An old gripe of Woody Allen was that America hated New York ("The rest of the country looks upon New York like we're leftwing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers!" he rails in "Annie Hall"). For most of his life he had stuck staunchly by his city, showing the rest of America just what "leftwing pornographers" could accomplish, until he couldn't stand it anymore and left for London.
My guess is that he just couldn't take the hatred. Movie after movie got its kicks out of destroying New York ("Independence Day," "Godzilla," even "Ghostbusters"), each deploying the latest and coolest in special effects to enhance the trauma.
True, until quite recently there was a post-9/11 tenderness and healing factor in New York-based films ("World Trade Center" immediately leaps to mind, though "War of the Worlds" was an exception). But, cinematically, it looks like the statute of limitations on lambasting New York is officially up. "Cloverfield" is upon us.