Do you ever wonder about the state of NYC? We hear once a year about the state of the nation, but what about America’s greatest city. Is it still great? How does it compare to other cities? I have lived here for ten years and done some traveling around the world, I am left wondering if NYC is slowly unraveling as newer, more modern cities seem to take precedence. It is impossible not to project what is happening to NYC to America’s position in the world?

I start with the obvious: architecture. Our skyline has been reduced and although the Freedom Tower is now, finally above ground, it’s taken nine years to get there.The Empire State and Chrysler were both completed in 1931 and even the World Trade Center in 1973. The Guggenheim opened in 1959. Citigroup was built in 1977. But, what remarkable building has been erected since then?  The NY Times building? Time Warner? Bloomberg Tower? Yes, these are large buildings but in my opinion they fail to capture one’s imagination or redefine the city’s landscape. In the past what made this country strong was the country’s belief in itself–Americans were proud and strong and no fear of challenges. Today, it seems as though we are a country filled with fear and indecision.

In the last few decades it seems as thought the Olympics have become for bidding cities the main impetus for building growth (although ironically enough the economic impact of hosting the Olympics has proven to be negligible (“Beijing Olympics: ‘Negligible Economic Impact” Business Week, August 13, 2008).  London got the prize of 2012 but they were adding buildings even before the winning of the Olympics: Norman Foster’s London Swiss Re Building (the Gherkin), the Tate Modern Art Museum in 2000 and the many edifices to celebrate the millennium (London, Eye, Millennium bridge, etc.). NYC is not in the running for the Olympics any time soon and the millennium was unveiled to reveal the 20^th century. But beyond this, there are other cities whose skylines are growing due to growing wealth and innovation: Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai.

But, let’s turn internally now. The American Society of Civil Engineers has released its 2009 findings (“America’s Infrastructure Really Is Crumbling”, The Business Insider, Gayathri Vaidyanathan, Nov. 13, 2009). And, listed is NYC’s drinking water. “It leaks up to 36 million gallons a day and has created a marshland the size of a football field in upstate New York. Total investment needed: $255 billion.” This is really depressing and leads one to believe that there must be more things in disrepair. Our bridges and tunnels are not the youths they once were, and neither are our airports. JFK is old and for being one of the main entry points into this country it is a dilapidated the most unwelcoming place. Newark is only slightly better.

City dwellers also find themselves living with the some of the highest taxes in the country. I am not a tax expert, but I know that this city is extremely expensive to live in. Further frustration is added with the new MTA tax to help bail out this deficit-ridden organization. The subways are new but the stations are old and decrepit and I’m not sure if  I would classify this as either quaint or charming. On the flip side, one benefit derived from our higher taxes are good public schools, but if our cost of living gets so high that we run young families out where is our future?

Yes, NYC is still an amazing place and there is no other city in this country that I’d choose to live in, but if this city stands as a bellwether for the rest of our country, I think we should all start taking notice.