NYC Is Back -- But Where Is It Going?

In retrospect, the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't that long -- in less than 15 months we went from the depths of death and despair to the heights of healing and optimism. New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic, is now the epicenter of recovery from it. The city is looking forward, moving into its post-pandemic future.

But what will that future look like? 

I've asked this question before and the answer is impossible to craft right now. That's why I strongly suggest reading this massive article by NYC writer Jonathan Mahler who looks at the history of NYC since the 1970s -- from the times of high crime and the fiscal crises to the times of economic booms and the city as a "luxury product" -- and explains how they created structural divisions amongst the city's population that the pandemic only exposed and exacerbated. There are more rich people and more poor people here than ever before. There are so many broken systems -- like the schools and the tax struture -- that are seemingly impossible to fix because some people benefit greatly and don't want to fix something that is broken in their favor while everybody else suffers. 

The questions that recovery from the pandemic asks is: can we build a more equitable and just NYC? Did the crises of the pandemic create an opportunity that we must seize or soon lose to create a fairer city -- or will it be squandered? 

The next mayor -- whoever he or she is -- will have a big role in determining this future, along with the brand new city council. Of course NYC was going to "come back" -- it always does -- but where it's going doesn't always bring everyone along. The promise of this city, from almost a century ago, was that it took great care of its citizen. It doesn't done such a great job lately but it can -- if we make it.