Crime in NYC Has Impacts on the Economy

Society breaks down in the absence of law and order. Retail giant wants out of MTA transit center lease, blames crime for scaring away tenants.

Westfield Fulton Center claims the subway hub has been overrun by homeless people, street hustlers and vandalism because of a lack of adequate security, according to court papers — as one shop manager told The Post even a tip jar was stolen multiple times.

Assaults and employee intimidation have become increasingly common at the glass-and-steel building on the corner of Fulton Street and Broadway, which the MTA initially pitched as comparable in stature to Rockefeller Center or Grand Central Station, the company claimed.

NYC and the MTA would like to differ. Crime is not a problem in New York City. (Pay no attention to the National Guard in the subway!)

An MTA spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation, but said in a statement that “we have full confidence in the NYPD, which has surged officers into the subway, to ensure safety across the transit system, including at Fulton Center.”

Will the last business to leave NYC please punch whichever Democrat is mayor in the face? Thanks. (Hat tip to A Day In The Life Of A Talk Radio Blogger.)

This is where I mention Hobbes' Leviathan, because the idea that security is required for civilization to endure is not new. Hobbes published Leviathan in 1651. In that book he describes the State of War that ensues when law and order break down.

Western Civilization is built on a foundation of law and order. Without law and order, you can't have nice things. You can't have anything really. Or as Hobbes stated it, when there is no force-of-law to keep people in check, things break down.

This is the situation in New York City, and most other Blue Cities. Crime is rampant and not punished. Businesses and people are fleeing, those that can anyway. More will, as things deteriorate.