PROGRESSIVES’ DREAMS WILL SEND NEW YORK RIGHT BACK TO ‘70S BLIGHT:

Before the riots and looting of the past week, New Yorkers were facing existential questions about their continued residence in the city going forward. Primarily this: How can we stay here when the compensating pleasures of a life lived in crowds might be putting us and our families in danger?

The economic crash caused by the coronavirus response also raised the prospect of an increasing tax burden in this very highly taxed city to deal with the inevitable budgetary shortfalls that will come in its wake — which will inevitably mean paying more for fewer services.

Now, however, there’s a third existential question: How can we stay here when we’ve seen mass lawlessness go unpunished and the authorities in charge entirely ineffectual (at best) when it comes to keeping the streets safe?

The dream vision of the newest generation of activist urban politicians — living in a world in which job-creating businesses like Amazon are treated like pariahs and the systems by which law is enforced are viewed as enforcers of inequality and injustice — is getting closer to reality.

And people who were already thinking of fleeing for their health are thinking even harder about hitting the road to protect their personal safety and long-term security.

Related: American Cities Take Double-Barreled Hit; How Will They Look in the Future?