The Seeger River, turn turn turn.

Many people ask me who was responsible for turning NYC around after its plunge into bankruptcy and despair, neglect and unfettered crime, a brokenness that seemed unfixable in the 1970s. There are several answers. Mayor David Dinkins took on crime like no one had before. Michael Bennett and Marvin Hamlisch wrote A CHORUS LINE and Broadway became relevant again, a must-see destination. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani implemented the Broken Window Theory and residents took pride in their own neighborhoods. And of course, as I'm always ranting, the artists invaded the neglected corners of the city and infected them with enthusiasm and joy.

This is an incomplete picture.

No one, no person, no group, no theory, no police force was more responsible for the resurrection of NYC than the man we lost today. Many years ago, Pete Seeger built a sailboat and sailed it up the river that was brown. He'd stop on shorelines and give concerts and instruct the audience that the river was our blood and we must clean it or we would not survive. So we did. And the Hudson River became clean. And the fish returned. And the city reflects the green and blue waters that now surround it. So important was this man to NYC that I propose we rename the Hudson River the Seeger River. And I propose we sing his songs today, at least once a day, forever, because no sweeter soul ever walked our streets and no kinder man ever sung about social injustice and no better man ever made our city great.