Boston vs. New York

Santino Carnevale’s recent letter to the Daily Free Press, in which he espouses his views of NYC, is itself sufficcient to explain why New Yorkers often “shoot their mouths off”; because of the ignorance, naivete, and hypocrisy exhibited by such people as Carnevle, we often find ourselves compelled to debunk stereotypes, falsify preconceptions, and chastise the stupid. At the end of the article, Carnevale asserts, “I’ll take either [Providence or Boston] over crime-ridden, drug infested New York City”. Contrary to popular belief, crime in NYC has been on a steady decline since before 1993, when the rest of the nation began to note a widescale decline in crime. Moreover, even while some cities have experienced a rise in crime since the advent of this recession, NYC has continued it’s steady decrease in the major violent offenses (with the exception of murder, for obvious reasons). But, we can’t expect someone like you to know these things. Moving on. Earlier in his article, Carnevale alludes to the fact that bars are open later than 2am. It’s a good thing you are in CAS and not SMG; for, any intelligent businessman would gladly inform you of the benefits of having a 24-hour city. Because of such business-savvy ventures, among other things, NYC has the fourth largest budget in the nation (behind New York State, California, and the U.S. government). But, I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you didn’t know that either. As to your assertion that NYC is “drug-infested”–again, though not surprisingly, you are completely wrong. New York State currently has some of the most strict drug laws in the nation, as a result of the efforts of one of its earlier governors, Nelson Rockefeller. Moreover, the most drug-infested neighborhoods in NYC are those of which you are likely only nominally aware: it is most rampant in the outer-boroughs of NYC, which I doubt you have even had the pleasure or the courage to visit. The only indisputable point you make in your article is that which regards the illegal sale of vidoes–boot-legging. Indeed, NYC is home to illegal video, dvd, clothing, and pharmaceutical sales, among other things. And, as you noted, people do pay for illegal goods. Ironically, I am not surprised you know this. However, while this does not justify their actions, the reason people pay for their goods is because, for the most part, neither vendors nor consumers of bootleg merchandise are wealthy, priviledged, bourgeois, or self-righeous enough (because downloading music and movies online for free somehow makes you more moral)to buy computers and do their boot-legging over the internet. The point, at last, is that, while New Yorkers, including myself, may often appear arrogant and geocentric, we are no different than the average American who exhibits a sometimes foolish and infantile pride in and admiration for their homeland. As a testament to that arrogance (nationalism, ethnocentrism, etc), I leave you with this: If Boston is better than New York, why is a former resident and businessman of Boston the current mayor of New York? Now, you go home and think about what you said. Go Yankees.