Julian Sanchez | October 17, 2005
In a review of a hagiographic new book about New York's celebrated ex-mayor, Tim Cavanaugh casts a skeptical eye at the man who thinks Rudy can't fail.
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He's a liberal who has been mugged by reality--a familiar
New York breed as irritating as the subway car torch singer, the
entry-level Ivy Leaguer kiss-ass, and the panhandler with falling
trousers.
HA! Good one Tim.
Re: Sen. Moynihan. Having once been his constituent, I don't think
your "dour patient zero of mugged liberalism" characterization is
truly apt. The brilliant senator could just as easily affect a rosy
champion of the Great Society. I refer you to this excellent Reason
article, revealing the two-sided nature of the man.
R,
CLASH reference???
Should we be giving some credit to President Clinton�s
widely reviled crime bill?
No, but Clinton did identify the reason for the drop in crime: a
low percentage of young people following a high percentage of young
people.
Soft or hard, NYC is a better place to peddle than to pedal.
Among the horrors facing New Yorkers in the pre-Giuliani
era, Siegel cites �a new wave of tuberculosis� on the subways,
�often carried by deinstitutionalized mental patients whose right
not to take their medicine had been secured by [civil liberties]
attorneys.�
A professor in one of my epidemiology classes (at a university in
NYC) once made a comment about how one of the other professors
helped "plant" at least the "outbreak on the subway" part of this
story in the news, playing on the popular panic, in order to expand
TB research at Rikers Island correctional facility.
Warren: See reply to this
Let me second (er, third) the kudos for the semi-obscure Clash reference. Well done.
Cute reference, but this is old news:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:XQ-aLc9jREAJ:www.suntimes.com/output/roeser/cst-edt-roes10.html+%22rudy+can%27t+fail%22&hl=en
I liked Sleazy Times Square much better than Giant Shopping Mall Times Square. I was just in Times Square a couple of weeks ago; they have a Toys R Us, a Red Lobster, an Applebee's. . . .in other words, the exact same shit you can find in any American suburb, only bigger.
frankly, both times squares sucked.
i've heard it was pretty boss in the 70s, but i was mostly a fetus
for that and can't vouch for such nostalgia/stain-tinged
memories.
frankly, both times squares sucked.
I kind of agree. NYC is perfectly capable of producing lively, New
York-ish areas (like say, Union Square), but apparently some dim
bulb at whatever development corp. produced the "New 42nd Street"
decided we need a theme park instead. But hey, there's always 8th
Avenue if you want to see where most of the sleaze wound up.
Say what you will about Rudy -- he has proven he is able to overcome impossible odds. I think there was a movie made about this. It focused on his college days when he played football. I haven't actually seen it, but I hear it's pretty good.
Before Giuliani became mayor, there were 37 of us, living in a box on the Long Island Expressway.
I agree with you Jennifer, I visited NYC in 1977 as a Boy Scout and boy it sure was an eye-opener seeing all of those nekkid lady joints being freely marketed to anyone passing by. We stayed at the Ramada Mid-Town. The other thing I learned was that New Yorkers are very helpful to visitors. Many people went out of their way to show us how to get places, like the WTC.
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