Originally Posted by
fryar
To return to Giuliani, how did NYC go about closing down enterprises of ill repute that it had been difficult, for one reason or another, to pin things on or to take down? How did they get all of those [[well, most of those) peep shows and ladies of the night out of Times Square, to where it has been described frequently as "Disney-fied?" Frankly, I don't know, but I can imagine they were able to make it clear to you if you were on their shit list, it would make sense to throw in the towel. Did they audit tax returns, send only the strictest of building inspectors whose integrity was beyond reproach and levy fines? If somebody got shot in or in front of a club, did they take advantage of any and every maneuver available to them to delay the reopening of the club while evidence was collected?
I don't know if that exact chain of events works, but surely it is possible to make a concerted effort to let the places in question know they're on the city's shit list, and the city is cleaning house.
Why revamp Cobo into a more significant convention center? Who's going to step out of Cobo or off a cruise ship if, three blocks down the road, ghetto fools are said to be dueling in the street? The city needs to put as much distance between the here and now and all that as soon as possible. The sooner the memory of that fades, the better.
A rough-and-tumble crime unit going to town against carjackers outside of downtown is a different story.