A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic
408
A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic
408Hardcover
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Overview
The political career of David Dinkins is set against the backdrop of the rising influence of a broader demographic in New York politics, including far greater segments of the city's "gorgeous mosaic." After a brief stint as a New York assemblyman, Dinkins was nominated as a deputy mayor by Abe Beame in 1973, but ultimately declined because he had not filed his income tax returns on time. Down but not out, he pursued his dedication to public service, first by serving as city clerk. In 1986, Dinkins was elected Manhattan borough president, and in 1989, he defeated Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani to become mayor of New York City, the largest American city to elect an African American mayor.
As the newly-elected mayor of a city in which crime had risen precipitously in the years prior to his taking office, Dinkins vowed to attack the problems and not the victims. Despite facing a budget deficit, he hired thousands of police officers, more than any other mayoral administration in the twentieth century, and launched the "Safe Streets, Safe City" program, which fundamentally changed how police fought crime. For the first time in decades, crime rates began to fall — a trend that continues to this day. Among his other major successes, Mayor Dinkins brokered a deal that kept the US Open Tennis Championships in New York — bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to the city annually — and launched the revitalization of Times Square after decades of decay, all the while deflecting criticism and some outright racism with a seemingly unflappable demeanor. Criticized by some for his handling of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, Dinkins describes in these pages a very different version of events.
A Mayor's Life is a revealing look at a devoted public servant and a New Yorker in love with his city, who led that city during tumultuous times.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781610393010 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | PublicAffairs |
| Publication date: | 09/17/2013 |
| Pages: | 408 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.52(w) x 9.48(h) x 1.36(d) |
About the Author
Peter Knobler has collaborated on several bestsellers, including Sumner Redstone's A Passion to Win and James Carville and Mary Matalin's All's Fair. The former editor of Crawdaddy magazine, Knobler has also written for many national publications.
Read an Excerpt
I sold “industrial insurance,” poor people’s insurance, which fit the budgets of the people I knew and called on door-to-door. I started wearing a hat so I could take it off. I would knock at a single-family home and wait until the lady of the house answered. As soon as she opened the door I would remove my hat with one hand and introduce myself. “Mrs. Smith,” I would say, “how are you today? My name is David Dinkins, I’m from the Progressive Life Insurance Company…” and launch into my presentation. It was important that she see me take off my hat. I was showing respect to people who received very little of it. People pay respect to those who give respect, and besides, whether or not it was reciprocated, I felt that was the way one ought to behave. I had always been taught to be polite, and I found it to be good business.
I was also aware that the white agents from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, my competition, treated these same women quite differently. They would breeze in to collect their premiums, step through the door and say, “Hi, Suzie, how’re you doing?” With their big smiles and air of assumed familiarity, these men were entirely unaware of the resentment they were creating. This was the plantation mentality brought north, and in their smug certainty the agents didn’t even know it. This woman is your client, she is paying your salary, she is entitled to better than being called by her first name. “Suzie” is a girl, “Mrs. Smith” is a woman; there is a profound difference. I found their behavior disrespectful, I resented it, and my presence was in clear contrast. Of course it was racial.
Table of Contents
Foreword Leonard Riggio ix
1 Trenton Makes, the World Takes 1
2 The Education of a Ditch Digger 21
3 Home in Harlem 34
4 "Walk in My Shoes" 56
5 From Sugar to Shit in a New York Minute 74
6 Borough President for Life 99
7 The Race for Mayor 125
8 Attacking the Problems, Not the Victims 169
9 Safe Streets, Safe City 205
10 From "Dave, Do Something!" to "Mayor Cool" 224
11 Net Gain 255
12 Mandela 289
13 Crown Heights 312
14 Race Against Rudy 338
Postscript 357
Acknowledgments 365
Index 372