I think some of the finger pointing misses the point. NYC was much more vibrant a generation ago because it had an edge to it and there was a larger cross section of people coming to live here (and afford it). We are becoming a less tolerant society with more uniformity in the population, the higher incomes and rents rise.
Previously, people came from all over the nation/globe to make their mark in various fields, from art to music, publishing, advertising, you name it. They all got together at night and weekends and this created an special type of informed, edgy culture that was open to new things, and demanded new things. We got them in the 1970s.
Today there is only one career path that matters: Wall Street, and you only get the money/jock mentality of this type of career, not the complexity or the chaos of all types of persons and professions, meeting, trading ideas, and competing.
I have a million great memories from that "good old days" period, although it was a little more dangerous, and it was not as clean cut as the Manhattan of today, which is a millionaires playground but a desert for anyone seeking unique, kookie, idiosyncratic local culture. The good stuff is gone forever, I am afraid.
I think some of the finger pointing misses the point. NYC was much more vibrant a generation ago because it had an edge to it and there was a larger cross section of people coming to live here (and afford it). We are becoming a less tolerant society with more uniformity in the population, the higher incomes and rents rise.
Previously, people came from all over the nation/globe to make their mark in various fields, from art to music, publishing, advertising, you name it. They all got together at night and weekends and this created an special type of informed, edgy culture that was open to new things, and demanded new things. We got them in the 1970s.
Today there is only one career path that matters: Wall Street, and you only get the money/jock mentality of this type of career, not the complexity or the chaos of all types of persons and professions, meeting, trading ideas, and competing.
I have a million great memories from that "good old days" period, although it was a little more dangerous, and it was not as clean cut as the Manhattan of today, which is a millionaires playground but a desert for anyone seeking unique, kookie, idiosyncratic local culture. The good stuff is gone forever, I am afraid.