New York Is Dead

| August 18, 2020

New York City has shut down, and for the author at the link below, who works in the entertainment industry and has lived there most of his life, it may never come back. The last photo in the article, which he posted at the end of it, says it all.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nyc-dead-forever-heres-why-james-altucher

I know what he’s reacting to and why. Chicago was my home town for decades. It still kind of draws me in.  I can type WGN NEWS LIVE into my search block, pull up the link and click on it, and get the news from that station (or one of the other four).  But I can also go to the town where I grew up,  down in the center of the state, and do the same thing for their main TV station, and any other TV station in this country. That’s the advantage to the internet: I can get news live from London or from Rome or Vienna or Mannheim, and I can watch live webcams from places that are my ancestral origins.  I can watch boats speeding around in the waters of the Florida Keys, and become aware how deserted it all looks these days.

No, I would not return to Chicago now, even if I were paid to. It wasn’t perfect when I was there, but it had a hometown feel to it, no matter what. I love Chicago, always did. Saw the Beatles there in 1965. Saw David Bowie at the Rosemont in August 1983. Had a wonderful time, both times and came out of both concerts nearly stone deaf from overkill on the sound systems. Worked at Star Trek cons every time there was one. Went to plays and movies and occasionally, the Lyric Opera, and took classes on weekends at a local art school.  Had many lunch episodes at local delis. There is nothing like a Chicago-style hot dog, and the corned beef after the St. Patrick’s Day parade was amazing.

But now? The Sox and the Cubbies, who finally won the World Series after 108 years of not winning, now play to empty stadium seats. The Blackhawks play to a nonexistent rink audience. Basketball? Practice has only been mentioned once.

I’m not the only one who feels that way. I think the current mayor is trying to stop the crapweasels from taking over, but they are out of control.  They will go on trashing the city and the Loop until it’s too wrecked to fix it, or they find they can’t sell that stolen crap to anyone. But people who live there are planning to move both home and job to some place safer. As Altucher says in his article at the link, when you can work online from a distance and still get the job done, why would you return to a city that is rapidly turning into a crime-ridden slum?

Maybe I could take a couple of days off and go visit the Art Institute one last time, just to see Monet’s “Morning on the Seine”, or the Shedd Aquarium, or the Field Museum, where I spent several months on weekends in 1990 working in the collections as a volunteer, just to really learn about fossils and how that process of turning things to stone really happens. It’s a major chore to get there these days, whether you take Amtrak or drive.

Live there again? Now? I wouldn’t go back there if I were paid the equivalent of a major Lotto win.

I will never go back there. Not even for a visit.

Category: "The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves", Darwin Awards

45 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
A Proud Infidel®™️

That’s what a locality gets for electing D-rats for decades!

7711C20

Didn’t take that long only 6 years.

Hondo

Technically true, but misleading.

You are aware that Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat before playing political opportunist in 2001 by switching parties to run for Mayor as a Republican to take advantage of a weak field and Giuliani’s success, right? And that he changed his party affiliation to Independent in 2007? And then re-registered as a Democrat again in 2018 when he had thoughts about running for President in 2020?

In fact, since La Guardia left office at the end of 1945, NYC has had precisely three Republican mayors: Lindsay, Giuliani, and Bloomberg. And two of them (Lindsay and Bloomberg) were rank political opportunists and turncoats – Lindsay abandoned the Republican party when he lost his primary in 1970 and managed to win a 3-way race with a plurality, while Bloomberg rode Giuliani’s success into office after changing parties in 2001.

Cameron

I sent this to my aunt in an email. She was originally born in New York.

MarineDad61

I’ve been saying for over 20 YEARS…..
1st with WAN networks (using phone cable pairs),
and then this new INTERNET (email and webpages)…..
There is NO longer a reason for Manhattan real estate,
high rise office jobs
subway or limo commutes,
nor $1 million town houses or (Ugh) condo apartments.

So, who keeps the facade of Manhattan jobs and real estate going?

26Limabeans

I’m just glad I got to visit the statue of Liberty before they tear it down.

A Proud Infidel®™️

DeBlasio will probably let the druggies scrap it for the copper and call it “reparations”.

ninja

Good One, API!

Good One!

😉😎👏👏👏

UpNorth

👍🏼 API.

FarmerJones

The statue is in NJ not NY.

Cacti35

That is exactly the way I feel about Seattle where I was born. I can think of only one reason to go there, not for sports or entertainment but the excellent medical care facilities. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center save my bacon in 2005. They have made great strides on Cancer treatments. But they can shove the rest of the city up the city councils ass. It like Portland is becoming a Third World country.

gitarcarver

The author of the linkedin article says that he moved to South Florida.

For those of us who live in Florida, we have seen this happening for some time, even before the pandemic. People who live in states / cities with oppressive policies and governments leave the city / state and move here.

