NYC’s Holidays of Our Present-Future

December 13, 2023
Paul Mourino

Exploring Financial Strategies and Economic Insights

In "NYC’s Holidays of Our Present-Future," Paul Mourino delves into the challenges facing New York City's beloved holiday traditions amid growing social unrest and economic mismanagement. This article highlights the threats posed by extremist actions against the city's iconic celebrations and offers potential solutions to preserve these cherished customs.

Mourino begins by describing the cultural and economic significance of New York’s holiday traditions, such as tree-lightings, festive shop windows, and public gatherings. He laments the attacks on these events by hostile groups, emphasizing the impact on community bonds and the local economy. The article quantifies the stakes, noting that over 210,000 jobs and substantial business revenues depend on holiday activities, which are jeopardized by the current climate of fear and disruption.

The narrative shifts to addressing the broader financial and legal crises afflicting New York. Mourino critiques recent city policies, such as costly contracts for housing undocumented immigrants and significant cuts to police and security budgets. These decisions, he argues, have left the city in a state of near bankruptcy, unable to adequately protect its citizens or maintain order.

To restore stability and safeguard holiday traditions, Mourino proposes a multi-faceted approach. He suggests the establishment of a pragmatic, nonpartisan fiscal control board with emergency powers to stabilize New York’s finances. Drawing parallels to the successful "Big MAC" initiative of the 1970s, he advocates for a similar entity to impose financial discipline and restructure the city's budget.

Additionally, Mourino calls for a return to effective policing and legal strategies, referencing the success of the "Broken Windows" theory implemented in the 1990s by Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg. He argues that restoring these policies can significantly reduce crime and enhance public safety, enabling a resurgence of economic growth and cultural vitality.

Mourino concludes by envisioning a brighter future for New York City, fueled by robust infrastructure projects and modernized transportation systems. He underscores the importance of leadership and community engagement in achieving these goals, urging New Yorkers to advocate for sensible reforms and participate in rebuilding their city.

For more information, visit Financial Policy Council.

This holiday season, New York City’s iconic celebrations of light, heritage, and community find themselves in the crosshairs of misguided extremists seeking to extinguish our most treasured annual traditions. As families gather to kindle a spark of joy amid the darkness, their long-held customs now face the menace of hostile mobs raging against the very foundations of our cultural vitality.

New York’s Beleaguered Holiday Traditions Under Siege

The tree-lightings, the festive shop windows, the public squares – all of these time-honored symbols where generations united to keep liberty’s flame burning brightly now face a calculated assault by misanthropes seeking to dismantle fundamental pillars of our way of life.

Quantifying the Cultural and Economic Costs

Yet no matter how fierce their anarchy burns; it must never overcome New Yorkers’ transcendent holiday spirit stoked each year in those hallowed spaces. For to forfeit our festive freedoms would be the ultimate defeat of everything our flag represents – life, light and the pursuit of happiness.

This season, protecting the patriotic promise of NYC’s heritage stands paramount. Businesses small and large will continue hemorrhaging revenue if blockades and threats keep patrons away. And that’s not even accounting for the over 210,000 local jobs supported by holiday shoppers frequenting restaurants, attractions, and stores.

Beyond dollars and cents, the bonds nurtured among neighbors coming together to celebrate diversity and light during the darkest days are fundamentally jeopardized. If families no longer feel safe partaking in shared public traditions, the cultural tapestry of New York City begins to unravel during what should be the most wondrous time.

The Path to Financial and Civic Accountability

Can this be remedied? What solutions are possible to return NYC to something more normal this holiday season? Yes! there are many and the first step, which should be taken as a necessary course correction is to get our financial house in order; or as my mother was always fond of saying, when chaos reigned in our house was, “Go Clean Your Room.” Therefore, my fellow New Yorkers, let us all “go clean up our rooms.”

Cleaning House in NYC = Financial & Legal Accountability…

The current financial and legal crisis in New York, seems to be one of utter backwardness. We are cutting money to essential services and wasting it on items whose priority is one of self-imposed long-term costs.

A Tested Model to Restore Order

10 months ago, Mayor Adams handed out contracts for housing thousands of undocumented immigrants entering the city at estimated costs of approximately $500 million dollars. These contracts include converting all sorts of empty, or under used properties for approximately 100,000 people. These folks are now additional costs in the government’s affordable housing system.

