Halloween in New York City

Anyone old enough to remember New York before the Disneyfication of Times Square will have vivid memories of open aired street dealing, aggressive panhandling, gold-toothed, feather hatted pimps, zombie crackheads, and a bounty of unenforced criminal behavior. As late as 1990 when the murder rate peaked, New York City still festered from decades of disorder, distinctly different from today.Say what you will about the bad old days, but if you took some lumps and survived, you emerged a stronger, wiser, and most importantly a sharper person for the rest of your life. (That is, until you had kids of your own to pussify from your past trauma.) But if you weren’t smacked, jacked, carjacked, or bush-whacked, surviving as a corner dwelling adolescent was a wonderful adventure, even on bone chilling, brass-monkey-sipping, single digit nights.But what does any of this have to do with the Manhattan tow pound? Hopefully this illustrates the layers of neglect and how it trickles into society. If…