The Spirit of New York
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
This city, New York, which we love, has been going through a rough patch lately. It’s the roughest probably since the last blackout in the late 1970s. As workers streamed over the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday afternoon in confused crowds, it was hard not to be remind ed of the crowds fleeing on September 11, 2001. In a strange way we New Yorkers are used to it. Used to the hundreds of small acts of heroism, the rescuers helping stranded victims from underground darkness, the routine of worriedly calling to check up on loved ones. The hastily called mayoral press conferences, followed by the calling up of the National Guard and then, inevitably, by the arrival of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
We may be used to it, but we sure could do without it. And it’s not just the blackout or September 11. Were it not for the blackout, the big news yesterday would have been the battle between the governor and the mayor over how to plug the holes in the city’s overstretched budget. The past year has seen a property tax increase, an income tax increase, a subway fare increase, and a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. Put together with the still-sluggish local economy, it’s enough even to make the happiest New Yorker cranky.
And yet New Yorkers responded to yesterday’s blackout with characteristic grit and good cheer. People did help each other get out of subway tunnels. People gathered together around battery-operated radios, shared information with strangers, and for the most part behaved responsibly. So far as we can tell, there was no widespread looting.
New York’s rebuilding from the last disaster has been hampered by Mayor Bloomberg’s tax increases. In guiding the city’s recovery from the economic effects of the blackout, Mr. Bloomberg may wish to reconsider his approach. The extraordinary responsibility, kindness, resourcefulness, and self-reliance exhibited by so many New Yorkers amid yesterday’s darkened chaos are this city’s greatest assets. They are something for all of us to remember, for we will need them, too, when the lights come back on.
