High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The history of New York City (1946–1977) saw the emergence of New York immediately after World War II as the unquestioned leader among major cities of the world. However, after peaking in population in 1950, the city began to feel the effects of white flight to the suburbs, a downturn in industry and commerce as businesses left for places where it was cheaper and easier to operate, an increase in crime, and an upturn in its welfare burden, all of which reached a nadir in the city`s fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when it barely avoided defaulting on its obligations and declaring bankruptcy.