Nolte: Democrat Policies Doom New York’s Famous Flatiron District

Democrat policies have gutted Manhattan’s once-thriving business district known as Flatiron.

The New York Post reports that nearly a dozen anchor stores and whole buildings have closed within the small area, leaving behind empty storefronts, rampant crime, and panhandlers.

“It’s like a cancer. The more stores close, fewer want to return. The Flatiron District is not the same,” State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar told the Post. “It’s not just the storefronts,” he continued. “It’s the declining real estate values, which reflect the decline of the area. There’s a general sense that the quality of life isn’t what it used to be.”

Staples = gone.

CVS = gone.

Lowe’s = gone.

T-Mobile – gone.

Bed Bath & Beyond = gone.

Bank of America = gone.

Those businesses left behind, says the Post, are “plagued by rampant shoplifting and thefts,” as well as crippling inflation.

“Some people have tried opening up new businesses in the empty stores on Sixth Avenue, but most didn’t survive four or five months,” a wine gallery owner told the Post. “Business is horrible [and] Inflation is through the roof. “How can you balance your expenditures and income?”

Local merchants also blame the pandemic lockdowns, which drove people to online shopping.

The Democrat party’s soft-on-crime policies are an ongoing scourge that continues to get worse.

“Over the past two years,” per NYPD statistics, “retail thefts have gone up by 55.7% and petty larcenies have jumped by over 34% within the precinct boundaries, according to the data.”

This year alone, police reported 853 retail thefts in the neighborhood, up from 484 over the same period last year — for a massive 76% jump.” Petty larceny reports climbed an astonishing 57 percent over last year, from 645 to 1,013.

“People just walk in, grab bottles and run away. Someone tries to walk out with a bottle at least once a week,” said the local wine merchant. He added that call the “NYPD does not help at all. They just ask us if we’re ok and tell us not to confront the thieves.”

How can a once great city overcome this kind of doom spiral?

There’s only one way, and that’s for the local politicians to reverse their failed policies, which is no longer possible. The extreme left has taken over the Democratic Party, and they want chaos, decay, and blight. Any Democrat who starts talking sense will be primaried out of office.

The solution is simple. Democrats need only 1) a crackdown on crime, 2) lower taxes, 3) decrease regulations, and 4) instead of utilizing all their energies to preen about global warming, Israel, and abortion, they should start filling potholes. Stop trying to be the United Nations and focus on solving local problems, quality of life problems.

But it will never happen.

Let’s not pity New Yorkers. The voters are ultimately responsible. And now they are getting what they voted for. The city is dying, but rents remain high thanks to the flood of Biden’s illegal immigrants. That’s called getting what you voted for.

No skin off my nose. I live here.

John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover on Kindle and Audiobook.