Back in 2016, approximately 22 million undocumented migrants lived in the U.S. (Yale study, published 2018). Let’s assume that today’s undocumented migrant population is closer to 30 million. From the August 31 New York Times… “As Migrant Crisis Worsens, New York Leaders Pressure Biden to Do More”:
A broad coalition of civic, business and union leaders has come together to apply pressure on Washington to help with the migrant crisis in New York. … Washington has failed to adequately address the migrant crisis that has overwhelmed the city in recent months.
Of the 107,000 migrants who have arrived since last year, almost 60,000 are still in the city’s care. … The city has opened over 200 sites and humanitarian relief centers to house and process the migrants, which officials estimate will cost $5 billion this year, as much as the budgets for the parks, fire and sanitation departments combined.
Mr. Adams said the current flow of migrants could cost $12 billion over three years, exceeding the city’s current fiscal and physical capacity to deal with the crisis…
Adams later elaborated about New York City actually being destroyed (see NYC mayor: Texas governor a “madman” for wanting to send city-destroying migrants away from Texas).
Let’s check some photos from my August 22-23, 2023 trip to Manhattan to see whether NYC is, in fact, being destroyed.
What if the migrants want to relax with some 2SLGBTQQIA+-friendly alcohol? Note the “Bud Light” at the top left of the “Open For All” rainbow neon sign.
Perhaps they prefer healing cannabis? New (“essential”) marijuana stores are opening in every neighborhood:
What about COVID? It does not make sense to move out of the crowded city when one can instead don a mask. At the Union Square Greenmarket:
What would you see if you were brave enough to enter the subway?
On any journey into the subway, we are reminded that Pfizer is taking care of us. From Grand Central Station:
Do you want to learn about the “beautiful complexities of the LGBTQIA+ experience”? A Manhattan sidewalk is the place to do it.
(It was a hater from out of town who wrote “all lie” on the sign about the three local queer artists?)
NYC still has plenty of garbage:
My friend who lives in Lower Manhattan attributes a spike in the rodent population to the “rat hotels” that restaurants have built in the street, each one raised up just enough to provide a cozy condo for multiple rat families. Good luck seeing whether a car is coming:
Note that the rat hotel’s floor is flush with the sidewalk:
Rats can also live in the middle of the street:
(See “‘Rat tours’ boom in rodent-infested New York” (the Guardian, 9/4): “sightings doubled last year”)
My departure from Teterboro was marred by a horrifying scene of inequality:
Related:
If $83,000 per year is spent on each migrant ($5,000,000,000 / 60,000), what must be the per capital income of each migrant to make existing New York residents a bit richer?
NYC’s demands for federal assistance for the migrants is the little picture. The real problem in NYC is not the migrants but the empty office space. Commercial vacancies in lower Manhattan, the so-called Financial District, are running close to 25% of available office space and street level retail seems similarly vacant with lots of street level retail occupied by low value added businesses like nail salons, pot “dispensaries”, emergency pet care facilities and the like. Street level retail depends on office workers who are not there. Street level retail has also been decimated by stealing, which is not prosecuted. See: https://nypost.com/2023/09/15/manhattans-swankiest-duane-reade-located-in-trump-building-to-shutter-after-shoplifting-vandalism-issues/
Commercial real estate taxes are the largest single contributor to the NYC budget so as leases expire and property is reassessed for tax purposes the budget will take a big hit and the City pols will probably go hat in hand to Uncle for a big bailout. If there is a Dem in power I would bet the City is bailed out — the last time the City was similarly financially strapped the Republicans ran DC and in response to NYC’s request for a bail out famously told the city, in the words of the newspaper headline, “to drop dead.”
> A broad coalition of civic, business and union leaders has come together to apply pressure on Washington to help with the migrant crisis in New York.
Of course, the “pressure” will be demanding more $$ from Washington, instead of demanding a stop to the illegal immigrants. Because demanding a stop of the illegal immigrants would be inhuman and cruel. However, letting a city, such as NYC, or a country, such as the USA, crumble and fall is OK.
Strange how NYC has money to house+feed+entertain 60,000 foreigners, but none for its own 80,000 homeless citizens.