Meaning, we taxpayers are providing additional resources to train, feed, and provide residence, legal assistance, and education to new undocumented immigrants; while at the same time making massive cuts to the city’s police and security budgets, with zero thought given to planning for the long-term profitability of the whole city. In essence NYC is operating in a state of bankruptcy. The government’s agencies are using financial resources in such a flippant/haphazard manner, with no long-term plan for the future. Clearly this is not sustainable. Where is the long-term plan for the future? How could this ever be profitable?

To complicate the situation, the city’s security, police, and legal functions are increasingly corrupt and mis-used. NYC has the largest and best trained police department on earth and yet it was not used effectively to prevent riots and civil unrest, of the past few years; and currently it is still held back from effectively reigning in on those who wish to protest and stir up controversy during this holiday season.

The disturbance at the Rockefeller’s Tree Lighting Ceremony is only one of many similar protests which are a daily occurrence. If left unchecked, these interruptions and out right destructions of NYC’s historic sites and customs will ultimately destroy the qualities which make NYC such an iconic place for hospitality and tourism.

Precedents Demonstrate What Lasts

In assessing potential strategies to halt this alarming escalation, this blog post proposes serious consideration of a pragmatic, nonpartisan fiscal control board with emergency powers to stabilize NYC’s precarious financial state. If firmly rooted in data-driven, solutions-focused policy – not politics – such a board could put accountability back into governance and curb the anarchic lawlessness enabling mob rule over this holiday’s revelry.

By exploring this option constructively through an apolitical lens, the goal is to find the right regulatory remedies to restore civil order and so the true spirit of the holidays in NYC can prevail.

One potential historical solution for our consideration here could be the Creation of a Banking Assistance and Municipal Corporation (aka Big M.A.C.) like that which was created in NY in the early 1970s. City and State leaders crafted this temporary governing body to restructure Manhattan’s financial affairs to provide a means for the city to become profitable and financial stable.

This private banking entity was granted powers which superseded the city council and thus it was empowered to make necessary structural changes to balance the books and restore order. Certainly, something similar could be accomplished today, provided the leadership is present to impose financial discipline on this unruly situation.

The other element of this equation pertains to police work and the legal system. Sadly, both are presently in a state of political-self-imposed disaster.

By contrast, crime was drastically reduced in NYC during the late nineties thru a series of police and legal reforms dubbed generally as the “Broken Windows Theory” and a data driven approach to police enforcement and prosecution. Mayor Giuliani successfully implemented both ideas during his tenor and Mayor Bloomberg simply continued the successful application.

Success via the reduction of crime helped enable economic growth in NYC from the late 1900s until few years ago. This approach was also successful in many other American Cities and Municipalities, including Boston Massachusetts¹, Arlington Texas², and Jacksonville Florida³.

These footnoted precedents demonstrate for our leaders how elements of the effective 1990’s strategies endured in communities retaining long-term focus on quality-of-life enforcement correlated to stability.

To restore prosperity, we must simply return to the best practices of yesterday and reverse all the legal and policy changes of the last 10 years.

Who benefits from such a return to prosperity? Both the public and private companies benefit from this approach to order and capital formation. The public means you, the individual citizen, and your family. Remember the failure of NYC to welcome Amazon Corporation. Jeff Bezos and Amazon wished to build a large facility for their global operations in NY and this proposed project was defeated, and what do we have instead? Bubkis!⁴ We must come to recognized that this decision was catastrophic for all interests. But again, who will prosper? A whole host of public companies like for example: Madison Square Garden Entertainment⁵.

Empire State Realty Trust⁶, Hudson⁷, Marriott International⁸, Booking Holding⁹ are just a few of many potential public companies who stand to benefit. Please note, *Investments carry inherent risks. The writer of this blog is not dispensing individual advice nor endorsements through this commentary. All readers are responsible for thorough personal due diligence and consultation with financial advisors before making investment decisions.

Returning Prosperity to NYC

What are we going to build to make NYC beautiful and prosperous? The basic remedies proposed above to finance and return to proper law enforcement are just the beginning. The driving inspiration for achieving long term financial success and long-term stability here in NY should be something much more inspired and singularly awesome. We need a focused vision for a future NYC that’s growing, prosperous, and planning to be competitive in the global marketplace of tomorrow.

The three elements of this plan must encompass effective power generation, modern transportation, and great infrastructure projects. NYC must have effective power generation. Please, No green deal gimmicks! There are only a few choices before us and those are full energy dominance with fossil fuels, hydro power, and/or atomic power.

At the moment, the state suffers from the burden of the Green New Deal, which subsidizes for all the excessive costs of solar and wind power. In essence both wind and solar power cost more to make and operate than they produce in the long term. Looking back at the State’s history one can see this is plainly true.

