New York City was in the midst of severe financial difficulties and then, lightening struck the Con-Ed substation on the Hudson River. What ensured was an unleashing of evil.
In little more than 24 hours — the blackout lasted from 9:34 p.m. on July 13 to 10:39 p.m. on July 14 — 1,000 fires were reported, 1,600 stores were damaged in looting and rioting and 3,700 people were arrested. Neighborhoods from East Harlem to Bushwick were devastated. The authorities later estimated that the total cost of the blackout exceeded $300 million.
It is also the year the first Cuomo, false Catholic, got in power.
In that year, I was living in Minneapolis. New York City seemed very far away, but the violence at home, in Broadway, struck the media like an omen.
Chicago is now under a cloud. Who would want to visit the Windy City with the soaring crime rate and inability of the city to ensue safety? I remember as a young person in my teens taking the train from Iowa to Chicago for shopping or baseball games. We would visit the Art Institute, the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, the River and the Lake. We shopped until we dropped.
No more. Even though Chicago has more attractions, the gang warfare and the corruption of the political powers that be put one off. We used to love our cities enough to want to live in them in peace, security and harmony. No more.
Our cities are decaying and does anyone care? Look at the bankrupt cities in California. Civic pride died a long time ago in some places, when selfishness at both the top and the bottom took over.