Petition to Grant UNESCO Recognition to Yonkers, NY

According to the UNESCO website, "The Creative Cities Network connects cities who want to share experiences, ideas and best practices for cultural, social and economic development. Cities may apply to be endorsed by the Network and join the programme to ensure their continued role as centres of excellence and to support other cities, particularly those in developing countries, in nurturing their own creative economy."

The organizers of this petition grew up in Yonkers, New York and were "educated" there and can testify to the city's uniqueness. For example, the sense of alienation among students was and is matched only by the apathy among teachers and the level of dishonesty, corruption and sheer stupidity of administrators.

But Yonkers is more than just schools. Cultural attractions include the Yonkers Raceway as well as the Cross County Shopping Center.

Perhaps most notable is the level of willful ignorance of Yonkers residents. During the 1980s, as one court after another ordered the city to desegregate the housing by building a handful of small developments of low-income housing in all-white parts of the city, voters threatened that they would vote out of power any elected officials who complied with court orders.

The result: By the late 1980s, the city was literally nearly bankrupted from legal fees, and the moral fabric of the city and moral fiber of its residents was likewise depleted if not bankrupted.