HOW LOW CAN BLUE CITIES SINK? [merged threads]

[Boiler 45,441]

 

[Boiler 45,441]

CNN
 — 
Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi has been treated for injuries after being punched in the face while walking in New York City.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) told CNN it is investigating the assault, which took place on Wednesday and is the latest in a string of random attacks in the city.

Last month, CNN spoke to half a dozen women who said they were hit in the face out of nowhere while on the streets of New York City.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/13/entertainment/steve-buscemi-punched-nyc-scli-intl/index.html

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https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/four-things-to-know-about-seattles-plan-to-explore-closing-schools/

 

Seattle Public Schools is looking to close some elementary schools to solve its budget woes, but a lot is still unknown about which school communities could be affected, and when.

Last Wednesday, the School Board voted to give Superintendent Brent Jones permission to start drawing up a preliminary list of schools that could be shuttered, plus an analysis of the impacts; that vote didn’t commit the district to closing schools quite yet. Jones has proposed reducing the number of elementary schools from 73 to about 50.

 

The district has also lost more than 4,000 students since 2019, and it does not expect enrollment to reach pre-pandemic levels in the next decade. While the district has pointed to declining birth rates and the smaller share of Seattle-born children enrolling in its elementary schools, some parents have said they’ve left SPS for private schools or other options. 

An expensive teachers union contract, which increased staff support for special education services, also added to the deficit.

[Dashinka 24,477]

Why would anyone want to actually spend tourist money in NYC?

 

Times Square tourist mom, 36, stabbed by maniac was leading school trip to NYC: ‘Don’t feel safe there’

 

The tourist mom stabbed in the chest by a knife wielding maniac in Times Square in broad daylight on Saturday was chaperoning a group of school girls on a class trip when she was attacked — and her family has no plans to visit the city again.

“We don’t feel safe there,” the victim’s husband, John Lohr, told The Post.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/times-square-tourist-mom-36-stabbed-by-maniac-was-leading-school-trip-to-nyc-don-t-feel-safe-there/ar-BB1mkCnS

[Dashinka 24,477]

LA appears to be a cesspool.  I knew in San Fran the rule is don’t leave anything valuable in the car, and if possible get a rental car with a stack of insurance forms, but I did not realize it has gotten so bad in LA.

 

General Hospital star Johnny Wactor, 37, is shot and killed in Los Angeles after robbery gone wrong

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13462311/General-Hospital-star-Johnny-Wactor-37-shot-killed-Los-Angeles-robbery.html

 

[laylalex 7,284]

LA is... fine? I live here and work here, and have lived and worked in and around the LA area for most of my life. Just like any city, there are better parts and worse parts. It's not a cesspool. We had a great evening last night at my sister's house in Studio City -- kids and adults running around, jumping in the pool, grilling meat for galbi tacos, watching the sunset. Today we drove down through a lush canyon for lunch in West LA, then pointed ourselves towards PCH for a little drive up the coast. The sun was sparkling off the waves and the skies were impossibly blue. Just like most days, really.

 

At the same time, what happened to this man is awful, no doubt. How could anyone justify it? I know exactly where that happened as my husband went for physical therapy there during the pandemic so I often went for walks around there in the daytime. And in the daytime it is absolutely fine. Really. Gritty, sure, but plenty of regular middle-income folks live around there. But property crime is high there, way too high. Although car part theft is down in LA, it's still most common Downtown. Just lots of cars parked on the street which makes it easier for thieves. Some of these thieves have guns and I know better than to say anything about guns in here, or that guns make it easier for people with little to lose, or who are strung out on drugs (a lot of overlap there), to pull the trigger and end a life with brutal efficiency. I have my own thoughts about that and I'm not here to open that can of worms. We can disagree, and that's okay by me.

 

Every needless death is one death too many. Random murder at the hands of a stranger is appalling. But LA is still a good, very misunderstood place full of regular folks just living their lives, a place where I feel safe walking around at night in my own neighborhood on my own. The murder rate is not even in the top half of the top 100 US cities by population (currently 63rd, right between St. Paul and Omaha). Not as safe as NYC (81st) but safer than Des Moines (31st). I wish we were lower down on the list. I wish we weren't even in the top 100.

 

Be safe, everyone, wherever you are. Best wishes to you all for a safe Memorial Day weekend.

[TBoneTX 45,241]

Well-said, LL ma'am, as always.

[Dashinka 24,477]

10 hours ago, laylalex said:

LA is... fine? I live here and work here, and have lived and worked in and around the LA area for most of my life. Just like any city, there are better parts and worse parts. It's not a cesspool. We had a great evening last night at my sister's house in Studio City -- kids and adults running around, jumping in the pool, grilling meat for galbi tacos, watching the sunset. Today we drove down through a lush canyon for lunch in West LA, then pointed ourselves towards PCH for a little drive up the coast. The sun was sparkling off the waves and the skies were impossibly blue. Just like most days, really.

 

At the same time, what happened to this man is awful, no doubt. How could anyone justify it? I know exactly where that happened as my husband went for physical therapy there during the pandemic so I often went for walks around there in the daytime. And in the daytime it is absolutely fine. Really. Gritty, sure, but plenty of regular middle-income folks live around there. But property crime is high there, way too high. Although car part theft is down in LA, it's still most common Downtown. Just lots of cars parked on the street which makes it easier for thieves. Some of these thieves have guns and I know better than to say anything about guns in here, or that guns make it easier for people with little to lose, or who are strung out on drugs (a lot of overlap there), to pull the trigger and end a life with brutal efficiency. I have my own thoughts about that and I'm not here to open that can of worms. We can disagree, and that's okay by me.

 

Every needless death is one death too many. Random murder at the hands of a stranger is appalling. But LA is still a good, very misunderstood place full of regular folks just living their lives, a place where I feel safe walking around at night in my own neighborhood on my own. The murder rate is not even in the top half of the top 100 US cities by population (currently 63rd, right between St. Paul and Omaha). Not as safe as NYC (81st) but safer than Des Moines (31st). I wish we were lower down on the list. I wish we weren't even in the top 100.

 

Be safe, everyone, wherever you are. Best wishes to you all for a safe Memorial Day weekend.

I don’t disagree with anything you wrote with one exception (see below), but there is a reason property crime is rising in areas like this, and why thieves feel brazen enough to do what they do.  I know many that label themselves “progressives” like to deride “broken windows” policing/prosecuting, but they work.  It works not just for the rich and well off, but it works for the middle and lower class that just want to live their lives in peace.  There is a reason these criminal gangs do these things in places like LA, NYC, SF, Seattle, etc., because they can with little or no risks.

 

As to my disagreement, it is using statistics for crime rates.  Statistics can be massaged to show almost anything.  Does the LA Police even make reports for car parts theft anymore?  Are all crimes actually reported to the FBI to show the statistics?  
 

Anyway, I hope they find the people that did this and prosecute them fully, but I am not holding my breath given the person that runs the prosecutor’s office in LA.

[TBoneTX 45,241]

Denver Offers Insane How-To Guide to Cities on Converting to Taxpayer-Funded Illegal Alien Sanctuaries

 

[...] Democrat-misgoverned Denver, which has welcomed roughly 40,000 illegal aliens — the most of any U.S. city on a per capita basis — is now offering a how-to guide to help other cities convert to illegal immigration sanctuaries at the expense of taxpayers.  [...]

 

https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2024/05/28/denver-offers-newcomers-playbook-on-how-to-turn-cities-into-taxpayer-funded-illegal-alien-sanctuaries-n2174743

[TBoneTX 45,241]

Robocop Reality:  Denver to Employ Drones to Fight Crime After Police Budgets Cut for Migrant Aid

 

The 1980s action movie 'Robocop' took place in a dystopian Detroit, but Denver looks to emulate the film by employing drones to fight crime after cutting millions from the police budget to aid illegal immigrants.

 

What could possibly go wrong here?  [...]

 

https://twitchy.com/amy-curtis/2024/05/29/detroit-drones-for-leos-due-to-budget-cuts-n2396722

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[Dashinka 24,477]

More of a Blue State issue which also includes Oregon.  No wonder some many counties in Eastern Oregon want to merge with Idaho.  Btw, I am not against the ruling by the district judge and the 9th Circuit, the Constitution should mean something.

 

Oregon defendants who do not have a lawyer must be released from jail, US appeals court rules
 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oregon-defendants-who-do-not-have-a-lawyer-must-be-released-from-jail-us-appeals-court-rules/ar-BB1nwmtV?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[Dashinka 24,477]

Fire hydrants?  Really?

 

Hundreds of Los Angeles fire hydrants stolen as fire season starts

 

Fire hydrant thefts join a spate of street lamp pole thefts in Pasadena and the rise of electric vehicle charging thefts nationwide as infrastructure theft for scrap metal becomes a serious problem for billions of dollars in taxpayer investments.

 

In 2014, California voters passed Proposition 14, which allows theft under $950 to be charged as a misdemeanor. With a limited amount of prosecutorial resources, prosecuting thefts under $950 in resale value is a lesser priority than violent crimes. Leaders point to a combination of police shortages and lack of criminal prosecution as enabling infrastructure theft that could put public safety at risk.

 

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/hundreds-los-angeles-fire-hydrants-stolen-fire-season-starts

[TBoneTX 45,241]

Per this, 20% of all of, uh, Ciudad de Nueva York's hotels are occupied by illegals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

135 Hotels in New York City Are Being Used as Shelters for Illegal Immigrants

 

[...] We guess the mayor's suggestion that people take illegal immigrants into their spare rooms didn't fly.  [...]

 

https://twitchy.com/brettt/2024/06/04/135-hotels-in-new-york-city-are-being-used-as-shelters-for-illegal-immigrants-n2396981

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Stop signs replace some Oakland traffic lights to deter copper theft

 

Oakland has removed the traffic lights from one intersection and replaced them with 4-way stop signs due to people stealing copper and then tampering with an electrical box.

It's a sight that has made drivers do a double take: a stop sign hanging overhead where a traffic light would normally be, located above the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue in Oakland. 

Neighbors said city workers removed the all the traffic lights in the last week and replaced them with four-way stop signs. The installation came after months of people stealing copper wires and tampering with the city electrical boxes that supply power to the traffic lights.

"It's just telling us that the city is giving up on us," said Tam Le, owner of Le's Auto Body & Engine Repair, located at the corner of the intersection. 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/stop-signs-replace-some-oakland-traffic-lights-to-deter-copper-theft/