Bring Back Grit to NYC
James Amodeo
Chief Learning Officer, Co-Founder with a passion for Special Needs Education
The NY Daily News published an article today predicting that there will be an exodus of Generation Xers and Baby Boomers from the City simply because it has become too expensive to retire here (a link to the article follows this writing). The article gives lots of statistics but failed to delve into causes and possible solutions.
This is one of the negative byproducts when you sell out the City to the über-rich. The City is actually a fabulous place to retire. Virtually everything is deliverable. Access to transport is convenient and easy. And finally, people are at your fingertips if you are in need.
Of course, selling out the city to the über-rich not only destroys those seeking retirement. It destroys the very fabric that made this City great, the cultural and economic diversity. "The City that never sleeps" is steadfastly becoming one big bore. Neighborhoods have homogenized to the point of no distinction. Quality of life shops that really provided services to the poor and middle class (shoe repair, bodegas, cleaners, florists, etc.) have disappeared.
I understand that the struggle between tax dollars and providing services are always at odds. Higher property taxes and income taxes are very alluring to government officials. However, a balance has to be struck somehow. Zoning regulations must be enforced or strengthened to prevent mega-developers erecting another glass box of luxury apartments with a back entrance for the poor. Small businesses must have rent stabilization as well to prevent an unattainable rent hike thus forcing their closure only to pave the way for a bank, chainstore, or expensive restaurant.
Bring the grit back to the City. That's who we are (were) as New Yorkers. Sure, we welcome all but "if you come to the nuisance" then you really have no right to change it to satisfy you. Leave your Dominos in Ames. You don't need Walmart in NYC. But in the end, it's upon our lawmakers and elected officials to help protect the City and not sell out. Protect the retirees. Protect the poor. Protect the working class. Protect the small business. Do this and we all thrive.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/generation-xers-baby-boomers-afford-nyc-retirement-article-1.2269021
Dynamic leader who encourages participation and enthusiasm while facilitating learning for clients and staff
9 年Yes, bring back the grit
Community Programs
9 年My family had to move back to the Bronx after 13 years in Harlem, because we just couldn't afford the size apartment we needed there. And now I'm in Virginia for similar reasons and I can't imagine coming back to stay. I was born and raised in NYC, but it just doesn't feel like home anymore. You're right -- the things that made it exciting and diverse are fading fast. I miss NYC. I don't miss being there; I miss IT being there...