“I have a lot of friends who now live on the uws and within months of moving there thy stopped keeping shabbos and more.”
It’s been quite a while since I last visited there. I guess I knew the good people there, people that were sincerely frum. OTOH, I know that a lot of people living there are not really frum, but they just like the Jewish chevra. I agree with what Health said above when speaking about intentions when coming to the UWS “It’s a vicious circle/cycle. First they become disillusioned and then they follow the crowd.”