Ah, it\u2019s getting easier to long for the good old days \u2014 when Gotham was dominated by machine politics, corruption and fiscal mismanagement.<\/p>\n
Yes, it led to the dreaded fiscal crisis of the mid- to late 1970s, near bankruptcy and a deep city recession that hit hard at the working class in the five boroughs and even the suburbs, including my own family in Westchester.<\/p>\n
How the city fell into this fiscal abyss, which actually lasted a few years into the next decade, and climbed out is all laid out in gruesome detail in the extremely readable prose by Rich Farley, a lawyer who works on financial transactions.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the author of \u201cDrop Dead; How a Coterie of Corrupt Politicians, Bankers, Lawyers, Spin\u00admeisters, and Mobsters Bankrupted New York, Got Bailed Out, Blamed the President and went back to Business as Usual (And it Might Be Happening Again),\u201d released in April.<\/p>\n
The title is a mouthful and it\u2019s not 100% accurate. <\/p>\n
New York City never declared bankruptcy. <\/p>\n
\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharles Gasparino<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a debate that it even technically defaulted on its debt when the trigger for the crisis \u2014 investors losing confidence in the city\u2019s financial condition \u2014 boycotted buying city bonds.<\/p>\n
But those are mere quibbles as I dive into this trenchant historical account of how Gotham \u2014 with all its wealth and commerce on Wall Street and real estate and then a lot more \u2014 was brought to the brink, a near Detroit-style fiscal meltdown.<\/p>\n
Follow The Post\u2019s coverage of the NYC mayoral race<\/p>\n
In reading Farley\u2019s work, it does dawn on me that for all the grease and grime of those years, the city was immensely savable. <\/p>\n
The financial crisis did come to an end, but not until after a surge in crime because we couldn\u2019t afford cops, arson (The Bronx was literally burning), and unemployment (people like my dad, who lost his construction job because of a halt to city infrastructure spending).<\/p>\n
It was fixed, at least for decades, after the political leadership did re-establish itself as a stabilizing force.<\/p>\n
The saviors<\/p>\n
The saviors were people like Hugh Carey, the governor, who instituted reforms that repaired the confidence of investors and businesses.<\/p>\n
And Mario Cuomo (yes, that Mario Cuomo), who would succeed Carey and keep a close eye on his hometown for three terms during what\u2019s best described as a mini renaissance.<\/p>\n
And an upstart US congressman named Ed Koch, who inspired confidence that the city must and could survive. <\/p>\n
He ran for mayor on the slogan \u201cHow Am I Doin\u2019?\u201d and won three terms.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t forget that federal prosecutor named Rudy Giuliani<\/a>, who took on the mob and municipal corruption with equal zeal, set the stage for becoming mayor and ushered in a real rebirth in Gotham of low crime and a booming business community.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the latest on NYC mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani\u00a0<\/p>\n There was also an engaged business community \u2014 people like investment banker Felix Rohatyn \u2014 that wasn\u2019t afraid to step up and say enough of the nonsense.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s why I would love to turn back the clock, as crazy as that might sound.<\/p>\n None of the gumption shown by those civic and political leaders is evident anymore, as a more serious existential threat looms \u2014 worse than \u201cFat Tony\u201d Salerno of Geno\u00advese fame, Tammany\u2019s Carmine De\u00adSapio and graft in the Parking Violations Bureau.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tKeep up with today\u2019s most important news\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStay up on the very latest with Evening Update.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n All of their lawlessness was snuffed out as the establishment re-established order.<\/p>\n The fiscal Armageddon I fear comes in the form of a smiling socialist named Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, who just won the city\u2019s Democratic mayoral primary over the son of the great Mario Cuomo.<\/p>\n Mamdani outhustled Andrew Cuomo<\/a> at every turn.<\/p>\n Based on what we know, Mamdani seems like an honest fellow, which is good \u2014 and very, very bad.<\/p>\n Bad because he\u2019s a noxious breed of politician who isn\u2019t afraid to promote his weird behavior and sell it as gold to an uninformed electorate. <\/p>\n Even worse, no one in our political class or the business elite has \u00adreally stepped up to call him out.<\/p>\n He wants to tax to death those businesses and wealth producers that remain and employ our working class. <\/p>\n He wants to give stuff out for free like bus rides. <\/p>\n He wants to socialize grocery stores. <\/p>\n He wants to defund the police, a sure recipe for more business flight. <\/p>\n He has not disavowed the phrase \u201cglobalize the intifada,\u201d which many New Yorkers can reasonably interpret (as it was during those vile campus protests) as a form of antisemitism.<\/p>\n There are more than 1 million Jews living in the Big Apple, but how much did Cuomo make of Mamdani\u2019s acquiescence to this sick rhetoric? <\/p>\n Very little.<\/p>\n NYC is still the epicenter of finance, the nation\u2019s largest bank run by Jamie Dimon<\/a>. <\/p>\n He has his headquarters and home here. <\/p>\n But not a word from America\u2019s banker.<\/p>\n