If you talk to long-time New Yorkers, a surprising number will admit some nostalgia for the days when Times Square was a den of iniquity. I've never pressed any of them for their reasons, but if I did, I expect most of them would say the old Times Square had "character."
Last night, I went to Times Square (I'm in New York on business.) It is a soulless place. Bright lights have been part of the Times Square ambiance for a long time, but somewhere in the past decade, the lights became oppressive. Walking through the square was unpleasant, and I couldn't name any of the products or services promoted in the ads that assaulted me as I walked through the square.
To be sure, "cleaning up" Times Square has had undeniable benefits. It's nice to have clean streets; it's nice not to see homeless people masturbating in the subway; and although no one was forced to watch a peep show, it's nice that those icky things are gone.
Why, then, the nostalgia for the "old" Times Square? I blame a lack of vision. When Rudy Giuliani and his crew set out to clean up Times Square, they had no vision for the place -- they simply felt having one of the city's most visible landmarks beset with vice was unacceptable. They achieved some good, but because they had no vision, they turned one of the world's best-known landmarks into a collection of corporate billboards with no soul.
There's a lesson here for Europeia. It's fair to point out problems in the region, but a laundry list of problems unaccompanied by a vision of the future state is no basis for a presidential campaign. When I make my voting decision, I'll be looking at candidates' visions -- partly by reading platforms, but mostly by evaluating what they've actually done in their time here.
There are parts of Europeia that need cleaning up, but let's make sure we do that with a vision for the future, lest we lose the character that drew us here in the first place.
Last night, I went to Times Square (I'm in New York on business.) It is a soulless place. Bright lights have been part of the Times Square ambiance for a long time, but somewhere in the past decade, the lights became oppressive. Walking through the square was unpleasant, and I couldn't name any of the products or services promoted in the ads that assaulted me as I walked through the square.
To be sure, "cleaning up" Times Square has had undeniable benefits. It's nice to have clean streets; it's nice not to see homeless people masturbating in the subway; and although no one was forced to watch a peep show, it's nice that those icky things are gone.
Why, then, the nostalgia for the "old" Times Square? I blame a lack of vision. When Rudy Giuliani and his crew set out to clean up Times Square, they had no vision for the place -- they simply felt having one of the city's most visible landmarks beset with vice was unacceptable. They achieved some good, but because they had no vision, they turned one of the world's best-known landmarks into a collection of corporate billboards with no soul.
There's a lesson here for Europeia. It's fair to point out problems in the region, but a laundry list of problems unaccompanied by a vision of the future state is no basis for a presidential campaign. When I make my voting decision, I'll be looking at candidates' visions -- partly by reading platforms, but mostly by evaluating what they've actually done in their time here.
There are parts of Europeia that need cleaning up, but let's make sure we do that with a vision for the future, lest we lose the character that drew us here in the first place.
