There were some classics in that bunch of 66!
As for NYC... What? Did it turn back into a shithole 10 years ago??? I thought Rudy cleaned the place up (at least the tourist centers).
Actually, Rudy was good at the street-level cleanup, and yes including the spitting windshield "washers." His approach, understandably, was that of a former prosecutor, and he mostly did a good job on crime due to choosing good police commissioners, But the underlying financial structure of the city was not in good shape, and as usual there were all kinds of corruption going on under his watch (standard for NYC and NY State, btw).
The guy who really did the city a lot of good over the long term was Bloomberg, who actually seems to be incorruptible, has integrity, and is truly a self-realized businessman who started out with nothing and built an empire on his own. He made a number of quality-of-life decisions for the city with which I strongly disagreed, like the type and method of bike lanes installed which totally screwed up traffic instead of improving it and protecting bikers (who don't use the lanes anyway, this is NYC remember
). But overall, he left the city in MUCH better shape than when he took over as mayor.
The city is now totally unaffordable, taxes are insane, traffic is even worse under DiBlasio, who seems to be a waste of the air he reportedly breathes, and conditions under him are reverting back to more of the mess they were pre-Bloomberg.
Tbh, I wish Bloomberg would become President. He is actually liberal re: the arts, pro-immigration but absolutely pro-law enforcement of immigration policies, financially sane and sound, and a tough and balanced negotiator. But it will never happen for five reasons:
1. He is from New York City, and I think we have had enough of politicians from both parties from NYC for now;
2. He has switched parties several times;
3. He is Jewish;
4. He has a long-time powerhouse girlfriend who has a major career in public service of her own and who is taller than he is; and
5. He is a short man.
The fact that he is an eccentric Aquarius and installed fishtanks all over the open office plan for his staff when he was mayor somewhat mitigates #5, in my opinion, but not sufficiently that he would ever stand a chance of being elected.
It's a shame, really, he's more centrist and sane than most, and would do his best to serve the interests of all his constituents as best he could, as he did when he was mayor. I say this even though I didn't like some of what he did... but I never questioned his integrity, which is going some in our current political environment.
Ah well, it is what it is.