While they leave the results of their votes behind, they bring the same attitudes here.

Even before the pandemic, I’ve seen calls for “rent control,” “set asides for the poor,” higher minimum wages, and more regulations that serve no one other than government masters.

The people that are leaving these cities and states are leaving the effects of what they supported, and are now bringing those same ideas across the country.

There used to be bumper stickers here that said “IF YOU LOVE (heart) NY, TAKE I-95 NORTH.”

There is a part of me that wants to say “clean up the mess you made before leaving your city and state. Then we can talk.”

Hondo

Yep.

If “back home” was all that great, they’d never have left.

And yet after they move elsewhere, they want to recreate the same crap that caused them to move away in the first place.

The Other Whitey

Yet another reason why I’m stubbornly refusing to be driven out of California. One day the hippies, dumbasses, etc. will all pick up and move on when they don’t want to live with the consequences of their utopia. Then the rest of us can finally have our state back.

Combat Historian

The locusts, they are ‘a ‘comin. Be prepared to repel the vermin, or pestilence and famine will befall you…

SFC D

Exactly what happened to Teton County Idaho and Teton County Wyoming. It was a great place to grow up in, but as more and more people discovered that, they flocked to the area and brought the bullshit they were fleeing with them. Now a 950 sq ft 1 bed 1 bath townhouse is going for $350,000.

Topski
Apedream

That is precisely how Portland and Seattle got to the state they are currently in. I grew up in Portland and over the last 40 or so years there has been a HUGE influx of Californians fleeing the nightmare that state became, but they brought their politics with them, with the result that the policies in Portland are nearly indistinguishable from San Francisco.

QMC

Same here in NC. Lot of them are like locusts, just destroying one place to the next.

OWB

Have been to and seen most everything on my bucket list long ago, but there remain a few places I still had planned to visit just because they are there. Doesn’t look like many of them are still worth the trouble it now takes to get there.

Sad. And it makes me a bit angry at those few who
deliberately destroyed the dreams of so many.

UpNorth

Ditto, OWB. I guess I’ll pass on the 9-11 Memorial, and a few things we wanted to see around D.C. Sad, but it is what it is.

2banana

NYC is dead.

Killed by democrat politicians and their marxist policies.

penguinman000

I went to NYC once for family reasons. The food there was OUTSTANDING! Everything else, not so much. As much as I enjoyed the food and museums, one trip was enough for the next 3 life times.

I’ve got a buddy who lives up there with his family. His wife is life long NYC resident. She’s about as liberal as one can be while still remaining semi-sane. The “mostly peaceful protesting” has caused her attitude about living in the city to do a 180. A woman who never wanted to leave now can’t wait to get her kids somewhere safe. They are leaving.

He’s in finance. His entire office is teleworking (a couple hundred people from an international banking firm). From what he tells me there are quite a few finance types that are expecting to telework permanently. Pretty much sounds like those with the fiscal means are leaving at the cyclical rate.

All of the big cities/states that are seeing folks flee have ignored the cardinal rule of business. Don’t get in front of the money train needlessly. It’s doesn’t swerve.

ninja

Chicago:

Home of White Men that wear MAGA Hats who walk around Chicago in the dead of winter at 0200 hours, carrying a noose and bleach and attacking innocent Gay, Black men.

You can’t make this stuff up.

😉😉😉😉😉

Hondo

And where a special prosecutor says the Cook County State’s Attorney screwed up bigtime recently, too. (smile)

https://www.foxnews.com/us/special-prosecutor-jussie-smollett-investigation-kim-foxxs-mishandled-case

ChipNASA

I’m sorry but really, I’m not, with no apologies…

After spreadin’ my cheeks, I’m leavin’ today
I really want no part of it
New York, New York
I’ve got vagabond shoes, not longing to stay
Fucked through the very heart of it
New York, New York
I wanna to wake up, in a city that isn’t here
And I’m not on top of a dump
Top of the heap
These big town shoes
Are running away
I’ll make a brand new start of it
Fuck You New York
You can not make it there, left in your, underwear
Get the fuck outta here, New York, New York
New York, New York
I want to wake up somewhere else, I don’t give a shit
And find I’ve got a few bucks, not getting fucked
Ain’t it a thrill, live somewhere else
These big town shoes, are gettin’ the fuck out
I’m gonna get the fuck outta this town,
That’s right, New York
And
When I get the fuck, outta here
You fuckers can, kiss my rear
Fuck you tooo, de Bla-si-o
Fuck you Bill,
Fuuuhhhhhhccckk Yoooooouu Biiiiillllll!!!!!!

Anonymous

Why my family moved out to mid-Island in the ’50s.

ninja

2001:

Terrorists tried to destroy the hearts and minds of our Country by attacking New York on 9-11.

