Hey Mariyanthie! Great post, I completely agree with you that the City should have responded differently after Hurricane Sandy completely whipped out and completely destroyed parts of the city. Instead of focusing on developing new real estate, the city should have catered to the low-income families in poorer areas. Many of these families lost their homes, personal belonging, and memories after the hurricane hit and rushed through their neighborhoods. And instead of the City investing money to rebuild these areas, they allocated their resources to the wealthier people even though there were people who were desperate need to that money and resources.

There is one thing however, that you wrote about that I do not necessary agree with. In you’re blog, you wrote that there could have been another Hurricane like Hurricane Sandy that would have completely destroyed this new construction, and therefore it didn’t necessarily make sense to build it in the first place. The only thing is though, in reality, one could say the same thing about investing this money into these poorer areas and rebuilding those neighborhoods. So one could make argue that the City shouldn’t rebuilt after a catastrophe hits because another one can always strike again. However, it that were the case, the City’s infrastructure would crumble and the city would crumble with it. I think the reason that Greenberg mentions “the fate of $51 billion in post-Sandy recovery aid [was] undecided,” is to reiterate that fact how poorly the City allocated its resources (46). On an economic level the city responded properly, those who can pay more get the resource. It was easier to make the easy fixes, and more those areas attractable again. However, on a human level the City once again put their profit before the people, and focused on economic gain.

Obviously, economic development is important in every city, but it is vital that the city take care of its inhabitants even more so. With caring for its inhabitants, the city loses its heart and soul and is merely left with the foundation and structure. And it seems as though the City, time and time again, has turned its back on its inhabitants and focuses on to real estate development and making a profit. The only justification that I can think of is that the city is under the impression that the trickle-down effect with kick into place (even though this phenomenon has been proven time and time again to be faulty). The City needs to realize that its composition is quite complex and there is value in everything, not just money.