The signs of rot in the Big Apple are endemic and worsening daily. Some of us were there for New York City's descent into squalor and crime in the 1970s and '80s, and we saw its stunning reversal which the mighty Mayor Rudy Giuliani was able to conjure with his common-sense, law and order policies. Having witnessed our beloved New York City’s miraculous rise from its deathbed once, we’ve been hopeful that it will do it again if only the right leadership can be found.
Recent events, however, have been dashing our hopes. The leftist policies in place have been driving out the sane, productive people while populating the city with criminals, lunatics, illegal aliens, and freeloaders to an extent never seen before. While all these headcases are sopping up the public funds, crucial services essential for a safe, stable society are falling through the cracks. And now, there are more cracks than ever.
The NYC local news this morning featured a story that has become increasingly common: yellow caution tape in front of a building from which debris had broken off and fallen to the ground below. (I missed half of the story; I'm pretty sure it was a BJ's Wholesale Club, but I was unable to verify the exact location.)
Meanwhile, just three days ago, an elderly woman was sweeping snow from in front of her Brooklyn home when death rained down on her from above. The New York Post reported:
A 74-year-old woman was killed outside of her Brooklyn townhouse when brick crumbled off the building and came crashing down on her, police said.
Dale Singer was leaving the townhouse on Sixth Avenue near 54th Street in Sunset Park around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
As she locked the door, a large chunk of concrete molding came loose and fell on the elderly woman’s head, police said.
FDNY medics administered CPR to Singer, and she was taken to the Maimonides hospital in critical condition. She was later pronounced dead, authorities said.
Over in the Bronx just before Christmas, a seven-story apartment building simply collapsed for no apparent reason. CBS News New York reported:
In what could be described by some as a miracle, the FDNY reported Monday night it had completed its search of the rubble and found no victims in the Bronx partial building collapse.
A corner of the seven-story building on West Burnside Avenue and Phelan Place in Morris Heights came crashing down at around 3:30 p.m. CBS New York was told there are six commercial businesses in the buildings and dozens of residential apartments.
[…]
Felix Vargas said he was working on a unit when his wife called from their third-floor apartment.
"My wife called me. She said the building is moving," Vargas said. "When I go downstairs to check, the bedroom, everything collapsed."
The owner of the first-floor bodega said in Spanish he ran out just in time.
"We heard a crack and were able to leave. That's when everything came tumbling down," Jason Castillo said.
NYC apartment building partial collapse from the other day caught on video as people scramble to get out of the way. pic.twitter.com/eyRaXiO2AI
— AlphaFo𝕏 (@Alphafox78) December 13, 2023
Another video of the moment the building collapsed is telling: watch the seasoned New Yorker in the foreground who casually glances over his shoulder at the roaring destruction and then coolly continues on his way. (You have to click through to YouTube to watch it.)
No biggie, nothing new to see here. Just another structure failure in the erstwhile Greatest City on Earth.
Another falling building earlier this month didn't even make the news, at least not that I saw:
Lets be honest here, Brooklyn has been collapsing for a while now.
— T.H.Engeneering (@Thangeneering) February 2, 2024
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It's heartbreaking to watch the decay and failure of NYC. With each passing day, the picture gets dimmer and the prognosis worse. It's hard not to lose hope that New York will ever be resurrected from the slow death it's undergoing. Rather, it looks more likely every day that the place will wind up like another Detroit or Springfield, Mass. — an uninhabitable ruin of a once-great town.
Progressivism — avoid it like the plague that it is.
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