PCH(Pacific Coast Highway?)1013:
Giuliani’s quality of life initiative much improved my neighborhood in NYC. Maybe it didn’t yours.
Disneyfication suggests plastic. Artificial. Fantastic. Maybe that’s what happened to your New York Under Giuliani, PCH. It didn’t happen to mine.
The broken-windows-anti-petty-crime campaign worked. Auto theft and break-ins were no longer an everyday fact of life. The streets were safer and cleaner. The parks were safe and well tended after many years of neglect.
I speak as a New Yorker who in previous years had his apartment boken into once, his loft broken into twice, two cars stolen and trunks and interiors of cars rifled innumerable times. And oh yes, did I mention my wife my daughter and I getting mugged and robbed with pistols to our heads?
So what means Disneyfication PCH? Some complained that the Mayor had declared open season on Black people. But quality of life for law abiding people, Black and White, was much improved.
Giuliani’s hand remains everywhere evident in the city. Walk down any street and look for the signs in car windows ubiquitous before Giuliani: No Radio. No valuables. Please leave it alone.
New Yorkers no longer beg dispensation from criminals. That’s a major quality of life improvement in my book. Hats off to Rudy.
