Crimes of New York

Two weeks ago, Michael Bloomberg was elected the next mayor of
New York City. He is the second Republican in New Yorkís history
to be elected to this office; his predecessor, Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani, was the first to do so in 1993.

This yearís election was overshadowed by the aftermath of Sept.
11. The campaigns of Bloomberg and ex-Public Advocate Mark
Green came in fragments: an occasional sound bite, a
disparaging television commercial, an endorsement by The
New York Times, and so on. With so much else to worry about,
the election itself seemed like a moot pointómere political
pontification in a time of more important political reality.

And then it happened. Giuliani, now more of a god than a mayor,
endorsed Michael Bloomberg one week before Election Day. The
endorsement came late, but it gave Bloomberg the leverage he
needed to edge ahead and take the election. The word of Giuliani
loomed over Nov. 6: Thou Shalt Vote Republican.

Green made some tactical errors, of course. A Bloomberg
television advertisement showed Mark Green saying that he would
have performed ìas well or betterî than Giuliani during the cityís
crisis, a big no-no, considering all New Yorkers have a soft spot in
their hearts for the mayor who stood strong while the city collapsed
around him. Nonetheless, Giulianiís decision to throw his support
behind Michael Bloomberg had a huge influence, especially in
such a close election.

After Sept. 11, Giulianiís name became inextricably linked with the
word ìhero.î He could have told New Yorkers to move out of the city
and everyone probably would have, if for no other reason than their
admiration for the role he has assumed and the work he has done
to shine off the apocalypse. New Yorkers remember Giuliani as
the mayor who refurbished Times Square, the mayor of economic
boom, the mayor who brought back tourism, the mayor who cut
crime.

But what about Giulianiís crimes? It would be a crime to forget the
mistakes Giuliani made in office, just as it would be a crime to
forget how gracefully he acted following the events of Sept. 11. It
would be a mistake to take Giulianiís endorsement at face value,
since Giuliani is, after all, a politicianóa politician who made some
detrimental decisions in the past.

It would be a crime, for instance, to forget that an art exhibit in
Brooklyn was all but censored for displaying supposedly lewd
material.

It would be a crime to forget that that same art exhibit, paired with
another art exhibit a year later, provoked the creation of a Decency
Panel, designed to decide what art was or was not fit to be
displayed in the museums of the five boroughs.

It would be a crime to forget that there are cameras in the traffic
lights that photograph cars running red lights, an elaborate system
of monitoring every New Yorkerís every move, and it would be a
crime to forget that the Big Brother mentality that has governed this
city for the past few years met with harsh criticism until two months
ago.

It would be a crime to forget that, even after the economy peaked,
Washington Heights was still Washington Heights and Harlem
was still Harlem, that New Yorkís increase in wealth did not trickle
down into the areas that needed it most.

It would be a crime to forget that an immigrant was once shot by
the New York Police Department 41 times for reaching into his
pocket for a wallet.

It would be a crime to forget that another immigrant was once
arrested in a nightclub, taken to a police station, and sodomized
with the handle of a toilet plunger.

It would be a crime to forget that the New York City Police
Department, now revered for its bravery, was once feared for its
brute force and unnecessarily strong presence on the streets.

It would be a crime to forget that the city was not perfect before
Sept. 11, and it would be a crime to believe that the Giuliani
administration was a perfect success.

And was not it a crime to elect, in such volatile times, a man
whose only claim to fame is his billion dollar bank account? Was it
not it a crime to vote for Bloomberg just because Giuliani said so?

Only time will tell. Only time will tell whether New York will suffer or
flourish under the guidance of Mayor-elect Bloomberg. But for now,
what is clear is that money talks and political influence talks even
louder.

Hannah Selinger is a Columbia
College senior majoring in Enlgish and comparative
literature.