Back to the op - the new forum has a lot of the same faces, but is different. Certainley a bit looser moderation, but so far is working well. I like to see a place where you can state opinions and arguements strongly, but kept above the personal crap.
I had no problems with the old site. I am as vocally anti mandatory AR as anyone one, and never had the pro AR mods edit or delete a post. Although I only found it a year ago, it had been around for some time to develop. Given some time, and positive contributions by the members, the new one should do the same. Nice to have a NY forum.