Nicole Gelinas joins Seth Barron to discuss recent violence on New York’s Upper West Side, why the decision to house homeless men in nearby hotels isn’t good for them or their neighbors, and the risk that the city faces of losing wealthier residents due to quality-of-life concerns.

Subscribe to City Journal's 10 Blocks in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.


There are 2 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Seth and Nicole,

    This is really much simpler if you actually want to help the homeless. First, you go far enough away from the city (especially a metropolis as big as NYC) to where land is cheap. The state buys a few acres. They rent the heavy earth grading equipment for a couple of weeks. Put in dirt roads and level out sites. Throw some cheap gravel down at the sites. Build very low-cost platforms with roofs campground style. With the big backhoe dig some really good-sized septic tank fields and latrines. Build a supply shed and stock it with just necessities for staying alive. That’s it. Give the homeless a free ride to these country estates. That’s it. If they come back to the city, handcuff them to their seat in the old school bus and dump them back at the camp. That’s it.

    If they want more tell them to get a job. Here is a quote that if you really wanted to know would tell you the whole story. “In the recent mass looting of stores, there was one item that was never stolen, work boots.”

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #1
  2. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    Welcome to 1992 — one of the warning signs that even Upper West Side liberals had had enough prior to Giuliani’s election was “60 Minutes” doing a profile on ‘The Wild Man of 96th Street’ in late ’92. That fact that not only did people complain, but they complained to CBS and the network did a story on it was an indication the quality of life in New York had finally dropped to the point where just enough of the city’s liberals were willing to take a chance on voting against David Dinkins the following year and for Giuliani.

    Of course, it was 28 years between the first sign crime was starting to spiral out of control, with the 1964 Kitty Genovese death, and the “60 Minutes” story on the everyday horrors the Upper West Side residents had to endure. The question now is if it’s going to take 28 years this time for UWS residents to get fed up with how the city is being run, and vote to change things in the 2021 local elections.

    • #2
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.