New York is blessed with a population which speaks 800 languages, making it the most “
diverse city in the world. It boasts a public transit system with few rivals, whose fleet of subways and buses traveled 347.1 million miles in one year alone (2010). Here you will find the most delicious pizza, the best pension plans and tap water that ranks number two on a national taste test.
New York was also home to the worst terrorist attack in our country’s history on September 11, 2001. Although the attack on the city’s financial center was devastating both in deed and scope, in the aftermath of the fall of the Twin Towers, New York City’s residents banded together in an unprecedented show of solidarity that outweighed the acts of evil many times over.
Most recently, the Northeast experienced its worst storm in 50 years. Although Hurricane Irene ravaged areas in Upstate New York and Vermont, New York City escaped fairly intact. This came a mere week after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the East Coast, an event that had New Yorkers shrugging and asking each other “What quake?”
Many of them are concerned, though, of the economic climate in this country. They wonder if they will hold onto their jobs, if there is a future in the market, if they will be able to sell their homes
or go on vacation. But the current statistics are with the optimists: despite the downturn, the unemployment rate is much lower in New York than the national average and housing prices have not fallen by much. Everyone has an opinion why this is so, and attempt to predict how much longer it will last.
I believe there is no coincidence. New York is blessed.
The Baruch Light 