Does that ring a bell?
There’s a difference between asking for a handout, which NY did in the 1970s, and pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, which is what NY did under Rudy.
The first case engenders nothing but disgust from the rest of the nation. The second, a certain amount of admiration. You know, you root for people who get themselves out of a mess.
You say you live in NY, but I have my doubts. I don’t think you realize how big the turnaround was, and how it was noticed elsewhere.
And then there was 9/11. Are you saying it would have had a larger impact on the American public had it been in some “better” city?