In the 1970s, New York City experienced a drastic decline, with a million residents leaving, widespread welfare dependency, and devastating arson fires destroying housing. The Bronx suffered heavily with empty properties and graffiti-covered subways, while Central Park and playgrounds deteriorated. De-industrialization hollowed out the economy, leaving no jobs or tax base. The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, combined with new technological advances, marked a significant shift towards free market policies that altered the city's trajectory.
The '70s, the city had just bottomed out in such an extreme way that, as you say, there were these arson fires which decimated hundreds of thousands of units of housing.
After de-industrialization in the '60s and into the '70s, the economy gets hollowed out and there's no way forward for the city.
People are flooding out of the city, heading to the suburbs, heading to wherever. There are no jobs; there's no tax base. It seems like there's no future for New York.
And then all of a sudden Ronald Reagan is elected in 1980, and he brings the gospel of Milton Friedman and the free markets.
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