Even taking into account the uptick in crime since the pandemic, New York City streets are still vastly safer now than they were in the eighties. Once, when he was about Julia’s age, Michael got pushed around on his way to school by some teenagers looking for cash. Did his mother freak out and start walking him to school every morning? Nope. From then on, she tucked a five-dollar bill into his sock. “Mugging money,” she told him. Hand it over and get to school on time. This is the stock my children come from.
