There were so many important issues that cropped up last week
- an alleged bias incident in Howard Beach, the new design at the
World Trade Center site, and a Supreme Court resignation causing
abortion rights advocates to hyperventilate - that my opinion
meter was going into overdrive. The festivities of the Fourth of
July weekend, however, prompted me to pen this column of good
news, a result of an intense feeling of gratitude for living in
the best city in the world, in the best country.
New Yorkers tend to complain a lot, so this old native will
remind everyone that in 2005 this is one heck of a town. You have
to leave this burg to appreciate how fantastic our transportation
system is, and how far one can travel for a single low fare. I
live in Staten Island, and my MetroCard allows me to transfer to
the subway system, which will transport me miles away to the tip
of the Bronx. Take a bus from Port Authority to Bear Mountain and
you can hike the Appalachian Trail, or take a ferry from Wall
Street to the Highlands of New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. This
town is truly the crossroads to the nation.
Although it may be hard to imagine that our transportation system
is comfortable, I am still grateful for air-conditioned buses and
subways. The old trains I rode in as a child had only rickety
ceiling fans that were frequently out of order. Sweltering was a
fact of life, and relief was rarely in sight for those of us in
the barrio. Open hydrants cooled the denizens, but not the
tempers of the passing motorists who failed to shut their windows
in time. My days were spent looking out the window at the dramas
erupting during the hot, sticky days of summer.
The wailing of police sirens was heard more frequently than the
chirping of birds.
Perhaps one of the things we should be most grateful for is how
the crime rate has spiraled downward, and, while any city of this
size can still be dangerous, it is nothing compared to what it
was in the 1950s. I lived in a dangerous neighborhood where even
the police feared to tread.
Residents routinely harassed cops, pelting them with garbage and
beer cans whenever officers were summoned to settle a domestic
dispute.
I can still remember my neighbors' shouting a warning that the
cops were coming so that miscreants could escape capture. Such an
anarchic environment has not been seen in New York City in many
years. Indeed, nowhere in the city has ever been as bad as what
many European cities are experiencing today.
In Britain, public-housing developments are euphemistically
called "estates," and the very worst ones resemble the
Wild West, with outlaws reigning supreme.
I lived in Carver Housing on Madison Avenue, and while it wasn't
the best place to live after 10 p.m., the New York Police
Department still kept the lid on the criminal activity.
Thank God the officers finally are getting a raise.
So very much of the city and so many of its cultural attractions
can be enjoyed free of charge. Every type of food is abundant.
One friend of ours managed to bring his mother from Cuba, and
when he took her to a local Pathmark, she nearly passed out in
disbelief at the variety of goods that were stacked on the
shelves. Truly, we are a blessed nation.
And while we're speaking of this blessed nation, here's good news
from an emerging nation that, many soldiers returning from Iraq
tell me, Americans are not hearing.
Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their
embassies in Iraq? Did you know that 3,100 schools have been
renovated, 346 schools are under rehabilitation, 38 new schools
have been completed, and 263 schools are now under construction?
Iraq has 20 universities, 46 colleges, and four research centers
all operating. It has a fully operational navy and air force. Its
stock exchange opened in June 2004.
The Iraqi Police Service has more than 55,000 fully trained and
equipped police officers. Its five police academies produce 3,500
new officers every eight weeks.
Fully 96% of Iraqi children under 5 have received their first two
series of polio vaccinations.
Much remains to be done, but eventually Iraqis will be
celebrating their own independence day, with festive instead of
lethal fireworks. Spread the good news.