Both cities were rebuilt because people were willing to work..The people willing to work are leaving and the poor want nothing to do with “whitey” projects....
there are always rebuilders
A lot of people won’t be willing to work but some will. The problem is there are so many roadblocks in the way of rebuilding these days that it won’t happen. Look at the fights and delays over Ground Zero from 9-11. Every proposed project will be challenged and delayed and harassed until a lot will simply give up. Taxes, permits, bribes, sops to low income residents, labor demands, minority interest groups, on and on will sap whatever energy there is to rebuild.
And why rebuild a lot of what is being lost? You can’t have comedy any longer without being cancelled. You can’t establish restaurants that feature $200 mini plates of delicacies or charge $500 tickets to Broadway productions without encouraging capitalism and that is verboten. You can’t patronize a play, a concert, a museum or athletic event without being subjected to the blatant politicization there. You can’t create revenue-generating housing without being required to freeze the rent, or being accused of racist gentrification. You can’t do anything without genuflecting to the powers-that-be in NYC and you have to prepare to defend yourself without significant police backup. Why bother?