I did it.
I’m a born-and-bred New Yorker who never fathomed leaving this city for the boredom of the ‘burbs.
But New York left me.
I’ve lived in every borough of this metropolis except Staten Island. But after 30-plus years in Brooklyn, watching my hometown transform from the bad old days of constant car break-ins and squeegee terrorists, after being threatened with a box cutter by a perp who was promptly released from jail, then enjoying the Giuliani-era Garden of Eden, a previously unheard-of subway mass shooting woke me up.
I’m done.
Last year, like tens of thousands of dedicated New Yorkers who’ve spent much or all of our lives within city borders, my hub and I, amid tears, sold our tiny, pricey apartment and moved into a house over the border in Connecticut.
Yes, I return to the city at every opportunity. I miss the pulsating theaters, restaurants and bars. I crave the electric excitement of living full-time among millions of folks with an edge. I find it difficult to sleep without hearing the music of blaring car horns.
But as long as woke DAs who don’t believe in criminal justice are running the show, along with numbskull politicians who welcome migrants over taxpaying citizens now afraid to venture into crowds, I’m staying away.
After watching members of an unspeakable teachers’ union dispense ignorance in public schools, I’ll remain an ex-pat.
With looming congestion pricing, stifling taxation and seeing how quickly New York can slither ever deeper into the muck of murder, mayhem, madness and systemic antisemitism, I feel I have no choice.
The suburbs may be deadening to the senses. But at least you’re likely to see your kids grow up.
It breaks my heart and boggles my mind. But until overpaid, useless pols with ’round-the-clock security and hefty incomes — thanks, Biden and AOC — get voted out of office or banished from control over our lives, and police no longer face prosecution just for keeping us safe, I won’t come back full-time to the city I love. The numbers don’t lie.
Except for a handful of years I lived in smaller municipalities while pursuing a career, I’ve lived in New York City.
When I finally moved back, I swore I’d never leave again. Then corrupt leftist members of local government made a liar out of me.
After witnessing the near-destruction of the former greatest city on Earth, I joined about 78,000 people, according to US Census data, who in 2023 made the move.
This marked the third consecutive year that New Yorkers who are able to do so have rushed to the exits.
While we’re a proud and hardy breed, my fellow city dwellers and I have no desire to see the magical metropolis sink to its knees.
I still cling to the hope that one day, I’ll again take up residence in the city that doesn’t sleep.
But nap time has taken so long, I don’t believe I’ll live to see that day.
I regret that I leave behind friends, relatives and colleagues. But who knows?
The way things are going, they may soon join me in the hinterlands.
NEWS CREDIT
