New Yawk, New Yawk, my kinda town. It used to be a) interesting, b) dangerous and c) have bus- swallowing potholes. Times have changed. Now, NYC is another version of Disney World @ Orlando ... YUK! What happened to all the porno, the crack?

Anyway ... I suppose somebody has some sort of idea how all that food is gonna get into the middle of town when farms are all thousands of truck miles away. Feeding 5-7 million New York City people is hard now ... what will it be like in ten years?

60 years ago, Long Island and northern New Jersey were agricultural. Seafood was plentiful from New York Bay and off the coast of Long Island.

I suspect NYC will be walkable and pleasant at some point in the future, but the food issue needs to be addressed NOW! The city needs to start working with New York State and neighboring states to set aside farmland and insure there are agricultural products - as New York City addressed its water supply by purchasing their watersheds. A hard- headed approach is required; 20 million people live in the New York City metro area. Only a small percentage of that number can be supported by local agriculture.

Importing agricultural products can be done if a) NYC becomes a full- functioning port as it was ... 60 years ago; b) it can develope products to SELL other than Wall Street Montes c) it can create a marketplace that can accomodate the greatest need. New York will always have a lot of people - maybe not 20 million - but goods will have to be distributed. It is hard to take 100lbs of potatoes on the subway on a hand truck.

Right now, the New York and New Jersey Port Authority runs a container and roll- off operation that is mostly centered in Elizabeth and Newark. The city itself is a host for a number of cruise ships. The Newark port sees the usual mega ships, yadda yadda; some visionary needs to figure out how to accomodate smaller ships and make a port less dependent upon tractor- trailers.

New York used to make stuff; linotype machines, metal working machines, office machines, pianos, housewares, clothing, radios, records, books ... most of these businesses have been run off by real estate speculators. The factories are now 'Luxury Lofts'. If New York can make things again, its citizens can buy whatever they want having some products to sell in return! They can pull the clipper ships right up to the docks and load them up!

There were many diffeent markets in New York in years past, enough so that merchants and ordinary folks could get what they needed without having to drive to Bergen County and go to a mall. There is room for improvement, here.

Having said all this, NYC has a real transit problem;

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/nyregion/19transit.html?ref=nyregion