#Vote how everyday New Yorkers feel: Goodwin

In recent days, Mayor de Blasio has done a bang-up impersonation of Alfred E. Neuman by confirming that he doesn’t give a damn about rising crime and disorder. His claim that there will be “a natural outcome” to the “particular issues” in Washington Square Park is the political version of “What, Me Worry?” 

Violence, mayhem, filth — it’s no big deal to him. But as one longtime resident of the area told the Post: “Problems tend not to solve themselves naturally, and you have to do something about them — especially when you’re the mayor of New York.” 

That is obvious to most sentient souls, but Mayor Putz is apparently not among them. If he showed concern, he would then be obligated to act. So to keep responsibility far from his door, he insists the chaos and danger are routine. 

If there is any silver lining in such madness, it’s that the conditions in the famed park are exploding just as the mayoral primaries enter the final week. With surging crime and growing public chaos already ranking at the top of voters’ concerns, it becomes more urgent by the day that New Yorkers make the right choice to replace the term-limited de Blasio. 

Another four or eight years of someone as incompetent and feckless as he is would leave the city damaged beyond recognition — and maybe beyond saving. 

Yet it’s also true that many New Yorkers are unaware of just how much and how fast the city has declined. They probably also have little idea what the unchecked spread of lawlessness would mean for them, their families and neighborhoods. 

Fortunately, there is an easy, quick way for them to get up to speed on both the big picture and on a neighborhood level. A series of short films is being released that perfectly capture what’s happening all around the five boroughs. 

Called “This is New York,” the series consists so far of four documentaries, each focusing on a specific issue. Gritty, powerful and fast-paced, they run about five minutes each and can be found under that title on YouTube. 

Eventually there will be a many as 10, says Matthew Taylor, who writes and directs the project, with wife Michelle Taylor serving as producer. The first was on crime, the second on the quality of life and the third on school choice, meaning charters. The fourth, on parks, was released Tuesday. 

They’re a hit among YouTube viewers, especially the quality-of-life piece, and have sparked discussions on Facebook and other social media. 

One reason is that there’s nary a politician to be seen. Ray Kelly and Joel Klein, the former police commissioner and former chancellor, make appearances, but most of the talking is done by ordinary New Yorkers who share their experiences about what is happening to them and their neighbors. 

“The people who speak the best are the citizens themselves,” Matthew Taylor said to me Tuesday. An experienced filmmaker, he shot more than 78 hours of video, featuring what he called the “forgotten New Yorkers” in places such as Brownsville, the South Bronx and Staten Island. 

Taylor, who did a feature documentary on Marcel Duchamp called “The Art of the Possible,” makes clear his city project is not political and has no connection to any candidate of either party. 

“These are strictly documentaries about the state of the city after the pandemic and about the universal topics that matter to everybody,” he said. “Nobody wants to get pushed in front of the subway or mugged.” 

Larry Mone, former head of the Manhattan Institute, first approached Taylor about a two-hour, nonpartisan film on how New York has been changing. Eventually they decided the subject would be more accessible to more people in smaller bites, and the shorter pieces followed. (I had a chat with the Taylors about the project in March.) 

Roger Hertog, a former chairman of the Manhattan Institute, helped solicit financial support. He said nearly $500,000 has been raised, with the largest donation being $30,000. 

The just-the-facts nature of the shorts gives them a credibility that transcends any candidate or platform while conveying a sense of urgency. The tight focus and direct citizen comments, without seeing or hearing questioners or cameras, enable viewers to cut to the heart of each issue. 

In the crime piece, one man offers the blunt warning that the thugs willing to attack the police “don’t give a damn about you.” 

In the quality-of-life piece, a Chinatown father calls “crime and homelessness” in his area “outrageous” while another bemoans the three D’s: “Decay, despair, denial.” 

A softer, more hopeful touch comes in the school-choice chapter via parents in a playground whose children are enrolled in charter schools. One woman with a distinct West Indian accent declares the public system “broken, where anything goes.” Another says “Success Academy saved my son’s life and saved my life.” 

The camera follows a black father and his daughter in the playground expressing their enthusiastic support for charters. 

The films are captivating and add another wrinkle to what is shaping up as an unpredictable primary among Democrats. Turnout for mayoral primaries has been declining for years — just 22 percent in 2013, the last one without an incumbent — and early-voting totals have been meager. 

Also, this is the first time local primaries are being held in June instead of September. And the ranked-choice voting system, also in use for the first time, further clouds crystal balls and renders poll results less definitive than usual. 

Amid the social turmoil and pandemic hangover, the one good sign is that a plurality of voters consistently tell pollsters they want a mayor who will tackle crime and disorder. If they actually vote that way, New York will have earned a chance to resurrect itself.

Israel, Joe ‘ties’ that blind NYT 

You can twist a lot in a single word, as The New York Times does in this front-page headline: “As Israel Shifts, Biden Has Chance at Stronger Ties” 

Stronger? Under Donald Trump, America and Israel had probably the strongest ties they’ve ever had. 

In fact, Trump fixed the disaster with Israel he inherited from Biden and Barack Obama. Now Biden, by coddling Iran and the Palestinians, seems determined to break what Trump fixed. 

There’s also the matter of Biden’s silence about the growing anti-Semite caucus in the Democratic House. If the Times thinks all this will lead to stronger relations with Israel, the Gray Lady needs a dictionary — or a moral compass.

Fake News lulls libs 

Reader Mark Lanza says my column on media lies reminded him “how brainwashed my CNN-watching liberal acquaintances are. I pray they realize how they’ve been played. Good must triumph over evil and we can start by ending Facebook and Twitter’s communist style censorship.”

Crayfish take more risks while on anti-depressants

Your tax dollars at work.