Mr. Sammler’s City (70's-80's NYC almost collapsed under crime and nihilism. But it was saved.)

City Journal ^ | Spring 2008 | Myron Magnet

[Mrs. Don-o]

Long article, but really worth the read.

Saul Bellow's novel told the strict truth: NYC almost went went out with the sewage, due to (largely) black crime and white liberal elite "toleration." I didn't and still wouldn't support Rudy Giulinai for POTUS, but still admire the way he, and others like him, saved this great city for civilization.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thought you might be interested. I’d love to hear your comments.

[CharlieOK1]

Long but fascinating.

Envision this when you hear people talk about how wonderful it would be to do away with all guns. Especially in places like Chicago, if you get my drift.

[7thson]

A fantastic article. As I was reading this, I thought of the movies from that era that depicted NYC. Not just movies such as Taxi Driver but other movies such as Death Wish, Fuzz, Mean Streets but other movies such as The Last Detail which showed cities such as DC, Philly, and NYC as gritty, dangerous places to be.

I remember for years that I never wanted to go to NYC. Then my wife dragged me up there with her brother as a guide - he doesn't live there but knows his way around - during the Giulinai era. I was shocked at how pleasant it was. We also went up once to see the Rocketts - part of a MWR bus package. We walked a few blocks up the road from our hotel to the Garden and then back down. Nothing happened to us. Ate a fine restaurant around the corner from our hotel. An excellent meal. A couple years later we took our grandsons up there. No problem. Is it still that way or with Bloomberg, has it started to slide back down?

[Roccus]

Born, raised, lived and worked in NYC for almost 60 years before I moved to America. The descriptions given above are OK, but they only scratch the surface of what went on during that period. Even the uber-liberal Sen. Patrick Moynihan concluded that the only answer was to just “write off” at least one generation of black population.

Of course the fact that I am a white male saying this will forever brand me as a racist, but I'm too old to give a damn anymore.

[MinorityRepublican]

Mayor Bloomberg is enjoying the fruits of Rudy’s legacy.

[Old North State]

For that is the truth of it—that we all know, God, that we know, that we know, we know, we know.”

Something well said that needed to be said, but ultimately sterile until people, like Rudy, found the courage to act against the thugs and their enablers.

[Tax-chick]

It’s the ultimate satire: the state that promises you the security of an old-age pension can’t even provide you the security to keep it—the primary purpose of a state. It’s almost as bad as today’s Britain, where the welfare state provides for your welfare not by stopping omnipresent thugs from beating you senseless but by sewing you up afterward for free.

Great observation. I'm not at all surprised to see this article in the "City Journal," which publishes Theodore Dalrymple.

[Postman]

Magnificent article. I fled Manhattan (East Village) in 1971 after armed black thugs entered a Polish bar in the next building and, without any reason other than hatred and anger, opened fire and murdered the owner, his wife and three patrons.

We found a refuge in New Jersey for many years and I am horrified that Corzine, an ultra liberal NJSC (The Mount Laurel decision) and the Council on Affordable Housing want to place low income projects with their crime, negative effect on property values and general blight in my town and every town in this state.

[NYer]

Excellent article! It brought back memories of NYC during the administration of Mayor David Dinkins. Crime was high and the homeless ran the streets. Back then, I would walk from Penn Station to my office on 55th and 6th. Across the street, another office building had lovely fountains that were turned on at sunrise. It was not unusual to see someone stark naked taking a bath in the fountain. And then there were the "squeegee" brigade that would descent on their hapless victims when they stopped for a traffic light.

[wtc911]

I never went anywhere in NYC unarmed from @ 1974-1988. It took a long time after that for me to phase out the weapon.

Everyone in NYC in 1978 was tough, you had to be.

[Reagan Man]

There are millions of stories about living in the Big Apple. I was born in NYC and can't deny that my hometown was in serious trouble by the mid-1970`s. Serious enough for me to pack up and move. The Brooklyn I grew up in was gone.

I'd say in general terms, what almost killed off NYC were years and decades of growing liberalism. Liberal policy that created dependency on government and allowed good neighborhoods to become ghettos and slums. While crime was a huge problem, it didn't directly effect all parts of the city. Not everyone was being mugged, robbed or raped on the F-train.

Mayor Giuliani may have cleaned up NYC, but it remains a liberal bastion to this day. Everyone I grew up with has moved away from NYC. Some ran to south Jersey or Long Island. Some moved to places like Tennessee, Florida, Montana and Colorado.

After 30+ years away from my old hometown, I can honestly say I miss the some of the culture, like the restaurants and the beaches. Having said that, NYC is more liberal today then it ever was. I'll visit NYC and the surrounding areas from time to time. Otherwise, I say no thanks.

[CDHart]

What a fascinating article. I read every word of it. Thanks for posting it. I've never read anything by Saul Bellow, but I will check him out at the library.

Carolyn

[dbwz]

Bookmarking...

[riverdawg]

“Is it still that way ...?”

We just returned from a long weekend in NYC. We stayed on W. 79th St., and enjoyed wonderful, reasonably priced dinners on two consecutive nights at a couple of local Italian restaurants. What was most remarkable to me was the transformation of the area around Columbia University, in Morningside Heights (116th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam). (I spent two days at a conference there.) This area (at least the Broadway side) is completely gentrified. The street scene there is almost identical to that of Broadway in the lower 80’s. This is a major change from 15-20 years ago.

We felt completely safe everywhere we went at night in Manhattan, from 8th St. through SoHo and the Village, Times Square, and up to the mid 80’s. Judging from what we saw from the taxi en route to LaGuardia on Sunday morning, however, I wouldn't recommend venturing on the upper East side along Madison Ave. above 110th St. That part of town won't change until the city demolishes the large housing-project towers in that area.

[cherry]

"They sought “the privileges, and the free ways of barbarism, under the protection of civilized order, property rights, refined technological organization, and so on.” But you can have only one or the other."

this is what I have been trying to scream at the top of my lungs.....you can't condone public indecency or "allow" perversions to be legalized and expect our society to remain lawful....actions have consequences..(naked barristtas ping)

[cherry]

just a little off topic but you being born and raised in NYC I have to tell it.....my brother meets all kinds of people thru his sales....once, he was with a client in NYC, Jewish guy, and this Jewish guy says to my brother....that he was the best kind of Jew...oh, what kind of Jew is that? my brother asks....”a NYC Jew”! the fellow said emphatically....lol

[Skooz]

bump for later when I have that kind of time

[mojito]

Thanks for posting this. It’s one of the finest literary essays I’ve read in quite some time.

[Roccus]

He was a mensch! };^)