These people see America’s greatest cities as centers of depravity, excessive tolerance, and political opposition. They also see them as power centers they’ve lost, a place whose economic fortunes rightly belong to them. They’d kill us all if they could.

That entitlement is a key point. It expands my sense of why so many outside of NYC grabbed on to victimhood after September 2001. Not just to punish brown people (though they loved that) but also because they felt entitled to own the city.That entitlement is a key point. It expands my sense of why so many outside of NYC grabbed on to victimhood after September 2001. Not just to punish brown people (though they loved that) but also because they felt entitled to own the city.