What does this great image, from the New York Daily News in the days immediately following the 1977 blackout, have to do with this new blog, The Real New Yorkers?

Two answers spring to mind.  First, the mind-boggling demographic and physical changes in New York City during the past few years compels us to re-assess our citywide frames of reference.  The city is always a work-in-progress, but the last few years have been nothing short of eye-popping. 

History lesson for those who dine, party and/or live in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  This photo shows Bushwick looters, helping themselves to merchandise from stores torched in the aftermath of the big blackout on a scorching hot New York summer night in ’77.  Today, the L train is perpetually packed, into the wee hours.  Bushwick draws incredibly vibrant, original, creative people — from all over the country.  Is “the new Bushwick” in danger of becoming a cliche, another shrink-wrapped section of NYC?  One might argue that, in some ways, it already has become the SoHo of the new milennium, a bold idea in real danger of being co-opted by subsidized poseurs.  You know how it goes with New York City neighborhoods: first come the trappers, then the ranchers, then the farmers, then the tenderfoot townspeople. Any fan of John Ford’s flicks can tell you that. 

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There’s another point, however, that this image — the photo of looters, that is — brings to mind, regarding “what makes a ‘real New Yorker'”?  I think of the bold public discourse regarding the morality of Wall Street in this moment of Occupy Wall Street.

Much of the discussion is reduced to “one percenters vs. ninety-nine percenters.”  Here’s my take and here’s why it’s important to — now — define terms re: The Real New Yorkers.  New York is — and always has been — about making money.  It started as a Dutch trading post.  We are all about commerce and we are big-league about it.  Here are the swashbucklers, the Bob Gibson’s who throw the ball high and tight because, hey, we own the inside of the plate and you either back off or get beaned.

But: we should not loot.  We should not create catastrophe and then plunder.  IMHO, The Real New Yorkers should work hard, play hard — yet retain compassion for those less fortunate.  Dudes: you did not come over on the Mayflower.  Want to make oodles of money?  Sure, go ahead, sharpen your algos along with your elbows and do what you have to do, as long as it’s legal.  Do not, however, set fires and then loot — which is basically what the big money boys did, just like the punks in Bushwick  34 years ago.