Finally, some good economic news (NYC edition)

Photo above - Baltimore residents celebrate a 30% drop in homicides. Either that or it's their 5-4 win over the Yankees last week. However, the Orioles are 12 and 18 for the season, and are on track to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by Memorial Day.

I have to confess, I didn’t see this coming. New York City is pivoting billions of tax dollars into new school programs after the number of welfare dependent migrants in the city plunged. (see link below)

I’m not going to theorize what happened to those migrants on public assistance. We know they weren’t deported . . . the White House has whiffed its chance at arresting violent migrants with felony warrants and instead became ensnared with a PR disaster: deportations of a few people with legal visas who apparently were not threats to public safety.

Back to NYC. Welfare dependent Big Apple migrants plunged almost 50%, to 39,000. The cost of food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and policing by almost as much. If you don’t build it, they won’t come?

New York also benefitted from an unexpected increase in taxes. The link doesn't break out which ones, however. But they have a city income tax, the 2nd highest municipal sales tax in America, property taxes. And now a new toll surcharge to enter Manhattan other safe parts of the 7 boroughs. NYC also probably taxes alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, and clearly there’s no downturn in those vices. If only someone would submit a constitutional amendment to the SCOTUS to treat firearms in a manner similar to automobiles. Exams, licenses, insurance. The cost of policing might go down further, albeit not overnight. They’d have to bring back stop and frisk too and get those legacy Glocks and “ghost guns” off the streets. I’d be happy to be frisked whenever I visit New York to show my support for lower crime.

Illegal border crossings are way down. Evidently migrants believe they will no longer get a "welcome to America" bottle of water, a summons to appear in court months in the future, and bus ticket to someplace else. I’d like to hear that Fentanyl and Meth smuggling on the southern border are down too, but there’s no evidence of this. And if it is happening, I wouldn’t credit tariffs on cars built in Mexico.

Nobody should high-five and claim New York has turned the corner. But Baltimore just reported a 30% drop in murders. This probably isn’t related to migrants. Maybe it’s fewer drugs on the streets. One can hope, right?

I’m just sayin’ . . .

[u]New York’s Adams Pitches $115 Billion Budget as Trump Cuts Loom

Violent crime dropping at historic rates in Baltimore City[/u]