Can we put one of our newest immigrants Danelo Cavalcante in charge of solving this “crisis”?
NYC budget for homeless services: 2.4 billion.
https://citylimits.org/2022/06/14/heres-how-nycs-101-billion-budget-addresses-homelessness/
How much is that per homeless person?
NYC is not the most caring place in what concerns unhoused people (I ask for forgiveness from the Holy Office for my previous use of the word “homeless”).
https://www.foxnews.com/us/blue-states-143-million-homeless-program-less-thousand-people-housed-governor-wants-more
Recently I’ve been to NYC about 4 times in last 6 weeks. Each visit it’s more apparent of the immigrant/unhoused situation. It’s not a pretty picture
currently in NYC. Trying to exit the subway. Had to change directions several times as they were living in the stairwell. An aggressive. I don’t know the solution, but winter is on the way.
Little people upsetting Democrat donors in NYC and LA. They are starting to be afraid of their future governor AOC
Gloria
NYC has problems, it is still, in my opinion, one of the best cities in the world. Compared to other large American cities crime is low. The large cities in Florida have murder rates much higher than the Big Apple. Again, a matter of opinion (unlike the murder rate), the quality of life in NYC is fantastic. Actually, the big negative of the City is that is very expensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
Anon: Are you sure that this comparison of NYC to Miami and Jacksonville makes sense?
Based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate , NYC has a robbery rate of 162 while Jacksonville is at 153 and Miami is at 211.
But a person with money who moves from NYC to Florida wouldn’t live in Jacksonville or Miami! The rich neighborhoods of NYC are urban neighborhoods. The rich neighborhoods of Florida are beach or suburban neighborhoods. The New Yorker who moves to “Miami” more likely lives in Coral Gables, one of the country’s first planned communities. The violent crime rate there is 1/6th of what people who live in Miami per se experience (see https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/florida/coral_gables ).
I’m not sure where people of means in Metro Jacksonville live, but I will bet that it isn’t “Jacksonville”.
Philip, you are ignoring that NYC is much safer and comfortable place to be a criminal.
In NYC, only criminals have guns and thus there are fewer self-defense crimes on down on their luck violent criminals, and thus NYC is more “just” place then Jacksonville or Miami.
Phil
I don’t disagree with you. The “quality of life” offered by a place is difficult to evaluate objectively. What you say is true if you prefer to live in a suburban setting. I personally like to live in a proper city. Also, I do think that when discussing crime rates you cannot pick and chose areas, crime in my co-op has been exactly zero for years. Actually the reason Americans “tolerate” high crime rates is because crime occurs “close” but not “close enough.” Philadelphia has more murders in a year than Italy, many residents of Philadelphia don’t seem to be very affected by that.
Liking or disliking a city is a bit like art, what/who determines that some painting is a masterpiece? Picassos that sold for very modest amounts (even accounting for inflation) in the 40s and 50s are now worth tens of millions. Who is to say that a Hunter Biden with a current value of half a million (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/13/arts/design/hunter-biden-art-white-house.html) is not going to sell for billions in a few decades?
https://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2010/09/28/appreciating-picasso/
The U.S. is not good at building new “proper cities”. Almost any place built after the advent of the automobile is pretty bad for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with crime.
That said, Palm Beach, Florida is kind of a city. It is home to plenty of ex-New Yorkers and I don’t think that they have a lot of crime (go across the bridge into certain neighborhoods of West Palm Beach and it will be a different story!). Naples, Florida also has a walkable downtown area. I don’t think you’re going to be mugged there as you walk next to the parked Ferraris and Rolls-Royces.
As a student of the social order in silicon valley, lions say bring on the women with hairy armpits or any armpits.
And, as of yesterday the 500,000 Venezuelan “migrants” in the U.S. can now work here legally thanks to Uncle Joe, which means they will be given social security cards and numbers, which will enable them to get drivers licenses in many states. And, miracle of miracles…those are the primary documents needed to become a voting “citizen” in the U.S. in most states. In fact, Maskachusetts *automatically* enrolls you as a voter when you get a drivers license.