New York is listed as the second most expensive city in the United States to live in, a mere one point under San Francisco. Rudimentary common sense argues against attracting chronic welfare mothers and children to a city in which life is tough, crime high, dope especially tempting as it is for those who seek escapism. It is surely Mayor Giuliani’s point a) that welfare can’t be unlimited, and b) that no compassionate purposes are served in attracting the indigent to a city where unemployment is higher than the national average and the cost of living as unattractive as the winter weather. William F. Buckley Jr.
William F. Buckley Jr., National Review, June 12, 1995