I'd tend to agree but then add that it got much worse during the 80's, eventually completely 'bottoming out' during the Dinkins era ('89 to '93) ... the guy (Dinkins) just simply didn't have a grip on anything of any consequence of any kind, in effect he was ineffective and weak ... (but he loved his Tennis games!) ...
The time was ripe for a tough guy like Rudy to come in and clean things up ... which he did, not totally, but effectively ...
So I guess what I'm saying here, (to go back to our original thread exchange), is to give Rudy some credit for being a real NYC guy and a real NYC Mayor
Rudy gets to be a "real NYC mayor" in a couple years.
Dinkins is an interesting case. He was exactly the wrong guy at exactly the wrong time. The city is transitioning somewhat painfully, crack hit, the budget isn't great, and he's dithering around like it's the 1960s or something.
Rudy, of course, didn't single-handedly clean up the city. He was the right guy at the right time, and made some good personnel choices.