Is NYC Over? By Guest Blogger Sreeny Cherukuri

Post Urban Culture

Today’s guest blog is from erstwhile Zola System reader Sreeny Cherukuri. Although I don’t agree with his motivation for writing the blog – LeBron James was never going to NYC unless his posse was going – his larger point merits discussion. Is technology destroying the intellectual and cultural aspects of the American city?

Now that the dust has settled in the NBA, we can reflect on the greater meaning of the fact that King James and his roundtable have chose to settle in Miami – establishing what will be the foundation of the next great sports dynasty – has inexplicably chosen (when for the first time in history they did have a choice) to not choose NYC.

There were four real teams in the running two in NYC (Knicks, Nets), Chicago and Miami. Now in that bunch, Miami apparently has three advantages: sunshine, no income tax, and OJ Simpson-type liability protections.

In the age of the jet-set billion dollar players, with multiple off-season homes – the splendors of Miami are always available.

The claim has always been that you can be bigger in NYC than anywhere else, a bigger audience, bigger endorsements, and you get to mingle with society. In other words how can you not do NY or LA, or at least Chicago…?

The reality is that paradigm doesn’t really exist anymore. Most of LA actually lives in Montana, or Aspen, or London, or France. The NYC elite mostly decamp to the Hamptons, Florida, or wherever in the world they want. And business/pleasure happens in exotic locales everywhere.

The indicators are everywhere. The Clintons have not set foot in the city.   Limbaugh is selling and moving out. In fact by not being in NY the only people you don’t see are the editors of the Atlantic – and all three paying subscribers…

Essentially the world has shrunk; modern media is everywhere, all the time. And you really just don’t need to be in the City.