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Jonathan M. Soffer
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Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City (Columbia History of Urban Life) Hardcover – Illustrated, October 14, 2010

by Jonathan Soffer (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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In 1978, Ed Koch assumed control of a city plagued by filth, crime, bankruptcy, and racial tensions. By the end of his mayoral run in 1989 and despite 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 converted low-end rental housing 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 subsidizing business, particularly finance, insurance, and real estate, and privatizing 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. Throughout, Koch's rough rhetoric (attacking his opponents as "crazy," "wackos," and "radicals") prompted charges of being racially divisive. 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.
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  1. Part of series
    Columbia History of Urban Life
  2. Print length
    528 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Columbia University Press
  5. Publication date
    October 14, 2010
  6. Dimensions
    6.1 x 1.6 x 9.3 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0231150326
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0231150323
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Soffer has written a fascinating biography of New York City Mayor Ed Koch but he has done so much more than that. He skillfully uses Koch's reign to tell the story of the city from 1978 to 1990, a rags-to-riches saga with many lessons for today's cities as they cope with enormous financial pressure. Whether or not you are a New Yorker, this marvelously told tale of a mayor and his city will grip you. -- Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard University, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America

Soffer is able to bring Ed Koch into critical focus through his narrative gaze, clean writing style, and expert use of a dazzling array of sources. By using such a colorful character as Koch, Soffer illuminates the way neoliberalism has made, remade, and unmade our urban landscape. He illuminates the importance of Koch in local and national politics and represents a larger phenomenon in America life. By thoroughly examining the politics and policies of his mayoralty, he allows us to see more clearly the world in which we live. -- Richard Greenwald, Drew University, author of The Triangle Fire, the Protocols of Peace, and Industrial Democracy In Progressive Era New York

'How'm I doin'?', Ed Koch's tagline, promised New Yorkers accountability and order after a fiscal crisis that brought the city to the verge of bankruptcy, the Son of Sam serial murders, and the racial mayhem of the July 1977 blackout. Brilliant and witty, jovial and magnetic, Koch was also a mean, stubborn, and polarizing figure. Jonathan Soffer brilliantly navigates us through the sea of local, national, and international events that created the phenomenon that is 'Hizzoner.' -- Craig Steven Wilder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of A Covenant with Color: Race and Social Power in Brooklyn

Jonathan Soffer's is now the go-to book on Ed Koch and his mayoralty. Critical yet even-handed, it is lucidly written, theoretically sophisticated, and solidly sourced in interviews and archives. And it offers fresh perspectives on many aspects of New York's history in the 1960s-1990s, notably the neoliberal turn, the fiscal crisis, racial and religious relations, and the interlinked trinity of gentrification, homelessness, and redevelopment. -- Mike Wallace, City University of New York, coauthor of the Pulitzer-Prize winning Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

New York admirers will find much to relish here, while those interested in learning how municipal governments work, especially during financial crisis, will be especially during financial crisis, will be especially enlightened by Soffer's efforts. ― Library Journal

This fascinating, entertainingly written and illuminating book, the best piece of contemporary urban history I've read in a long time, is a marvel of even-handedness and balance.The Millions -- Phillip Lopate ― The Millions

Provides an invaluable resource for urbanists, historians, scholars of New York, and anyone interested in this extraordinary subject, city, and time. -- Miriam Greenberg ― Journal of American History

In his evenhanded treatment of the confrontational and controversial mayor, Soffer endorses the liberal indictment and fully acknowledges Koch's shortcomings. At the same time, however, the author presents a compelling brief for Koch that underscores the desperate condition of New York City in the late 1970s and argues convincingly for the mayor's decision to employ draconian measures. -- Roger Biles ― American Historical Review

About the Author

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

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia University Press; Illustrated edition (October 14, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0231150326
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0231150323
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.6 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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Jonathan M. Soffer

Jonathan M. Soffer

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Jonathan Soffer is Professor of History and Chair of the Department of Technology, Culture & Society at New York University's Polytechnic School of Engineering, specializing in American urban and political history.

