SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, IT'S A WONDERFUL TOWN, OR WAS – OVERNIGHT:  We thought the pandemic might break New York.  It didn't.  Massive crime may be a different story.  From the Daily Mail:   Brazen thieves have been hitting the same Upper East Side Rite Aid for months, forcing it to close - and now, numerous small businesses in the upscale Manhattan neighborhood, where residents say they are on high alert because of rising crime, are worried they will soon suffer the same fate after a string of thefts.    Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods.   The brazen incident in one of New York City's wealthiest neighborhoods was only captured on camera because actor and comedian Michael Rapaport had stopped by to pick up his prescription mood stabilizers.  He said it was 'pathetic' that brazen crime continues to spiral in the Big Apple because of soft-on-crime policies.  'These criminals know there are no ramifications. We have to put more of these people in jail,' he fumed...
...Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33 percent in the week ending on January 23, according to the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents compared to 709 incidents reported during the same timeframe last year. Overall crime has gone up by nearly 39 percent, with 7,230 incidents this year as compared to last year's 5,211.  We have a new mayor, Eric Adams, who is saying the right things about breaking the crime wave.  But there are powerful leftist forces within his Democratic Party who are against him.  They believe that the criminals are the victims, and that the police are oppressors sent by white supremacist groups.  There are no guarantees that Adams will succeed, and no guarantees that New York will survive as a great city.    

January 26,  2022