COURIER L 12 IFE, SEPT. 4–10, 2020
OPINION
A tale of two presidential conventions
Thoughts on the uncertain future of
New York City after the pandemic
I think almost every week
my column could be headlined
“Worrying Trends”
or “This is Ominous.” There
is one small ray of light: last
week I indicated that Bill
de Blasio did not seem to
be in possession of reality
about the reopening of city
schools. Since then, he has
delayed the reopening by
eleven days so as to be better
prepared, an amazing
concession to reality. None
of the teachers I have heard
from feels confident that
anyone knows what they are
doing here, though.
Today’s column is about
making some pretty dire
recognitions about the reality
of the future our city is
facing. I’m limited by space,
so here’s the only point in
the column where I’ll be
using the following words,
but they are present in my
thoughts: unemployment,
food shortage, bread lines,
evictions, homelessness, violence.
The future of this city
is dire. We’re not going to
stop being the most important
city in America, but
a lot of what powered us is
gone: dead or dying and not
coming back. Let’s look at
just one city industry: fashion.
New York is clearly the
dominant city for fashion
in North America, and that
industry has retained its
glamor but been less and financially
sustainable over
the last decade. Even before
the pandemic, many wellknown
brands were going
under. Probably most fashion
brands are not coming
back; many department
stores are not coming back;
Fashion Week is almost certainly
not coming back for a
while, if ever; I expect many
dry-cleaning stores to close
as many people no longer go
into the office.
A lot changes without all
those people commuting into
offices. Millions of people in
this city will still commute,
but the aspirational, highest
paying jobs will likely
be mostly remote. What is
Class A commercial real estate
even worth any more?
Those buildings include
many of the most iconic in
New York’s skyline, but also
the taxes when those office
buildings are sold helps
fund the transit system.
The subway doesn’t run
24 hours any more, and it’s
clear that the transit system
is going to absorb significant
further budget cuts. A
large majority of this city’s
restaurants and bars will
not make it to the end of the
pandemic.
A huge portion of the
city’s budget is dependent
on income taxes on highearners
here; I think those
high-earners are much more
likely to stay in suburbs going
forward, many across
state lines.
Services will be cut: that
hits the young and the old,
the disabled and the poor
the hardest.
At some point, housing
costs and rent will go down,
though probably so will
building maintenance.
Sill, New York will endure;
it always has.
Nick Rizzo is a Democratic
District Leader representing
the 50th Assembly
District and a political consultant
who lives in Greenpoint.
Follow him on Twitter
@NickRizzo.
WORDS OF
RIZZDOM
Nick Rizzo
Not one word. Not one
utterance. Not a syllable.
Nothing about
the violence, looting, arson,
and riots in our cities was
spoken by any of the speakers
at the Democratic National
Convention. None of
them, including Joe Biden
or Kamala Harris, dared
to offend their far-left base
that is now in full control of
their party.
If one has any doubt that
they have taken over just
take the word of southern
New Jersey Congressman
Jeff Van Drew, who recently
left the Democratic Party for
the GOP. In his remarks at
the Republican Convention
he said that within “weeks
after being elected” radical
Members of Congress
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
Ilhan Omar, Rashida
Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley,
collectively known as
“The Squad,” took over the
agenda of the party.
To Democrats today, all
of this chaos in urban areas
is simply “peaceful protesting”
and at worst, “unlawful
assemblies.” Meanwhile,
at the Republican National
Convention last week, all of
the violence and crime was
unequivocally condemned.
Vice President Pence was
particularly effective saying
that he and President
Trump respect “peaceful
protests” but those that commit
crimes must be “prosecuted
to the fullest extent of
the law.” He also stated that
“Under President Trump,
we will stand with those
who stand on the thin blue
line, and we’re not going to
defund the police- not now,
not ever.”
After the two conventions,
there was a distinct
bump in the polls for Trump,
particularly with suburban
Americans in swing states
who will decide this election.
Voters heard the GOP’s
emphasis on law and order,
and the deafening silence
from Democrats.
As a result, Biden finally
acknowledged the violence
this week and gingerly condemned
it. However, he
screwed it up by then blaming
Trump for what has been
happening in Portland, Seattle,
New York, Kenosha,
and other cities.
Unless we missed something,
Trump has not directed
Black Lives Matter
and Antifa to burn down
businesses, loot, and aim
lasers at the eyes of law enforcement
to blind them.
This feeble Biden argument
will fall f lat on its face as it
is a cynical attempt to condemn
the violence to pacify
suburban voters, while
blaming Trump for it to prevent
upsetting the far-left.
Biden should be blaming
the Democratic mayors and
governors for allowing the
violence to continue in their
cities and states. Trump
has promised federal intervention
to end the violence
within hours if they ask.
They have not.
We all know that if Trump
sent in federal troops to end
the violence in cities alone,
without the consent of local
officials, he would be attacked
as a dictator.
So, if Biden really wanted
to end the violence and show
he will stand up to the radical
far-left, he would tell
governors and mayors to
take the President up on his
offer.
This is how you really
condemn, and end the unrest
in America today.
Bob Capano has worked
for Brooklyn Republican and
Democrat elected officials,
and has been an adjunct political
science professor for
over 15 years. Follow him on
twitter @bobcapano.
THE RIGHT
VIEW
Bob Capano