BOOK REVIEW: AMERICA'S MAYOR JOHN V. LINDSAY AND THE REINVENTION OF NEW YORK

BOOK REVIEW: AMERICA'S MAYOR
JOHN V. LINDSAY AND THE REINVENTION OF NEW YORK

By Steve Wright

Poor John V. Lindsay.

He came into office as the 103rd Mayor of New York City as a youthful, fresh and tireless leader -- ready to empower the disenfranchised in America's biggest city.

A patrician of privilege, he was bound and determined to show a Republican could be a progressive, liberal leader.

While now Republican on U.S. soil in the year 2010 would want to be labeled a liberal, times were different in 1965 and Lindsay felt his calling was to be a champion of civil, Hispanic, black, gay and women's rights.

The two-term mayor, riding a wave of antiwar sentiment, even took a shot at being president of the United States. But sadly, by the time Lindsay left office, he was a saddened, aged and somewhat broken man.

His idealism and enthusiasm couldn't withstand a turbulent era every bit as brutal and barbaric as today's recession-impacted political climate.

America's Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York examines Lindsay's legacy through 224 pages of individual essays from journalists, insiders, activists, staffers and others who witnessed Lindsay's work in what has been called "The Second Toughest Job in America."

Edited by Sam Roberts, the urban affairs correspondent of The New York Times, the Columbia University Press book gives an unvarnished look at the triumphs and failures of Lindsay, who died in 2000.

While the book will be cherished by anyone who loves urban issues and is intrigued by the churning good, bad and ugly that is New York, Roberts had his work cut out for him trying to sew together dozens of personal essays that don't always follow a chronological progression.

Sometimes America's Mayor fails in its attempt to sew together the strong opinions of contributors Pete Hamill, Nicholas Pileggi, Jimmy Breslin and Mario Cuomo into one flowing narrative.

While the sum of the parts could sometimes be better, the book triumphs in its capturing of the endlessly nightmarish issues that pounded away at Lindsay's ability to manage a huge, unwieldy city crushed by labor strife and challenged by a huge demographic changes that saw a huge influx of black and Puerto Rican residents while white ethnics were fleeing the city.

TOMORROW: PART TWO -- CALM IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

Wright is the author of 5,000 published articles on urban life, architecture, public policy, planning and design. He is active in working to make sure universal design, which provides barrier-free access to people with disabilities, is incorporated to the essential and rapidly-evolving practice of sustainability.

RESOURCES

http://www.cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15260-0/americas-mayor

http://lindsay.mcny.org

http://www.thirteen.org/lindsay/video/full-program/fun-city-revisited