Having recently spent a week in the Big Apple, I was struck by an overriding atmosphere of goodwill.
New Yorkers are remarkably positive, and are also incredibly proud of their city. It is that positivity and pride that is absolutely infectious, and what attracts so many newcomers to New York both as visitors and as longer-term residents.
It was remarked to me at an area committee meeting not long ago, during a discussion about Dublin City Council’s new integration policy, that when you place eight million people on an island, they can’t help but find some way to get along or else the whole city would come to a halt. It is that sense of pride that was particularly laudable. The film of the popular TV series Sex in the City has captured that sense quite well – its main character Carrie Bradshaw, on visiting France in one episode, was asked once if she was an American. She replied: ‘New Yorker’. It is that strong identity and that spirit of belonging to a city which was encouraged by former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, who believed that whatever one’s ethnic, cultural or political background, everyone in that famous city could proudly call themselves a New Yorker. It had to be said that many of Giuliani’s policies were destructive to the fabric of New York society, despite the fact that he famously promoted the ‘zero tolerance’ policing policy that decreased the crime rate, but which angered many more liberal commentators.
The popular Broadway musical Rent, based in New York during Giuliani’s era, depicts that period of political administration from an interestingly negative perspective. Whatever about those arguments, no one can argue that Giuiani showed a great deal of statesmanlike behaviour during the 9/11 crisis. He managed to bring a level of humanity to the crisis that was lost on George W Bush in dealing with the aftermath of those attacks on the World Trade Centre. That experience was almost seven years ago, and by all accounts has cemented New Yorkers’ love for their city – and their regard for each other and of those who work to make the city work. A visit to the recently opened Ground Zero Museum convinces all visitors of the new-found value that police officers and fire fighters in particular are held in by the people of the city.
The artefacts on display are quite fascinating and disturbing at times – a clock stopped at the moment when the first tower fell; a dusty calendar found under the rubble, showing the date 11 September; even a shattered and crumpled piece of one of the aeroplane’s wings is on display. Truly moving, and no city should ever have to suffer the heartache of what occurred that fateful September day. But it shouldn’t take an earthstopping event like 9/11 to bring a city together.
We in Dublin have a city of many backgrounds, both national and international, with people who try hard to get along together, which is what the Integration Department of Dublin City Council is trying to promote and encourage. One of the more interesting elements of its work is in the region of voter education – to encourage newcomers not just to register their vote, but to exercise their franchise. It is only then that politicians of all hues will truly listen to the issues and concerns of those who have arrived in Ireland more recently, and will desist from engaging in cheap and borderline racist covert campaigning.