New Yorkers and our Country rallied together to physically rebuild the City. Under a Republican Mayor. Under a Republican Governor.

Fast Forward almost 20 years later in 2020:

Terrorists tried to destroy the hearts and minds of New Yorkers and our Country.

There is a lack of unity. Folks are leaving NYC. Heck, Folks are leaving NY.

Under a Democrat Mayor. Under a Democrat Governor.

Go Figure.

🤔

gitarcarver

Funny you should mention that ninja, as we posted a similar idea on our slice of the blog-o-sphere today.

http://raisedonhoecakes.com/ROH/looking-back-at-a-united-country/

(video is of Bush throwing first pitch at the World Series after 9/11)

ninja

gitarcarver:

Great Minds Think Alike…

😉😎

Thank You for sharing the link…will pass it on to others…we know they will enjoy it.

😊

KoB

Where is General Black now that we need him in a holding pattern over NYC? The place has failed and it is not safe. It’s the only way to be sure.

STSC(SW/SS)

I am the Matador.

ninja

gitarcarver:

Great Minds Think Alike…

😉😎

Thank You for sharing the link…will pass it on to others…we know they will enjoy it.

😊

FuzeVT

All of the reasons I will be sad NY City is defunct:

►Well, I did really like “Person of Interest”, but the series IS over so it really doesn’t affect me much.
►It was attacked by terrorists, so it is sad that it won’t always be a vibrant, repudiation of their sick way of life.



►Oh, I guess I would have like to see the USS Intrepid Museum at some point.


Guess that’s it.

11B-Mailclerk

Some folks decided that political freedom to pick someone other than the anointed Donk meant the States might choose “wrong”, and they wanted Trump out “by any means necessary”.

So they ginned-up a BS panic over a flu-ish bug much less dangerous than polio or even a bad flu year. Thus wrecking the economy in an insane belief that this would oust the incumbent.

And killed their Donk strongholds. Those solid blue cities are now in a crash spiral. The exodus is underway. The Golden goose was crushed under political expediency.

Oops.

And about now, the genuine political panic has set in. Because those fleeing folks ain’t coming back, nor is that tax base, nor are those votes, nor are those census-based representatives.

Oops.

So -now- the Donks are going to demand fundamental corruption of the voting system, so they can pretend they didn’t just totally funk themselves over their own stupid temper-tantrum that the states “chose wrong”.

They can’t admit how badly they screwed up, so they will destroy everything remaining trying to pretend otherwise.

I suspect the actual votes cast are going to be a reckoning, as real voters go Trump -bigly-. I also suspect a tsunami of cheating and bogus ballots from the Donks. And hostile foreign powers are just waiting to run their painting presses in support of chaos. Some of them make “supernote” counterfeit c-notes. Will those same folks balk at mailing a couple million bogus ballots to stir the pot? No? If one believes that country X would “interfere” with ad buys, why not with print jobs?

So here we go, folks. The Donks have dropped the “American civics” mask and are about to let their inner fascist freak flags fly. They may call it “progressive” or “anarchist” or whatever, but their demonstrated reality won’t even rise to those shabby standards.

The grapes of wrath are again being trampled out for a bitter vintage.

Popcorn?

Berliner

Portland is on it’s last legs also. Go 20 minutes south or east and the majority of people have Trump 2020 signs in their yards.

ninja

Speaking of Portland:

Pictures of the dirtbag is in this article.

Wonder if the Left Wing Media will stay silent about this piece of garbage.

“BREAKING: 4Chan Identifies One of the Portland Rioters Who Attempted to Kill Driver as ‘Keese Love’”

https://thepatriotsreport.com/2020/08/17/breaking-4chan-identifies-one-of-the-portland-rioters-who-attempted-to-kill-driver-as-keese-love/

“The animal who ran up and punched the man after he had already been brutally beaten to the point of nearly losing consciousness has been identified by 4Chan users as Keese Love, whose Facebook profile lists him as a ramp agent at Portland International Airport. He also works as a DJ in the evenings.”

“His real name is believed to be Marquise Love.”

“Manhunt Underway For Attacker In Portland Truck Assault: Police”

https://www.foxnews.com/us/manhunt-underway-portland-truck-assault-police

HMCS(FMF) ret

See quite a few signs across the Columbia…

RGR 4-78

New York City, a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.

The old saying is no longer relevant.

11B-Mailclerk

Republican candidate in Baltimore, seeking the seat formerly held by Elijah Cummings.

Nuclear ad.

HMCS(FMF) ret

Thermonuclear… fingers are crossed that she wins.

Twist

I used to love going to Chicago as a kid. Go to a baseball game or a museum. Now you couldn’t pay me to go there.

JP

Just throwing this out, Would the last person leaving Honolulu please turn out the lights.

Edited to protect PII.
AW1