50 CityAndStateNY.com
It’s been quite a ride
August 16, 2021
The past five years has changed New York’s political landscape in ways no one expected.
By Joseph Crowley
I
F THE PAST five years have taught us anything, it’s that New York politics is just as unpredictable as ever. And I don’t just mean election outcomes – though, those, including my own, certainly add to the unexpected. But by unpredictability, I mean the shifting political dynamics of the city and state and the events that helped shape them. Perhaps nothing has been more unpredictable in New York politics than the rise of Donald Trump. Hailing from my home borough of Queens, Trump shocked us all when he went from online conspiracy theorist to the Republican nominee for president. Far from a father of New York business, philan-
thropy or society, Trump’s ascension was as much of a surprise to New Yorkers as it was to the world. It led many, myself included, to make clear that Trump was the antithesis to what our great city and state stood for – that his vile comments on immigration were in contrast with the city home to the Statue of Liberty, and that his tough talk wasn’t a product of being from Queens but of his own insecurities. Despite the overwhelming condemnation and detachment from the former president, his association with New York was hard to shake. And in many ways, the efforts to draw a stark contrast with his policies led to a greater acceptance of more progressive pol-
icies and ideas. In many ways, Trump’s rise was a product of the economic insecurity in our country, something New York is all too familiar with. Whether it was the Sept. 11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis or more recently, the economic downturn as a result of the global pandemic, New York has taken its fair share of hits. Yet, every time the state was beaten down, counted out and expected to never return to its stature, New Yorkers proved those theories wrong. But there’s no question that the toll of each financial hit affected employment, real estate, personal finance and more with lasting impact. The pandemic that has con-
SUBMITTED
After losing reelection to AOC in 2018, Crowley is now a senior policy adviser at Squire Patton Boggs.