The Niagara Falls Aqueduct and power projects secured NY power and freshwater requirements for a century, and more recently, there were plans in the 1950s and 1960s for the development of nuclear power. Indeed, several civilian nuclear power plants were completed, the Indian Head facility in upstate NY was one. Others like the Shoreham Wading River Plant, on Long Island, were tragically aborted during the final stages of construction.

It would take some work to restart, but the standard we seek should be to build a new civilian nuclear reactor, on par with our competition in India and China. They are presently building very safe nuclear reactors, one every 5 years, while we in the US are average one every 30 years, which is in essence zero new nuclear facilities.

The second element is transportation and general infrastructure. NYC has the oldest subway system in North American, and although old, and a bit dirty, it functions; however, it needs massive modernization. Compare NYC’s subways system to its piers competitors on the global stage in Munich, Moscow, or Tokyo and you get a sense of how far behind we are. We have hints of what is possible here in that, former NY Governor Cuomo helped to see the new Penn Station subway project completed and a small station hub which connects the LIRR to Grand Central Station, built. These two new subway transit hubs are examples, and provide a taste, of what a modern Manhattan 2.0 could become. Why not make these two examples the standard for the entire city system and not just the exception?

Lastly, the final element of the plan, NYC needs something big, bad, and beautiful that takes a serious long-term commitment to build. Let’s consider a time horizon of 25-50 years. historically speaking Manhattan is full of such examples. They are common NY icons who just blend into the scenery and are taken for granted by today’s public. Historically these projects were things like the Empire State Building, the Erie Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge, NYC’s vast water and aqueducts/aquifer system…and any of the many statues and memorials that populate the streets of Manhattan.

A good example of the big and beautiful, for NYC, would be Washington DC’s Capitol Hill Rotunda Project. President Lincoln commissioned this project during the US Civil War. Imagine, during the height of the chaos and strife of that time, the President commissioned the building of such a big and beautiful project. The future of the republic was in serious doubt and yet President Lincoln deemed it essential for success. Truly such a projected transcended it’s time and place; and today, we see it as a natural part of Washington D.C.’s beautiful skyline.

Perhaps you might react and say such a vision, and such skill to build art of this kind and quality, is a lost talent, to which I respond by saying look no further then Howard Sabin’sii upcoming WWI Memorial installment planned for the Washington DC Mall this coming Fall 2024. The artist takes us back to the Classical Greek Standard, where art is seen as the highest expression of the human story, and here he has taken the time to humanize epoch change in worldly affairs one hundred years after modern technology was applied with such devastating effect during the early part of the last century. The skills, education, and sheer force of will, aka Moxy, needed to accomplish any and of these projects all lie before us; therefor let’s get to work and make it our business to build them for a more beautiful and prosperous future.

Conclusion

While the Big M.A.C. and the other solutions proposed above will face critics, their achievability ultimately hinges on an engaged, and activated polity willing to hold leaders accountable while constructively supporting viable policy remedies. Readers compelled by this possibility after reviewing the analysis herein are thus invited to sustain this discourse in pursuit of answers. What role might you play individually advocating for order-restoring fiscal governance attuned to both compassion and common sense? Which of these policy ideas warrant consideration alongside enhanced enforcement? Achieving the needed changes, we wish to see in this holiday season rife with turmoil starts with voices like yours deserves to be heard. Please share your feedback below or contact the author directly to continue this crucial conversation.

The Role of the Financial Policy Council

As a stalwart patriotic entity with heartfelt loyalty towards America’s founding ideals, the FPC considers a reorienting of New York City towards its roots as a bastion of free enterprise, pluralism, and bedrock justice essential for national salvation. Its policy formulae champion limited economically libertarian governance, seeing fiscal conservatism as the wellspring for NYC resurgence.

By tapping its courage of conviction on provocative policy formulations tested for economic and social prosperity outcomes for all, the Financial Policy Council remains committed to NYC’s revival as a standard-bearer for opportunity secured by conscientious liberty. Its members stand ready to counsel NYC officials on embracing controversial solutions to inaugurate renaissance.

At its core, the FPC recognizes that lasting transformation begins with courage – the courage of leadership to acknowledge hard truths and confront ideological shackles strangling prosperity. Sensible regulation, fiscal prudence and respect for the social contract upholding law and order stand as timeless pillars upon which great societies function. Yet obsession with identity politicking, cancel culture and socialist fantasies has allowed foundational common sense to erode into dystopian mediocrity that celebrates the irrational.

