Nation: New York Bounces Back

A remarkable renewal of energy and morale

In the worst years, a certain begrimed anxiety hung in the air. New York City was an interminably terminal case, its official death notice reprinted weekly. Bonds came due; corporations bailed out for Connecticut, the Sunbelt, anywhere. Citizens could paraphrase the municipal hymn New York, New York: "The Bronx is up/ And the battery's dead." They envisioned weeds pushing up through the stones of Rockefeller Center, Roseland reverting to jungle. Watching the parade of garbage strikes and pedestrians high-stepping in a rage among the dogmerde, New...

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