Public education was allowed to deteriorate. And people with money went running to the suburbs, further undercutting the tax base and making many of the other problems worse. The engine that drove New York wasn't just sputtering anymore. W ELL, WE'VE healed some of those wounds in the past few years. New York is feeling better now.
Crime is down.
Welfare is actually shrinking. Teenage pregnancy, too. Jobs are up, though our unemployment rate is still three points higher than the national average. Last time, we were saved by the boom downtown. As is so often the case when things go up or down in New York City, Manhattan led the way.