Law and Order and the Real New York

Sadly, producer Dick Wolf's pride and joy was canceled on Friday. There have been quite a few obits for Law & Order since then, but one particular aspect of the show--which was so ingrained into the fabric of the show, we may have been taking it for granted all these years--was highlighted in this AP piece:

For two decades, until it was canceled Friday, NBC's "Law & Order" did something different. It showed the world not just one New York but hundreds.

We saw wealthy criminals who could afford to get away with their felonies. We saw immigrant communities, middle-class families and people of all stripes struggling, sometimes stumbling through their day. We saw Manhattan and the far boroughs. We saw New Yorkers who didn't care enough to report crimes and people who risked their lives to save strangers. Made in New York by people who lived there, "Law & Order" never trafficked in Gotham cliches.

Yeah.