Borup, Oquendo and the City of New York
New York for one week and two faces have dominated my time so far.
One is of Donna Joan Borup. Wanted by the authorities and lit up for the crowds to see in Times Square. Possibly the most expensive ad space in the world, and this lady, greyed and on the run takes her place next to Uniqlo and McDonalds as one of New York's most sought after commodities.Â
The other is of Avonte Oquendo. A mute autistic child whose face adorns every subway stop, every 'big box' store, every spare lamp-post. Oquendo is missing, "the search is frantic", yet every day in New York City at least 42 children go missing for terrible reasons like abduction or them running away. Even if you accept the questionable statistics from "The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children" that 97% of missing children are returned, it means that more than one child permanently disappears every day in NYC for non-benign reasons.Â
So why all the attention on Oquendo and Borup and not other missing individuals?Â
Oquendo disappeared from a state-funded school during supervised time, so his permanent disappearance would result in a major lawsuit against the city. Borup allegedly tossed a caustic substance into the eyes of a Port Authority Police officer during an anti-apartheid rally in 1981 - the city never forgets an enemy.
The ubiquity of these faces and the high priority with which they are dealt is a reminder that in this city the state is as much a self-interested party as the shopkeeper or the corporation. Â It gets to the heart of what this city suffers from. Exchanges between people are mutilated by the pursuit or perceived pursuit of self-interest. I sometimes wonder whether love is ever possible in this city or whether it's an alignment of mutually beneficial socio-economic goals.Â
It's hard to overstate how much competition there is for our attention in NYC. Brands and images are everywhere. So seeing these faces so prominently and memorably delivers a powerful message that even the state is out to unashamedly serve its own purposes at the expense of others that need its protection or need to face justice.
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