Debating the indepence of non-profits: Checks and Balances - or Just Checks?

The Gotham Gazette opines about the state of non-profits and other independent voices in New York:

In the last six years, public protest in the city has faded and full throated critics of city policies are hard to find. Is it because everything here has become wonderful — that New York is the best of all possible cities?

The article was a response to this article by Errol Louis, and it lead to long debates on the Daily Gotham and at Tom Watson's blog.