New York City: Anarchist Jurisdiction

Finally, after months of chaos the Attorney General is going to weigh in. William Barr is going to pronounce New York-- along with Seattle and Portland-- as an “anarchist jurisdiction.”

It’s not quite like winning an Oscar or an Emmy, but it must count as a mark of distinction. The pathetically incompetent New York political leadership, yearning for a federal bailout, is about to be slapped down-- by having its government funding cut.

Perhaps it will bring Comrade de Blasio and Governor Cuomo to their senses. More likely, not.

Here is the Barr statement, which will be issued today:

“When state and local leaders impede their own law-enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” Barr said in a statement set to be released Monday.

“We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance,’’ the AG added.

“It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.”

How bad is it? Yesterday New York Post columnist Bob McManus diagnosed New York’s many maladies. The list is staggering. Unfortunately, it is also true.

The schools cannot open. The city and state are running out of money. Violent crime is spiking. And, naturally, the city has released a slew of criminals into otherwise peaceful neighborhoods.

Here is the McManus list:

• New York City, paralyzed by race-driven ideology and ­administrative incompetence, and totally outmatched by its teachers’ unions, can’t open its schools — even though charter and parochial schools seem to be doing just fine. Parents are paying attention.

• Lockdown-driven fiscal calamity approaches, and both Cuo­mo and de Blasio are spending like drunken sailors — the difference being that when drunken sailors run out of money, they sober up. De Blasio wants to borrow his way out of his hole, and Cuomo isn’t really saying no to gouging another chunk out of New York’s taxpaying class —which is taking notes.

• Crime, particularly gun violence, is well past the uptick stage. Double-digit surges in ­offenses that can’t be camouflaged — shootings and stabbings — are happening citywide. This is hard to ignore.

• Official contempt for middle-class concerns is endemic. City Hall parachutes hundreds of wholly dysfunctional vagrants, including convicted sex offenders, into a quiet Upper West Side neighborhood. ­Local elected officials accuse panicky residents of racism while Hizzoner promises redress, then backtracks. And nothing concentrates public attention quite like sex criminals being plopped down by elementary schools.

If that were not enough, here is some more:

There’s much more, of course: dirty streets, disruptive demonstrations, riots, vagrant encampments, vaguely threatening public transit, endless ­aggressive panhandling and an enduring social desert. So while boosters talk optimistically of a post-pandemic recovery, Gotham’s political establishment is doing precious little to prepare the ground for one.

As for our political leaders, they are showing their utter ineptitude. Unfortunately, the local media is so consumed with trash talking Trump that they are incapable of calling out the local politicians. This makes them enablers:

Cuomo appears to be paralyzed, probably by fear of a ­reprise of his coronavirus/nursing-home debacle. So when the sun goes down, the city that once never slept now just goes to bed.

New York has always been a hard-to-navigate energy suck, and at the end of the day, one can simply turn out the lights anywhere in America. Why endure the hassle of New York?

McManus calls it the politics of pinched resentment:

More fundamental is the politics of pinched resentment ­being practiced in New York — obsessively ideological, envious and score-settling.

When de Blasio said he didn’t really care about the city’s restaurants on class grounds, his signal was clear: There really are two New Yorks, and he doesn’t much care about the one that pays most of the bills.

That’s also the message in New York’s ominously strengthening “tax-the-rich” movement. Never mind that the “rich” ­already pay a hugely disproportionate share of the city’s ­income taxes — and that a majority of New Yorkers pay no income tax at all. It’s enough that wealth exists, and that that’s the problem. Just ask AOC.

This isn’t now a majority view. But it seems likely to dominate the coming debate, which sends a message of its own: You can make your fortune in New York, but New York stands ready to gobble it up once you do. Better bet the people with ­options understand that, too.

So, anarchist jurisdiction, jurisdiction where the rule of law has been replaced by mob rule.