Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-231-15033-0
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 528 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 158 mm x 232 mm, Gewicht: 814 g

Reihe: Columbia History of Urban Life

In 1978, Ed Koch assumed control of a city plagued by filth, crime, bankruptcy, and racial tensions. Yet by the end of his mayoral run in 1989 and in spite of the Wall Street crash of 1987, his administration had begun rebuilding neighborhoods and infrastructure. Unlike many American cities, Koch's New York was growing, not shrinking. Gentrification brought new businesses to neglected corners and low-end rental housing was converted into to coops and condos. Nevertheless, not all the changes were positive: AIDS, crime, homelessness, and violent racial conflict increased, marking a time of great if somewhat uneven transition.

For better or worse, Koch's efforts convinced many New Yorkers to embrace a new political order, one which subsidized business particularly finance, insurance, and real estate and privatized public space. Each phase of the city's recovery required a difficult choice between moneyed interests and social services, forcing Koch to be both a moderate and a pragmatist as he tried to mitigate growing economic inequality. As the first book to recast Koch's legacy through personal and mayoral papers, authorized interviews, and oral histories, this volume plots a history of New York City through two rarely studied yet crucial decades: the bankruptcy of the 1970s and the recovery and crash of the 1980s.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Soffer, Jonathan

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte Regionalgeschichte der USA: Einzelne Staaten, Städte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politik: Sachbuch, Politikerveröffentlichungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments1. Introduction2. Struggling to Be Middle Class: Ed Koch's Early Life 3. It Takes a Village (1949;58) 4. "Rhymes with Notch" (1959;64)5. The Man Who Beat Carmine De Sapio 6. A Rebel with Reason7. Koch's Corridor (1969;76)8. "A Liberal with Sanity": Koch as the Anti-Bella9. New York: Divided and Broke (1973;77)10. The 1977 Mayoral Election11. The Critical First Term (1978;81)12. The Politics of Race and Party13. Shake-up (1979;80)14. Controlled Fusion: Or, to Koch or Not to Koch (1980;81)15. Governor Koch? (1982;83)16. Larger Than Life (1984;85)17. A New Spatial Order: Gentrification, the Parks, Times Square18. Homelessness19. The Koch Housing Plan (1986;89)20. AIDS21. Crime and Police Issues (1978;84)22. The Ward Years: Police, Crime, and Police Crimes (1984;89)23. Don't Follow County Leaders, and Watch Your Parking Meters (1986)24. Koch's Endgame (1988;89)25. EpilogueConclusionNotesIndex

Leseproben

Read the chapter "The Critical First Term, 1978-1981" from Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City (to view in full screen, click on icon in bottom right-hand corner)

Über Autor(innen)

Soffer, Jonathan
Jonathan Soffer is associate professor of history at New York University's Polytechnic Institute.

Jonathan Soffer is associate professor of history at New York University's Polytechnic Institute.