"One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results." Milton Friedman

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“The people who go around talking about their soft heart — I share their — I admire them for the softness of their heart, but unfortunately, it very often extends to their head as well, because the fact is that the programs that are labeled as being for the poor, for the needy, almost always have effects exactly the opposite of those which their well-intentioned sponsors intend them to have.”

birth of a conservative

Bohemian Greenwich Village not so liberal anymore as crime, drugs push residents to beg for more cops

“Enough is enough,” said Village-raised Trevor Sumner, president of the Washington Square Association. “Liberalism is being challenged and people are realizing that our attempts to honor some ideals are leading to worst outcomes.”

The bohemian Mecca made famous for its anything-goes attitude, counterculture musical scene and clashes with police is begging for law enforcement, a shocking new survey found.

The Sixth Precinct Community Council polled 600 neighborhood residents and found 487 of them — 83% — want more cops on the streets.

And 74% of Villagers said the Empire State needed stronger prosecution for drug dealing, while 80% thought New York needed stricter bail laws, according to the first-of-its-kind survey, conducted in February and March.

Sumner says he would have described himself as “quite liberal” up until two years ago, but his personal views shifted when conditions in the park took a nosedive after the pandemic.

But it’s not just in the park. The Sixth Precinct routinely posts on X about nabbing drug dealers plying their trade in broad daylight on Sixth Avenue — something that would have been unimaginable only a few years back.

“It’s very hard for me to unsee the realities of the outcomes on the streets. It’s shifted how almost everyone I know who’s active in the community is thinking about voting,” he said, blaming Albany’s bail reform and discovery changes for the unending cycle of lawlessness.

…. The conservative shift is showing up in voting records too, a Post analysis found. Nearly 13% of voters in the neighborhood backed President Trump in 2024, up from the 8% of 2020 supporters, according to Board of Elections data.

Eli Klein, who runs an art gallery in Greenwich Village, grew up in a very prominent liberal family – his mother Janet Benshoof was the founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights and a champion of the left. But the former lifelong Democrat said the party abandoned them.

“The left has gotten more extreme as opposed to us really going the other way. There’s a lot of recidivist criminals on the streets. The progressives push really soft on crime stuff. It’s hard to believe that a huge section of our population wants career criminals on the streets,” he said.

Longtime village residents say the free-love energy of the past has morphed into something less poetic.

“There’s a lot more crazies, unstable people. It’s just an eyesore, it’s disconcerting,” said Philip Spinelli, 75, who’s lived on Christopher Street since the 1960s.

Back then, they say, they were protesting for a cause. Now, not so much.

“We have literal zombies walking through the streets and framing it as somehow these reforms have given them some kind of dignity – this is not dignity,” said Sumner.

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GOODER AND HARDER, CALIFORNIA: Oakland Chinatown businesses say they’re getting fined thousands for graffiti on their own property. 

In Oakland, Chinatown merchants are raising the alarm after many are being hit with thousands of dollars in fines for graffiti on their properties.

Shirley Lou knows how this story goes. On any given day, the supermarket she manages is tagged. They paint over it and then it happens again.

“We cannot control. We clean up and they come again. So many times, but the city — I don’t know why they are charging me money,” said Luo, manager at Won Kee Supermarket.

On Tuesday, she tried to pay the latest fine of $500. The city told Luo she owes $3,000, which includes late fees.

“It’s not my fault. Not our fault. It’s somebody go to the roof and mark so many graffiti,” Luo said.

This is not an isolated issue. Throughout Oakland’s Chinatown, business owners are reporting thousands of dollars in fines for not painting over tags fast enough.

“We close at 4 o’clock when we go home, and we cannot watch people do things like that. We can’t. So, the city has to help,” said Susan Lam, Oakland business owner.

As Lawrence Person wrote in 2023, “Defund The Police + Decriminalize Shoplifting = ‘Food Deserts.’” Oakland’s government attempting to push their grocery stores out of business is also guaranteed to make that happen.