As his beloved city falls into ruin,

Bickerstaff, now far from the mayhem, still cannot help noting with sorrow the City’s collapse. Below, see a story from the New York Post, which is one of many in today’s police blotter, but representative of them all.

The Upper West Side has devolved into a Wild West atmosphere where anything goes, terrified crime victims and neighbors begging for more cops told The Post.

Criminals are more emboldened than ever in the ritzy nabe — with robberies soaring over 30% compared to last year — and carjackers so brazen they flashed their guns without concern on consecutive Sundays in broad daylight.

‘I have never felt so scared in this neighborhood the way I feel now, one of the carjacking victims told The Post this week.

And so it goes. Keep in mind this is just Manhattan. There are a plethora of stories like this in the outer boroughs too, but they usually receive less attention since they occur outside the City.

Bickerstaff’s family, with a few exceptions over the years, has had a presence in the City for well over three centuries, back to when it was called New Amsterdam. The first of us to arrive was a Huguenot seeking religious freedom. Bickerstaff was the last of his line to be that presence, but witnessing the swift decline, began entertaining the notion of leaving. The final provocation was the City’s leftwing voters (which is most of them) re-electing a bloody fool socialist, who in his first term substantially cut the police budget, favored slap-on-the-wrist penalties for hardened criminals and a host of other asinine acts. Enough was enough. It was time to go.

Bickerstaff has no regrets leaving New York, but still feels a twinge of sadness when reading, albeit from afar, the City he still loves descending into bedlam.