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Breslin Q&A: 'Everybody's going broke'
Photo credit: Urbanite
Jimmy Breslin is an iconic New York journalist. The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist has covered everything from sports to civil rights. Breslin, now 78, worked for several newspapers, including Newsday and the New York Daily News.
amNewYork discussed the current economic crisis and how its effect on New York might compare to the tough times the city endured in the 1970s.
Is the city heading in the same direction it went in the ’70s?
You didn’t have the [expletive] kids from Washington Heights getting killed in a war with Iraq. That’s the first thing.
You’ve got unemployment. … You just had three big auto companies going broke. Banks folding. Who ever heard of a bank bouncing? Checks did, but the banks never did. It was nothing like this. You could go get a loan in the ’70s. You can’t get a loan today. You can’t do anything.
Everybody’s going broke. … That’s why this is worse than anything we’ve had.Will the current economic crisis impact the quality of life in the city?
I don’t know about the quality. It’s always been good. It’s a big, crowded city. It’s great. I think the condition of the people in it is getting tough.
You’re talking about financially?
Money! When they’re broke, they’re a joke.
And what will that mean for New Yorkers?
When you go broke, anything could happen. It’s all money. They’re trying to fight a war and have a good economy at home. The problem with that is that it can’t be done, and they don’t want to even discuss this or admit it.
Franklin Roosevelt said you can’t have guns and butter. That’s 60 years ago. And we’re trying to have super technology and splendor at home. What happens is the splendor drains out of life.
-- Ryan Chatelain
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