More business left NYC while under his reign than under Koch or Gulliani.
Race relations went down the tubes (e.g. central park jogger rape, Crown Heights riots, etc)
Taxes went through the roof.
Police force was cut his first week on the job.

Shall I go on?

Don’t forget Adirondacks.

We have the finest beaches in the world on the downside in the Hamptons. And to the north we have the great Catskill Mountains and Niagara Falls. Our farms produce the finest cheeses and dairy products, excellent fruits and vegetables (our apples are fantastic!) we raise good quality cattle, chickens and ducks and we have delicious bakeries everywhere. No one yet has beaten our NYC bagels or Junior’s cheesecakes. I could go on and on and on and on.
Since the early settlement days when the Dutch landed here, New York has been corrupt. Remember, the island of Manhattan was bought for a mere $24 (bag of shells)? Now, Manhattan and Times Square are the crossroads of the entire planet!

Master Po, you live on Long Island. My condolences. Your county charges the highest taxes in America. If you do move, move upstate. You’ll be glad you did.

We’ll get out of this mess. Native New Yorkers are a tough brew.

Way too hot there. Not much in terms of arts either… Nice beaches though. Whichever you like.

I’d rather enjoy this live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZSqtqr8Qk

Probably down the coast to VA.

But yes, there is much corruption. In my little town in Northern Westchester, our “village manager” earns close to 200K – more than the chairman of Federal Reserve. This is not NYC, by the way, this is a tiny town. Not only that, at one time he got extra 40K for doing some other work like figuring out who gets tax rebates for low income (village auditor or whatever the job was called – I don’t remember). The problem with that – he was doing it in his work hours. So why should he get extra 40K if he works the same hours? Another problems was – he was incompetent. For one thing, he was routinely adding rolled over IRA to income which resulted with some retirees not getting rebates they were entitled to, until someone brought it up (I know the person). He called the county office and they confirmed that rolled over IRA is not income. He said – “oh I didn’t know”. The trouble is, people can only go back a couple of years to get this money back.

I also don’t understand why our city employees should get pensions from our tax money when most people who pay taxes don’t. I understand the police who risk their lives every day for our safety, but city clerks???? And why should they get a raise every year when we supposedly don’t have inflation? Most of us don’t get a raise every year, at least not automatically.

But… It’s still a great place to live. Weather is relatively nice, it’s beautiful. I’ve been considering where it’d be nice to retire where the taxes are lower, but the trouble is – there is really not a better state.