fred, speculating here… NYC all mobbed up and tolerant of jerks who stink up the joint goes bankupt in the 70s, in concerted plan to recover starts jailing mobsters and shutting down public nuisances.

When has that happened in Chicago?

Of course the sequel in NYC won’t be pretty. Mobsters having already killed manufacturing in NYC, Sarbox, CRA, and Fannie Mae have followed up by killing off the financial sector. RIP, goose that laid the golden egg. Enormous NYC can’t survive as a mere commercial and tourist center and is probably doomed to irreversible decay.