Courtesy Hartford Courant,
Josiah H. Brown
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not be republished or distributed without permission.
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Sunday, January 7, 1996 |
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STATEWIDE |
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C1 |
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OPINION |
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COMMENTARY |
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JOSIAH
BROWN |
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*THAT'S
CONNECTICUT When do you become a New Yorker? I have acquired some of the
characteristics, from the habit of climbing aboard a rush-hour subway on
which scores of strangers converge to ignore each other to a talent for
cursing at cabdrivers who dare to defy traffic lights that I, too, routinely
disregard. I have come to feel comfortable in
several Manhattan neighborhoods and have grown accustomed to nearby cultural
marvels -- the Metropolitan Museum, Juilliard concerts, Shakespeare in the
Park. I appreciate the rich medley of people in a city where my roommates
have included a Sorbonne-educated Chinese woman who works at the U.N.'s West
Africa section, a cantor at a Conservative synagogue in Queens and a Tibetan
monk engaged in religious studies at Columbia. I have benefited from
unparalleled employment opportunities and social possibilities. Yet I remain from Connecticut, from the
distinct northeastern corner unfamiliar to most New Yorkers. Raised in the
small community of Hampton, I cherish open fields, quiet woods and rustic
rhythms. A long walk on lonely roads is preferable to an evening of bar
hopping. Chic health clubs can't compare with a canoe ride or a swim in the
pond. It is tempting but trite, and wrong, to
exalt everything rural. The connection between New York and Connecticut is
more than a commuter railroad and a simple contrast. There is a unity of
problems and purpose that makes a dual attachment especially challenging. For me, Connecticut, in all its
aspects, is home. Depressed mill towns, bleak ghettos and appalling
inequality are parts of the whole. Across the state, development pressures
are colliding with preservation impulses. Laid-off workers are mourning the
loss of jobs in the defense and insurance industries. Blocks away from the Capitol in Hartford
and from Yale in New Haven, impoverished children are struggling to learn and
to grow up free of violence. In Bridgeport, economic desperation is fueling a
hunger for casino gambling, for anything. With similar issues confronting New
York, there is a chance for the two states to forge a more complementary
relationship. Thousands of Connecticut residents work
and pay taxes across the border, and both states have an interest in limiting
the extreme competition for corporate employers that leads Albany and City
Hall to match financial inducements that Hartford offers. Avoiding a downward spiral of unfair,
fiscally unsound giveaways, policy-makers should aim for a rapprochement in
which the entire tri-state region (including New Jersey) seeks to attract and
retain business investment. Closer collaboration in such areas as
transportation and fighting poverty -- through joint magnet schools and
exchange of information on pilot projects -- holds promise. In addition, better interstate
development planning and land-conservation efforts should be pursued. Given the increasing devolution of
federal responsibilities, New York and Connecticut have new reason to
cooperate -- as they did recently in lobbying Congress on Medicaid
allocations. That Govs. John G. Rowland and George Pataki invoked the model
of New Jersey's Gov. Christine Todd Whitman in order to get elected suggests
that more tri-state partnerships are possible, too. In any event citizens of the region
should reject a narrow outlook that fosters strict local, state and other
group identities. We share problems and must work together to achieve
solutions. It is difficult to reconcile such a
cooperative approach with our inclination to define ourselves by geography,
ethnicity, race, religion. But if differences divide, they can inspire as
well. In an atmosphere of mutual respect and pursuit of common goals, our
differences can be an animating force. The growth of a relatively inclusive
labor movement from the 1930s into the 1960s and the alliance of African-Americans
and Jews during the civil rights era are two examples. The persistence of our
two-party system, troubled as it is, further shows the potential for
purposeful coalitions. To emerge, a collective vision requires
a favorable environment. As Emerson noted, ``Not insulation of place, but
independence of spirit is essential.'' New York City is conducive to
``independence of spirit.'' New York is a center of entrepreneurs, artists
and nonconformists, where people exhibit unusual tolerance. It is a venue for
testing assumptions and learning about other opinions, ways of life. Arriving
from Ohio or California, Central America or Central Europe, we adapt to the
city and find our space within it. Whether or not we stay, we don't stay the
same. So in one sense, perhaps just by being
here -- working, studying, interacting, observing -- we are New Yorkers. Still, our origins shape us. I am in
New York but not of it, at least not completely. Connecticut is also on my
mind. |
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Memo: |
Josiah Brown is assistant to the president of
The New School in New York City and a justice of the peace in Hampton, Conn. |