City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York

by Jack Newfield, Wayne Barrett

City for Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York

Genres: New York, Nonfiction, Politics, History

484 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Edward Champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid though often muddled volume that examines a vital political question: how much did Mayor Ed Koch truly know about the considerable corruption that occurred under his watch? While the two authors don't really get any solid answers, they do establish that Koch very much wanted power. His despicable opportunism in relation to the Forest Hills housing development -- in which he surrendered his antiracist credentials by telling the clearly racist residents (holding deplorable placards) that they were not racist -- represented the kind of unsavory compromise Koch was willing to make to be Mayor. (It is akin to Bill Clinton cozying up with Dick Morris and signing the Welfare Reform Act.) But Koch truly did not comprehend the full extent of mobsters, unsavory machine men, and lowlifes like Meade Esposito and Donald Manes, even though he DID seem to know about Tony Amuruso. Koch was a master of manipulating his public image from "a liberal bachelor in the Village" to one that appealed to racist white voters.

Newfield and Barrett do something very smart in the first half by contrasting Koch with legendary journalist Jimmy Breslin. Upon finding out that the Queens bigwigs he was friendly with are corrupt, Breslin proceeds to out them (carefully and with honor) in print while working with Giuliani. It's odd that Breslin's story is far more compelling in this book than Koch's. But it does serve as a stark contrast to Koch remaining willfully ignorant and why Koch was so problematic.

The lack of sourcing here is deeply frustrating, as is the whirlwind of names that one must keep up with. (I had to do a lot of Googling while reading this book.) Perhaps a better volume on Koch's corruption will be written in the future. For now, this book serves as a good placeholder: juicy details lost in a narrative miasma. Depending upon how much of a NYC political wonk you are, your mileage will vary!

[Seán · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How'm I doing?" Piss-poorly, asshole.

Great book, excellent journalism. Reminds you to never listen to Ed Koch about ANYTHING. Politics, sports, world affairs, any topic imaginable. The man is a bullshit artist and Barrett and Newfield give you ample documentation.

[Macartney · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pain to sludge thru. Full of great details on various scandals of the NYC county leaders, but the book stumbles as a whole. Both at creating a narrative about Ed Koch and also at creating a readable narrative at all. It is overly dense and poorly written with fragments unexplained and dropped, only to reappear 50 pages later. Seems like a paste job of previously published articles. Useful for researchers. But read it using the index, not sequentially page to page. Finally, its dismissal of the idea that Koch was gay and its unadulterated admiration for then US Attorney Rudy Giuliani undercut the rest of the book.

[Shaun Richman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an insane story that should be turned into a true crime miniseries. You've got the shocking story of the two suicides of the Queens Borough President, a kickback and bribery scandal that ensnared three Dem county leaders, a Congressman and dozens of party hacks, the first Jewish Miss America acting as a beard for the-everybody-knew-he-was-gay Ed Koch, Giuiani when he was still an effective lawyer and the Trump Organization lurking at every corner.

[Lexi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very informative book but some parts of the book tends to drag.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for work. Idk how I should go about writing a nonfiction review cuz it’s been a hot minute, alas….. the book itself is pretty story telling canonical power broker vibes but also it’s just so fucking long and the whole thesis is that corruption surrounded Koch and that’s what brought him down but tbh I don’t understand why they weren’t ripping on him more for his public facing image as that aspect seems like it contributed to his declining popularity as well. Anyways I have never read anything so long so fast in my life so im sure there are bits and pieces im missing but we move forward.

[Sarah Evers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great history of nyc politics in the 20th century - embarassing Giuliani stanning towards the end. But still worth reading if you’re interested in having more context for the nyc political machine operated/operates

[Josh Fogelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The topic sounded exciting, but the book was written in such a boring way I couldn't get through it.

[Jeff Platsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t come for the writing - just mediocre. Come to learn about corruption that was rife during the Koch administration,

[Iben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but reads like a compilation of newspaper articles.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book, extremely well-reported. Fascinating recent American History that reads like the best crime thrillers.