whatever happened to new yorkers?

When I was a boy, New Yorkers were regarded as the epitome of elegance and sophistication: café society, the Stork Club, Ciro's, the Macambo, etc. But somewhere along the line all that changed, and now crude vulgarians like Donald Trump, Howard Stern, and Anthony Weiner are thought of as typical New Yorkers. I don't know what New Yorkers think of Anthony Weiner-- I gather his political career is finished-- but most of us out here in the provinces regard him as 'just another New York weirdo.' How exactly did this happen, and when? I suspect the 1960s had something to do with it, but I'd like to see a timeline of this descent into the abyss.