The day the new and re-elected members of the Board of Aldermen where sworn in, an article in the New York Times highlights the challenges which lay ahead of the city’s leaders.

“The city has retained attractions like Forest Park, excellent universities and a vibrant arts scene. But vast sections of North St. Louis show what happens when people leave town in big numbers: What is left is a shell of a city, boarded up, rotting, populated by the most impoverished. Residents, mostly black, are still fleeing these parts of town,” writes the Times reporter.

This very issue was the subject of new Aldermanic President Lewis Reed’s speech today.

“We will rise and fall as one city,” said Reed. If a business closes in north St. Louis, it impacts the people who live in south St. Louis. If there is a vacant, abandoned building in south St. Louis, it affects taxpayers in north St. Louis.

“If we work together and tackle these issues as one St. Louis, St. Louis will be a stronger and safer city,” said Reed.

Here is video of today’s swearing-in ceremony. Click here to read the full article in today’s New York Times.