Thursday

Bite the (Area North of the) Big Apple, Don't Mind the Maggots

Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Hope College, a small liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, associated with the Dutch Reformists, had an Hispanic problem. I don't remember all the details, but I remember hearing that the dilapidated homes around campus had become occupied by Hispanic thugs, who started to prey on students. After a girl was attacked and her face slashed (so the western Michigan folklore goes), the Trustees decided that they'd had enough. The college bought up all the dilapidated homes surrounding campus and either bulldozed them or turned them into administrative facilities, thereby creating a buffer zone between the college and rest of the area.

So what happened to the Hispanic gangs that were causing the problems? Supposedly, they went to surrounding villages, like Fruitport, and immediately caused a spike in crime, much to the annoyance (and fear and frustration) of those village residents.

I don't know how much of the Hope College story is true, but it's believable. A story I read last night in New York magazine reminded me of it. Apparently, the town of Newburgh, NY has become the murder capital of New York. Newburgh sits on a picturesque bend of the Hudson River, about 90 minutes north of NYC. Just across the river, sits Beacon, a bohemian town described as the "Williamsburg on the Hudson."

New York City has experienced a decline in violent crime, while Newburgh has been ravished by it. Like Fruitport complaining that Holland sent it violent crime, Newburgh residents complain that New York City cleaned up its streets by dirtying theirs.

Things are apparently getting better, thanks to yeoman-like efforts by the FBI, but it's still a cesspool of crime with no prospects. The town of 29,000 has very little retail business, not even a single grocery store (my town of 11,000 has three grocery stores, plus Wal-Mart's grocery arm).

If, like me, you enjoy true-life crime stories and find urban decay fascinating, venture over to this piece. It's one of the best of the season.