Mayor Bloomberg/file photo
Detroit's bankruptcy is making some other cities pay close attention.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking Tuesday in Brooklyn, said other cities must learn from the Detroit, and emphasized the importance of diversifying economies.
“I believe that the Detroit experience holds lessons for every American city – and that we have an obligation to protect our future by examining those lessons, which I’d like to do briefly this morning," he said according to the text of a speech posted on the city's website.
Bloomberg went on to say that it would be easy to think what happened in Detroit could never happen in New York.
" But the truth is it did almost happen here, back in 1975. And while we have traveled a long way since then, we would be foolish to ignore the factors that drove Detroit to bankruptcy."
“The lessons fall into two primary – and related – categories: economic and fiscal. Let’s start with the economic lesson. Detroit was once an economic powerhouse. But starting in the 1950s, large-scale manufacturing slowly but steadily moved out of large cities across the country, including New York.
“We once had more manufacturing jobs than any other American city.
He went on to say:
“But thankfully, unlike Detroit, New York City’s economy was not based on a single industry. As our manufacturing base declined, the financial industry grew, along with other industries, such as real estate – and that helped cushion the blow. Of course, it also left us more susceptible to swings in those markets.
“Yet something very remarkable happened in 2008, when the U.S. experienced the biggest collapse of the financial and real estate markets in modern history: New York City actually went into recession later than the rest of the country, and came out faster and stronger.
To read the complete text of his speech click here.
