I remember the 70s, you don't want the 70s

Of the many great things about my parents was one of my father's core beliefs; he did not want his children sheltered and ignorant. Not just in our hometown, but at any opportunity he could, he wanted his children to see the bad and the good.

He grew up in very humble circumstances, and with my working mother, he raised his children in what for him was almost unimaginable comfort and security. He didn't think that was healthy unless you understood how the other side lived.

As a gradeschooler and middleschooler, we visited NYC in the teeth of the blight. From the South Bronx to the porn soaked Times Square, he made sure we saw it and smelled it.

He did not think the city could come back to the city he knew from the 50s and early 60s, but it did ... under Rudy and then maintained by Bloomberg. We joked in his final years after I came back from a week in The City with the Wee Salamanders walking through places eh would only drive us through, that people would forget and elect a Democrat again once they forgot.

Well ... here we go;

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is warning that a new, disturbing trend of increased violence must be put in check before it’s too late.

In East New York, nine people were shot and wounded at a barbecue. And in the Bronx, Christian Garcia, 20, was shot and killed, and two others struck when a gunman opened fire in a children's playground.
...
The NYPD’s latest statistics show a 10% increase in murders through July 27th, compared to the same period last year.

(Police Commissioner) Bratton says there are two main reasons.

One of them is because criminals are feeling empowered. The other reason, is police feel like they're under attack.

Not mincing words, Bratton displayed a sense of urgency saying “we need to get this right, we can't repeat the 1970s again."