NYC to its pseudo-socialist warriors – the city of New York will have seen its best days and the exodus will be fatal.
Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld
Great Neck
