In the Punisher MAX series they show frank making an actual difference by reducing organized crime.   In 616 the Punisher has had to have killed at least a 100,000 people yet they keep going on and on about him never being able to have a permanent effect on crime.   I realize this is deliberate PIS because if frank reduced crime greatly like he should’ve done by now it would take away enemies from street level heroes.   However this leaves Punisher essentially always hunting down criminals and killing the same old mafia bad guys.   I don’t have a problem with him hunting organized crime since that is what the character was originally written to do.   Also most of those stories I thought were good however some of them weren’t.  

To me it seems like it is time for Frank to leave New York City and go to another city whether it’s Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, etc.   He needs to get out of the megalopolis of the United States since that is where almost all of the heroes of the marvel universe reside and quite frankly needs to go somewhere he can be the star of the show and actually make a real difference in crime.   Punisher making a real difference in crime in a city could allow him to turn to other areas of interest like working for the CIA, going after renowned terrorists like Mystique, and allows the Punisher to get some very much needed original enemies instead of borrowing others and just keep using Jigsaw who in my opinion is stupid.  

These things seem like they'll never happen as long as Frank remains in New York and quite frankly this helps lead marvel to come up with really stupid ideas for the Punisher like the avenging angel and frankencastle ideas.   Since they seem not to know what to do with the character at all, frank could use some change however the attempted change doesn’t match frank and quite frankly was really god awful.   They keep trying to make him like a super hero in 616 when he is not and never will be.   I don’t want frank out of the main marvel universe however I don’t think the character is going to thrive if they keep him in NYC because he is essentially drowned out by other characters there and needs his own city without a superheroes on every block like they currently are in NYC.  

Anyway I’m curious to know what others think about the Punisher’s location being NYC holding frank back.      

I don't know, I think they're just being realistic. One guy by himself could never really have a permanent effect on crime.

@Jotham:
Something you have to remember here though is in 616, Frank isn't alone. There's Spider-Man, Daredevil, Cage and Iron Fist, Moon Knight and don't even get me started on when the big leaguers like the Avengers or Fantastic Four stumble on basic crime or one of the X-Men come to town. I'm suprised that people even bother with crime in any super hero universe after awile.

I agree that Frank's operation should be very mobile (from national to world wide) given his goals (if you could call them goals) and his standing with other heroes and law enforcement alike. Frank needs to stay mobile to not only "Punish" as many criminals as possible but to avoid being captured/beaten up by another hero or heroes and then captured and jailed. I always just thought Frank should be a mobile... Villain Protagonist (lets face it, he is NOT a hero) and not confined to one place given just who he is.

It would be interesting to see him somewhere else