the police, cutting the budget by $1 billion in July of 2020. That is not only a tangible action, the signalling was received loud and clear not just by the NYPD but by unlawful residents. We saw the results in the summer of 2020 - I can not believe I would ever have seen something like that in NYC and I am surprised you challenge the description of the city as a hell-hole during that time.

Clearly there is improvement from that summer, but we are a long way from 2012 and before. Alvin Bragg is proof of that, as are property values and emigration numbers. Of course, I understand there are other contributing factors, but let's face it: paying the highest taxes in the country to live in a dirty city that no longer feels safe ain't exactly a winning combination. Adams understands that but he is just one player: he will need the help of a number of institutions that may not cooperate with him. The blocking of the Amazon deal does not instill a lot of faith for local governance, for example.

Back to the main point, same as NY, we saw similar trends in urban areas across the US: Portland, LA, SF, Chicago, Minneanapolis, to name a few that have been in the headlines. The issue of defunding / de-criminalizing crime is not propaganda, and it is rightfully owned by the Demcratic party. Or at least it was, and I am very glad some are running away from it, but view the Dems paying the price in 2022 as fair play, rather than dirty tricks.