Columbia University Press
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright 1993 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
E-ISBN 978-0-231-51676-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McNickle, Chris.
To be mayor of New York / Chris McNickle.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-07636-4
1. New York (N.Y.)Politics and government18981950. 2. New York (N.Y.)Politics and government19513. MayorsNew York (N.Y.)History. 4. New York (N.Y.)Ethnic relations. I. Title.
F128.5.M39 1992
974.7' 104dc20
9232583
CIP
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I am a lucky man. So many special people took such an active interest in this book that the lonely and demanding tasks of research and writing turned out to be fun almost all the time.
Mom read each chapter as I completed them, footnotes included, with the care and love that only a mother knows. When she finished, she issued her verdict: Its better than Mayor Kochs books! Apologies to Hizzoner, but a politician as successful as he knows better than to argue with a mother about her son. While I was working on the manuscript in the Bronx my eldest brother, Nick, and my sister-in-law, Litna, were busy making babies in Queens. First Danny, then Katie, and then Becky was born. They have been a source of joy for every member of the family from the moment they arrived, and they are remarkably well behaved when uncle Chris babysits. (At least, that is what I tell their parents.) Through no choice of their own all of my family became partners in my book and listened to endless stories about New Yorks political history with apparent interest and infinite patience. And they cheered me on to the end.
I owe a special debt to Neal Garelik, a friend who shares my passion for New York and who has been a ready companion for discussions about the citys politicspast, present, and future. In no small way he contributed to the completion of the book by gathering enormous stacks of newspaper and magazine articles that allowed me to write the final chapters while I was working at a job with demanding hours and an unrelenting travel schedule that made access to libraries impossible. Neals help was terrific (and Judi Shermans as well) but it is the friendship that counts the most.
Joe Lynch is a wonderful source of encouragement and supportand a great drinking buddy to boot. Many were the nights that he and I solved all the troubles of the world at Connaughtons Steak House in Riverdale only to discover that they had reappeared the next morning. Not to worry, we will stick with it as long as it takes. There were times when Tim Gilfoyle joined us, and the nights lasted even longer. Then Tim met Mary Rose Alexander and we saw him much less. It is my good fortune that I travel to Chicago frequently so I can still see Tim and Mary Rose Gilfoyle, even though we miss them in New York.
When I decided to take a multiyear pause from a career in finance to pursue a very impractical degree in American history, only Mark Gallogly among my friends in business understood. He approved whole-heartedly and helped me throughout the endeavor in every way he could. That is only one of the reasons that he has a special place in my heart, as do Lise Strickler Gallogly and Katharine, and my God daughter, Grace. It was through Mark that I met Kevin Caspersen, a transplanted Texan determined to do good in the South Bronx. I am a better man for knowing him, and New York is a better city for his presence.
Rick Grimes and Linda Walters Grimes invited me frequently to dine in Manhattan and to sail on Long Island Sound, and along with Fred Walters were part of the best vacation ever, spent floating around the Caribbean. Alex was there too, in formation. It was a great way for an author to recharge at the end of a long winter of research and writing. I liked it so much I went back the next year to visit Jamie Calvo and Jennifer ONeill in St. Croix, a fitting place for a couple that belongs in paradise. That same year Robert Stein, a friend since not long after birth, honored me by asking me to be best man at his marriage to Karen Monash. It was a simple and delightful ceremony that I will always treasure. Writing a history about the city I grew up in made me think often of my childhood friends. In a curious way Charlie and Billy Federman, Billy Reifer, Jonathan and Philip Rhodes, Douglas Panero, Steven Rolnik, Robert Herschenfeld, Rich Friedman, Ricky Rubin, David Fallick, Jerry Sotsky, Jeffrey Danzig, Joseph Donohue, and Peter Paul Cunningham all played a part in this book.
New Yorkers are famed for fighting with their landlords, but my experience is different. After completing my course work in Chicago I returned home to the Bronx to do my research and moved in to the top floor of a two-family house that I lived in as a child. The house had been bought by Florence Porter and Veronica Ladenburg, who insisted from the start on inviting me in for dinner, offering me cookies, and easing my work in countless small ways. When they brought Jenny home I even had a dog to play with without an obligation to walk it. What more could a tenant ask for? And the house is next door to the home of Naomi Cohen whose insights into the Jewish experience in the United States added measurably to my understanding of the Jewish political experience in New York City. In a very different way two more neighbors, Marcia Allina and Sol Zeichner, added to my understanding of local politics.
For two of the summers during which the dissertation that turned into this book was in progress I worked on projects arranged by Mark Wheeler. I learned about banking in Germany and Switzerland during one summer, and about public finance during the other. And I made enough money to keep me going through the autumns that followed. I am grateful to Mark for those opportunities. Another summer I worked for the U.S. Department of State in Mali, West Africa where I met Vicki Huddleston, and Bob and Robert and Alexandra. They treated me like a member of their family, and that same summer, Ambassador Robert Ryan took a special interest in my work. I have fond memories of them all.
While I was doing my course work and preparing for my Ph.D. exams at the University of Chicago, Harriet McCullough hired me as an intern in the Mayors Office. That experience gave me a window onto the particular brand of politics practiced in Americas second city and a valuable point of comparison with New York. I learned much from Harriet and Michael Holewinksi and Leslie Jacobs, and from watching Harold Washington wrestle with Chicagos City Council. Closer to home, while researching in the archives around New York, Harvey Robins hired me at the New York City Human Resources Administration to work on projects housing the homeless. The experience helped me to understand how New Yorks large bureaucracies work, and I learned a great deal from Caren Ponty, Joan Malin, Greg Kaladjian, Jeremy Ben-Ami, Jeremy Feigenbaum, Stephanie Kretchmer, Marty Ackerman, Barbara Chutroo, Barbara Knecht, and Bill Cohen.
