I wrote this as a retrospective comment about NYC in my previous novella, which is set in the 2120s and is something of a noir detective story. I didn’t figure I was writing 2025 news when I wrote it in 2024.
For all the City is a swingin’ place, law enforcement is pretty bad. Most of the cops are on the take (what else is new), and the few who actually try to do their jobs aren’t in a position to change that. The red-light districts are nearly as packed as the convention and music venues, and since that’s about all keeping the City from being a ghost town after the corporate and financial districts packed up and moved out, a century ago, that’s all the cops care about policing. Live on the West Side, or Uptown? Or in one of the outlying boroughs? You’re on your own, boys and girls. Call the mayor if you think he should spend more money on cops. If you can get through all the calls from his cronies and pals.
From On Account of a Dame, by me, available on Amazon.