Until recently, many New Yorkers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, were relishing the opportunity to bring self-described 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants to justice near the scene of their monstrous crime. But Bloomberg last week urged the Obama administration to find a more suitable locale, citing the security risk and the enormous police tab. His remarks echoed the growing opposition to the trial from businesses that fear a drop-off in customers and from residents worried about being blocked from using neighborhood streets. New Yorkers may pride themselves on being tough, but they have succumbed to NIMBY—the “not in my backyard” lament that’s heard whenever local sensibilities clash with a broader public purpose.
It’s a widespread syndrome. We understand the need for homeless shelters, prisons, and hazardous-waste sites—we just don’t understand why they have to be plopped down in our towns. Who doesn’t favor development of alternative energy to reduce our debilitating addiction to foreign oil? But please, put those unsightly solar-power transmission lines and wind turbines someplace else. When President Obama pledged to close the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, the legal complications of transferring the prisoners to the U.S. were the least of his obstacles. “You think Yucca Mountain is a NIMBY problem?” warned Sen. John McCain. “Wait till you see this one.” He was referring to the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, which was established by Congress in 1987, cost billions to build, and has not received a single barrel of spent fuel. Never underestimate the power of NIMBY.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'Being more nuanced will not be easy for public health agencies'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Where did Democratic voters go?Voter turnout dropped sharply for Democrats in 2024
-
4 tips to save as health care costs riseThe Explainer Co-pays, prescription medications and unexpected medical bills can really add up
-
Editor's letter: Putin's perilous grabfeature The Russian president will be beating historical odds if his Crimean exploits end the way he plans.
-
Editor's letter: Terrorism and the zero standard
feature Since 9/11, the presumption has been that Americans will tolerate no successful acts of terrorism, and no deaths.
-
Editor's letter: The return of terrorism
feature Why did nearly 12 years pass without a bioattack, a plane hitting a building, or a bomb going off?
-
Editor's letter: Our dysfunctional romance with violence
feature Every year, more than 30,000 people—the equivalent of ten 9/11s—die of gunshot wounds.
-
Editor's Letter: "Sealing the borders"
feature In 1986, the House of Representatives demanded that the Pentagon “seal the borders” within 45 days against illegal drugs.
-
Editor's Letter
feature I work in a big city, where the screams of a passing siren barely dent one’s consciousness and only the most sensational crimes make the local papers. Then there is The Gazette, the weekly newspaper that covers the small community in which I live. The vil