While working at Goldman Sachs as an equities trader, it would take one man who would stir away from the path out of the comforts of the financial world into a journey of the unknown. What for many may have seemed typical, it would instead bring him to experience the striking jetliners of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. With just a five-minute walk away, it was then that he would feel the pavement rumble, as the towers were hit. He dealt with the moment as an epiphany, as he would leave the comforts of a nation to enlist in the Marines. Spending time at the frontlines of Iraq before returning home, he would never be the same again, as he questioned his life decisions. Being given a proclamation for his service upon return, it would be then that his life would change again. He took the chance to run against some of the heavy-hitting elected officials of the city. He came into it with the understanding of the only way to win was to lose first, as he would set himself up for even greater fights ahead. Armed with recognition, he held in his heart the strong work ethic that his family’s business taught him about growing up. He was sophisticated enough to profess to being an accidental politician, as he would enter the most sought out election the city had ever witnessed.
The city's history, like many other cities struggled with forging a single community. A history filled with witnessing the buildup of a growing manufacturing enterprise. With time that growth would only collapse for the city skyline, for the flight of the middle class would soon be taken over by its urban buildings and rising crime rates. Holding itself to rebirth, a second chance to rebuild the coastline emerged, as the gleam of new buildings and the disparity of income of the older, forgotten neighborhoods would fade into the city scenery. With the dysfunction of a political system still alive, there was less promise for reform. Delivering too little to too few, but more tragically, shamefully, existed the failure to properly care for a city and its people. It would take more than an election to restore the people. It would take charity and integrity. Striving to make the city a renaissance in the nation, it took one man to hold to a vision to entice young urban professionals priced out of Manhattan to cross the Hudson in lieu of settling in Brooklyn and Queens. The result of the grime of a past crack epidemic and empty storefronts that once lined the downtown streets were no longer there. They had been replaced by fine shops and boutiques. With neighborhoods still feeling the effects of violence, it would take the power of policing into the city’s most dangerous areas to confiscate weapons and make dozens of arrests. While city government would learn way of doing business, as desk audits and incentivizing employees would be of prime if the city were to work. His thinking went beyond practical, but revolutionized an ownership from shareholders, the people.
Celebrating the completion of the most different sort of mission, as he stood with family, friends, and volunteers who have been there for him through it all, the reality set in for him. The shock and unexpectedness that awaited him, only a man holding on for integrity could survive the struggles that were before him. Standing in front of the challenge of some of the most difficult and yet spirited competitors would be impossible. Working up the ladder, he left the comforts of his life to search for something greater. With the War on Iraq having come to an end, the dangers of further threat still lingered in the hearts and minds of the people. Being side-stepped by congressional approval for the declaration of war, an over reliance on technology pointed the city to destruction and an ethical dilemma impacted the city. Feeling like he was back in the engulfment of the military, a struggle against fear incapacitated the people. It took strong levels of accountability and transparency to regain the people’s trust. Not just for a nation, but for the second largest city bordering east to the Hudson River.
For charity, he took to the murkiness of the arctic blue waters of the Hudson River to once again face the difficulties that his family faced coming to this country penniless, reminding him that in life some things just aren’t meant to be easy. Having lost some great fights, he would come up against the real test ahead. Miles away, in a crowded courtroom, a jury returned a stunning verdict against some of the finest aristocrats in history. No one ever imagined that the most well-known cities were holding secrets of their own. It took power to run a city. It took certainty to unveil the longest running investigation into political corruption being watched by the people. A stigma of crime and corruption that would haunt the people, it’s what needed to change most in the city.
As one of the most dramatic moments in a public corruption investigation unfolded, a cooperative informant would be all it would take, to target the largest sting in the city. Sparking national headlines and political resignations, the history of the city became undone, a clear message was being sent. Hold onto your secrets. Or live or die not knowing what tomorrow will bring. The feds had posed as a corrupt developer willing to pay off politicians and public officials willing to expedite approvals on development projects he wanted fast-tracked. At the same time, he set up former partners and others, looking to launder millions of dollars out of his bankrupt real estate empire. Willing to risk it all, they would never admit to the bribes and misuse of influence that set them apart from the rest of government.

But beyond the mirrored windows of the city’s high-rise buildings; the landscape of a metropolis that holds itself to the outskirts of the Hudson River, leaves a city that set the standard for corruption and overshadowed itself by the darkness of political deception. Behind the thriving neighborhoods of cultural scenery, the sixth borough had become a blanket once woven with the challenges of deceit versus ethics. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but it’s the basis of integrity that would bring an awakening to the city streets that were once plagued by the mysteries of Wall Street West.