New York: now and then, and the future

New York has the charm to draw the people’s interest from all over the world. New York has been the gateway of immigration in America for centuries has remained the city of dreams for the immigrants; it would not be wrong to call it the. City of American dream. It is the third most populated nation in the US with multicultural population of Italian, Irish, African American, Germany, Hipic, Asian origin. Living in the city is captivating, because it offers variety of jobs in various areas with higher income and better living conditions.

As the city’s population soared up in 20th century, the city witnessed the City subway opening in 1904 and arrival of the skyscrapers, such as Empire State Building, in 1920’s. During the Jazz age (between World War I and Great Depression) immigrant families moved outside Manhattan, raising the population of Brooklyn, which made Brooklyn more populous than Manhattan. During the WW1 and WWII the growths of women workers increased in garment factories triggering the foundation of International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. In 1927, Tin Pan Alley opened the first modern musical (Jerome Kern’s Show Boat) in Broadway.

One of the most important events in New York history is the Stock Market Crash, that devastated stock market in America in 1929 leading to Great Depression in 1930’s. However, more the finance and business, New York is famous for it politics and politicians. For over eighty years, New York’s politic has been played by the democratic political machine, called Tammany Hal that collapsed after the Republican reformer Fiorello LaGuardia elected mayor in 1934.

The city has great monuments and parks and the master builder has been Robert Moses, who constructed bridges, parks and parkways in the 20th century.

Later in mid-20th century, New York became a hub for high-tech companies and becoming the headquarter GE, IBM, Eastman Kodak, and Xerox like companies.

In   the last quarter of 20th century, the New York population growth has dropped to only 2% (1965 to 1997), from 32% in 1940 to 1965. This drop is caused by the dis-organized city development.  New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world. It has also been associated protectionism and corruption. Another issue is the failure of public welfare as few cheaper rentals are avalible along with affordable quality schools, colleges and public hospitals. Due to lack of the government efforts to cater to these problems, the crime rate is also growing which makes living some where unsafe.

It was the tragedy of 9-11 that changed the city in many aspects. The terrorism act had cost not only thousands of lives, but also huge grief in the hearts of its citizens. After 9/11 the government has tightened up the immigration regulations, however the tragedy has brought suspicions in a multicultural city that always welcome outsiders. Even thought the city at present is working on massive developmental projects, there are poor areas in city which has to be revamped. In order to succeed the city government needs to maintain New York international image by working on more horizontal development rather than vertical development. Such plan will need to reconstruct the older city laying the advanced infrastructure for the poor segment at well. Even though there is no perfect city in the world; New York is still one of the best cities to live in.

Reference:

Lange, Alexandra , Building the (New) New York. Retrieved May 15, 2007, Web site: http://nymag.com/realestate/features/2016/17143/

Malve Von Hassell , (1996). Homesteading in New York City, 1978-1993. Bergin ; Garvey.

Jameson W. Doig, (2000). Empire on the Hudson: Entrepreneurial Vision and Political Power at the Port of New York Authority . Columbia University Press.