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Kyle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched history of the man and his mayoralty
    Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    An incisive, in-depth look at the Koch mayoralty. While broadly favorable, Soffer's well-researched biography fairly represents the views of his critics and in particular delves into issues of race relations that are timely as ever, and charts Koch's winding course from progressive lion to centrist gadfly. Particularly useful in contrasting Koch's style to his fellow "reformist" successors Giuliani and Bloomberg.
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  • Steve Katz
    4.0 out of 5 stars More Koch than ever
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    When I started this book, I thought that it would be a slow and plodding reading.
    Not so! It moves along nicely and really gives you an in depth look at what made
    Koch the man and mayor he was. Well researched and full of the details that a
    history buff would want. I am not through yet, but I love it. The author should
    mimic a phrase from the subject and ask "How am I doing?" The answer is you are
    doing great! Read this book and enjoy a lovely look at history.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • bandit
    5.0 out of 5 stars love this book!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    This explains the behind-the-sceans history of NYC before, during and after Koch. The author really knows this time period and puts it into a great read.
    One person found this helpful
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  • pamela cook ward
    3.0 out of 5 stars Another history of Koch is needed
    Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is a book that misses much of the important political discussions. We are still awaiting a quality biography of Ed Koch.
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  • Charlotte Adamis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced and concise view of Mayor Ed Koch's administration
    Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2021
    This is an excellent, concise political biography of both Ed Koch and New York City, focusing on a time when the city's fate hung in the balance. The author asserts that, contrary to popular impression -- including that of many professional historians -- Koch may rightly be judged the most successful New York City mayor of the 20th century. In the telling, Soffer does not sugarcoat Koch's failures, including his tone-deafness on race.
    Koch and the governance of New York City from 1978 to 1990 probably would justify a work twice as long as these 400 pages, but Soffer works judiciously within the confines of this shorter, reader-friendly book.
    I highly recommend this book in series with Kim Phillips-Fein's "Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics" and Jonathan Mahler's "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning."
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  • Michael Lewyn
    4.0 out of 5 stars Generally well done
    Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2021
    This book covers both the personal story of Ed Koch and his mayoral policies in a variety of areas. Koch's greatest successes seem to have been stabilizing the city's finances and rebuilding much of the South Bronx with lower-income housing. However, the city was unable to get a handle on crime in the Koch years, partially because the city was not ready to rebuild its police force (understandably given the city's financial problems in the 1970s).
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  • missed
    4.0 out of 5 stars Solid look at Hizzoner
    Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2011
    Ed Koch, infamous mayor of New York City, former People's Court judge and man of the people, is a fascinating character, the kind who wouldn't even pause to think about whether or not it is wise to call a rival "crazy," and then go ahead and do it. Koch is your typical New Yorker: loud, brash, and passionate, with more chutzpah than you can shake your middle finger at. As mayor, Koch brought all of that and more to the table and, as the title of Jonathan Soffer's new biography on "hizzoner" says, rebuilt New York City.

    After too many years of mismanagement and decades of racial and economic disharmony, New York City in the 1970's was a shambles. Successive mayors failed to save New York, and the infamous city that never sleeps was on a fast track to a nightmare. Enter Koch, a lawyer from Greenwich Village who enters politics, takes on Tammany Hall, becomes a Congressman, and then mayor of the Big Apple. Who but a crazy person would want the job, especially after the city rioted after the infamous blackout of 1977, which saw large swaths of impoverished neighborhoods looted and burned to the ground?

    Koch was a polarizing figure during the course of his mayoralty, and Soffer's text deftly traces Koch's humble beginnings in the Bronx to his towering rise atop the world's most fabulous city. We are taken on a journey that examines Koch's personal life, his political aspirations, and the difficulties inherent in running a troubling city.

    Soffer is obviously a Koch fan, however, when needed, he is rightly critical of the mayor. His actions towards the myriad minority communities of the City, particularly blacks, are expertly handled throughout the course of the book, and Soffer expertly details the fall of Koch's reign when his final term in office becomes rife with scandal and chaos.

    Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City is a well-written look at an oft polarizing figure and a must-read for anyone who is a student or passionate about the history and personalities of New York City.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Damian from Galway
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Terrific read with enormous depth of research. Jonathan Soffer carries the reader back to a time when New York was on the brink of financial, social and societal collapse. Enter Ed Koch in 1977 and Soffer brilliantly captures the frequent obstacles and hurdles Koch had to surmount to restore New York's viability. (Can one imagine a police department that had one patrol car with a radio to safeguard the entire night shift in the borough of Queens?) It's so difficult to imagine a New York from what it is today. Soffer also traces the early life of Koch when he served in the US Army during WW2 which ultimatley led to his political birth as congressman for Greenwich Village in the mid 1960s to becoming New York mayor for three terms. Great read.
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