It surprises me that both the "progressive/liberal" republican party of the 19th and early 20th century and the conservative republican party of today both get crushed there.
Did NYC switch from conservatism to liberalism at the same time the Rs switched from liberalism to conservativism?
The shifting of political issues and coalitions over the years isn't quite as simplistic as you make it out to be. Even when the Republican party was "liberal", which isn't exactly the same type of "liberal" as the modern Democratic party, it didn't really perform well with the various demographics of New York City, such as Irish Catholics.
