Demographic trends continue to favor nice places like Salt Lake City, Phoenix or Atlanta over gritty ones like the older industrial cities of the Northeast. Second is the mania for being a Truly International City. Ever since Atlanta snared the Olympics, half the cities of America New York included have been dreaming of doing the same thing or trying to produce extravaganzas with just the right aroma of world- classiness. New York officials hit the same notes. We feel we're the best, but we can always get better, which is what we're trying to do.
Many people have a simple explanation for New York's recent behavior.
New York is a world city in a way no other American city can be. It doesn't need to boast. But I think the city's more rooted incarnation is an anti-Giulianian one. Cities go through climatic periods, and we're going through one period now, but it will change again. Others see more substantial trends.