The FPC offers a life raft back to reason. Its marshalling of empirical evidence on policies optimizing human dignity by aligning individual liberties with conscientious community offers city officials a blueprint for radically centrist reform. By cutting through polarizing extremes with nuance attuned to justice and joy, the FPC’s bold vision channels populism’s passionate energy into constructive ends securing the blessings of abundance and security for all.

With an eye trained on the infinite horizon, charting the advent of innovations far-off yet imaginable today, the Financial Policy Council stays anchored in the realm of practical solutions measurable for impact. It stands ready to architect and actualize the futuristic metropolis glimmering as destiny calls – where all families regardless of creed reunite to kindle hope’s candle flames illuminating, where light conquers darkness through untainted human fellowship. This is the more perfect city union the FPC marshals its might to manifest.

The Financial Policy Council is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit and is an aligned champion for evidence-based regulatory insights serving the public good. As a contrarian advocate for free market solutions resonant with the business community, the Financial Policy Council possesses unique leverage to ameliorate New York City’s holiday crises by providing the foundation for financial governance reforms.

Visit www.financialpolicycouncil.org to access blogs and resources focused on evidence-based policy solutions, connect with legal and economic experts, and help drive reform conversations aimed at restoring NYC as a vibrant hub welcoming enterprise and community celebration.

Together we can support pragmatic ventures increasing access, lowering costs, and improving quality around power, transit, and infrastructure – building the next generation of resilient and equitable growth for all New Yorkers.

Passionate citizens deserve governance AND cities that work. While the path forward faces critics, progress depends on an activated public participating in solution-building. We ask readers compelled by restorative possibilities to join the FPC contributor network as authors or volunteers to uplift ideas into action. For it is only through principled participation that we secure the blessings of life, liberty, and happiness for our post-pandemic world.

#RestoreNYC #SaveNYCHolidays #BuildBackBetterNYC #NewNuclearNY #ReviveBigApple #ActionOverAnarchy

Footnotes:

Boston, MA – After becoming the first large city in the U.S. to develop a comprehensive community policing strategy linked to the proven Broken Windows theory in the late 1980s, Boston has maintained comparable quality-of-life enforcement programs targeting low-level disorder to sustain its vast improvements in violent crime rates over the past 30 years.
Arlington, TX – By diligently upholding ordinances combatting urban decay through extreme code enforcement measures coupled with consistent community engagement, Arlington managed to slash overall crime nearly 60 percent between 1994-2022 while outpacing national growth metrics, showcasing a potential blueprint for scalable success.
Jacksonville, FL – Crediting lessons from the dramatic New York City crime turnarounds of the 1990s centered on Broken Windows policing now ingrained departmentally as foundational prevention doctrine, Jacksonville lowered its homicide count by over 50 percent since 2001 via persistent, personalized engagement with residents to collaboratively foster order.
Bupkis means absolutely nothing. It comes from the Yiddish bobkes, meaning nonsense or nothing, and it emerged in English during the early 20th century. It began as North American Jewish slang, but it’s now used more broadly, often for humorous effect.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment* (NYSE: MSGE) – This entertainment giant owning the iconic Madison Square Garden arena and other NYC venues could see attendance rebound following a 2023 plagued by 45+ event cancelations related to unrest.
Empire State Realty Trust* (NYSE: ESRT) – With prime real estate holdings including the Empire State Building, this REIT should regain lost tourism/holiday season revenue if NYC reclaims preeminence as a secure global destination.
Hudson* (NYSE: HUD) – Outfitting NYC’s most high-profile duty-free shops, Hudson could enjoy resurgent travel retail sales with chaos diminishing and policies improving the city’s brand.
Marriott International* (NASDAQ: MAR) – The hotel behemoth’s NYC properties may benefit as restored order entices visitors fearful of current unrest deterring travel.
Booking Holdings* (NASDAQ: BKNG) – This digital travel platform owning Priceline, Kayak and OpenTable likely observes NYC-specific consumer demand rebound with tourism no longer suppressed by volatility.
https://sabinhoward.com/

Disclaimer: This article discusses certain companies and their products or services as potential solutions. These mentions are for illustrative purposes only and should not be interpreted as endorsements or investment recommendations. All investment strategies carry inherent risks, and it is imperative that readers conduct their own independent research and seek advice from qualified investment professionals tailored to their specific financial circumstances before making any investment decisions.

The content provided here does not constitute personalized investment advice. Decisions to invest or engage with any securities or financial products mentioned in this article should only be made after consulting with a qualified financial advisor, considering your investment objectives and risk tolerance. The author assumes no responsibility for any financial losses or other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from the use of the content of this article.

As with any financial decision, thorough investigation and caution are advised before making investment decisions.