In reply to kennycan.

Oh, don't sell Rudy short, kenny, it was a YUUUUGE comeback. I know, I was there and I watched it happen, moving there in the last days (weeks, actually) of Dinkens after having visited the place on the regular going all the way back to the Koch years. After Koch and Dinkens, the difference Giuliani made was nothing less than remarkable, almost miraculous.

I was born and raised in little ol' Mt Holly, NC and like you, I wouldn't have it any other way; it was about as idyllic an old-fashioned American upbringing as you could possibly imagine, and it was wonderful. My family and neighborhood wasn't by any means wealthy, but nonetheless I was truly blessed in so many other ways.

That said, I wouldn't trade my NYC years for anything either, though. I have friends there who still refer to the 90s as "the last rock and roll good time in New York," and from what I've seen they're right about that. Apres Giuliani, le deluge; things have been on a downhill slide ever since.

Giuliani came in as Mayor and, much like a certain other fellow New Yorker in DC, against all odds and most expectations things improved very nearly overnight. Also like DC, it won't happen again--it CAN'T happen again, things have changed far too much, in far too many ways, for it to ever be repeated. That's a sad thing for everyone, even those who aren't smart enough to realize it.