President Reagan has been, sadly, out of the spotlight in recent years because of the Alzheimer’s disease that he is afflicted with. But tomorrow, February 6, marks his 93rd birthday, and Reagan admirers everywhere will pause to lift a glass to one of our greatest presidents. There’ll be plenty of time to recall Mr. Reagan’s landmark achievements in lowering marginal tax rates, simplifying

the tax code, strengthening the military, and defeating the Soviet Union. But this birthday eve, we here in New York found ourselves wondering what the 40th president had to say about our fair city, and a bit of research turned up the answer.

“This city and this state represent the hub of America’s commercial and financial activity,” Mr. Reagan said at a fundraising dinner here on March 6, 1984. On April 5 of that year, speaking to the New York State Federation of Catholic School Parents, he said, “Americans are always thrilled to come to this city, and believe me, for a Midwesterner from a small town in Illinois, the sidewalks of New York still evoke that sense of romance and excitement that is unique to this city and this state.” In the same speech, he said, “New York City and New York State symbolize America — its togetherness, its openness, its opportunity, its hope.” In March of 1982, Mr. Reagan met with the editorial board of the New York Post, and he was asked, “Are you concerned about the disarray in the Republican Party in New York?”

Some things never change. The Republican Party, though it holds both the governor’s mansion and New York City’s mayoralty, can still be accurately described as in disarray, as it struggles to find a candidate to run against Senator Schumer. More importantly, the romance and excitement of New York’s sidewalks, the city’s status as America’s financial hub, and the city’s togetherness, openness, opportunity, and hope are as vibrant today as they were in Mr. Reagan’s time.