rises to 1980’s levels, young couples eagerrnto leave New York will lead a mass exodus.rnNeedless to say, those leaving therncity do not include the poor, indigent,rnand homeless.rnThere are 80,000 “homeless” peoplernon the streets, most of them in Manhattanrnand most deinstitutionalized in thern1980’s, hi 1980 there were 93,000 mentalrnpatients in New York City; today therernare 11,000. These so-called homelessrnlive in the alcoves of retail shops and inrnthe subway system, turning a oncernunique transportation system into anrnopen urinal. Yet the civil libertariansrnhave made it virtually impossible to returnrnthe streets and the subway to sane,rnlaw-abiding citizens. Beggars, carryingrnempty coffee cups, are ubiquitous inrnNew York. There is scarcelv a street onerncan walk on without being accosted forrnmoney. And to the astonishment of almostrnevery sensible citizen. Judge Sandrnruled that begging can’t be prohibitedrnsince it is a form of expression protectedrnby the First Amendment. The decisionrnwas overturned, but it nevertheless suggestsrna great deal about the city’s ideologicalrnpathology.rnThe streets of New York are now filledrnwith foreigners, both legal and illegal,rnselling watches that are knock-offs ofrnRolexes and shirts that say Fendi onrnthem and speaking Pidgin English.rnThere isn’t anv obligation for these peoplernto learn English since New York practicesrnbilingualism (read multiculturalism)rnin the schools and every otherrninstitution. Moreover, the local office ofrnthe Immigration and Naturalization Servicernhas virtually given up trying to controlrnthe situation. How else can one explainrnthe public role that Sheik OmarrnAbdel-Rahman had in New York’s Muslimrncommunity, even though he was regardedrnas a terrorist in Egypt and forcedrnto leave that countrv? hi New York anythingrngoes, even a terrorist preachingrnviolence to fellow church members,rnsome of whom blew up one tower of thernWorld Trade Center.rnThe city’s budget is $30 billion, or thern14th largest in the world. Much of thisrnmoney comes from commercial taxes.rnYet many buildings in New York have arnreal value—based on occupancy rates—rnof zero. To make sure this financialrnhouse of cards doesn’t collapse, city authoritiesrnperpetuate the myth that commercialrnproperties have the same valuerntoday as in the 70’s. Of course no onernbelieves that, but city authorities won’trntell the truth, and building owners, fearfulrnof losing property that they hope willrnone day appreciate, keep their mouthsrnshut.rnInto this maelstrom of madness add arnvariety of political candidates who claimrnthey can solve the apparently insolvable.rnMayor Dinkins will run again in largernpart because the demographics are movingrnin his direction. Blacks are a rapidlyrngrowing portion of the city’s population,rnand they tend to vote as a bloc. No otherrncandidate can count on 30 percent ofrnthe vote as he can. He also has to defendrna record that includes a potential financialrncatastrophe, race hatred, and arnschool system that is falling apart.rnHis major rival is Rudv Giuliani, whornlost to Dinkins by two percentage pointsrnin 1989. Ciuliani is the Republicanrnhopeful who is to present city politicsrnwhat John Lindsay was to the 1960’s.rnThe word “conservative” he describes asrnideological, and his political philosophyrnhe calls pragmatic. He has variously describedrnthe Children of the Rainbowrncurriculum as acceptable if it incorporatesrncertain changes (“the words ‘artificialrninsemination’ should be removed”),rnas unacceptable because it is age inappropriate,rnas a good idea because it promotesrntolerance, and as a bad idea becausernit is silly to teach such issues tornhrst-graders. As I see it, either Giuliani isrnconfused or he is trying to be all things tornall people. The one thing, perhaps thernonly thing, he is clear about is his desirernto win.rnThen there are Andy Stein, presidentrnof the City Council and a wealthy man;rnHerman Badillo, a member of the CityrnUniversity Board of Trustees, a formerrnmayoral candidate, and not a veryrnwealthy man; and Roy Innis, executiverndirector of the Congress of Racial Equality.rnNone of these men can defeat Dinkinsrnin a Democratic primary, as recentrnpolls suggest. But that will not deter anyrnof them. In fact. Stein may end up onrnthe ballot as the Liberal Party candidate,rna scenario I regard as very plausible. Lastrnis George Madin, the editor of the G.K.rnChesterton papers and a Wall Streetrnbanker who is likely to run as the ConservativernParty candidate and who is therndarling of the Mary Cummins set, meaningrnthe white ethnics fed up with thernChildren of the Rainbow curriculumrnand other elitist ideas.rnWith this line-up what is a conservativernto do? In the best of all wodds, myrncandidate is Marlin, even though hernprobably will not garner ten percent ofrnthe vote. But New York is most certainlyrnnot the best of all possible worlds. Inrna four-way race involving Dinkins, Stein,rnGiuliani, and Marlin, every vote for Marlinrnis, in effect, a vote for Dinkins. ThernMarlin constituency will be composed ofrnwhite ethnics who—if no real choicernwere available—would vote for RudyrnCiuliani. Should Marlin get six or sevenrnpercent of the vote, it most certainly willrnrepresent the margin of victory for DavidrnDinkins.rnSince I want to see a Republican Partyrnbuilt on Reagan principles instead ofrnliberal Republican pabulum, a Giulianirnvictory gives me pause. On the otherrnhand, four more years of Dinkins playingrnthe race card with a vengeance will markrnthe end of an era for New York and possiblyrnan irreversible slide. Does a conservative,rntherefore, vote his principlesrnor does he vote to oust Dinkins? Does hernvote for the future of New York or doesrnhe vote for the millennia? This has beenrna far more gut-wrenching decision thanrnreaders might assume since the change,rnshould Giuliani win, will be marginal inrnany case. Giuliani most likely will appeasernthe homosexual lobby as Dinkinsrnhas, and he will not consider a voucherrnplan for the schools, a position Dinkinsrnshares. Yet Giuliani would probably rootrnout the corruption in Dinkins’ Democraticrnadministration, and he will mitigaternthe race war the mayor has promoted.rnYet I can’t help but consider the longtermrneffect of a Republican mayor whornespouses the liberal social line, especiallyrnwhen liberals assume these are the positionsrnRepublicans should advocate. Indeed,rnwhat happens to the RepublicanrnParty when its leaders arc William Weldrnand Rudy Giuliani? Will genuinely conservativernRepublicans be forced out ofrnLincoln’s party creating a marginalizedrnthird party or will they be forced intornthe background of a party that standsrnfor low taxes and low morals? Surelyrnthese questions won’t be answered byrnthe mayoral election in New York City.rnBut they arc unavoidable in the NewrnYork context.rnAside from lamenting, I’m not surernwhat I will do in this election. I love NewrnYork for many nostalgic reasons, and I alsornlove my principles. Should I compromisernmy principles to give New York arnchance? Fortunately, I’ve got a fewrnmonths before I decide. Unfortunately,rnI don’t know whether the New York Postrn46/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn