Jonathan Mahler has written an exceptionally well-crafted book about a single year (1977) in the history of New York City. The fascinating story alternates between the Yankees and mayoral politics. As the ball drops in Time Square to usher in the New Year, New York and the Yankees are far down in the standings, but the situation is about to get much worse.

In 1977, New York City goes bankrupt and nobody in the nation gives a hoot, the Yankees haven't won the World Series in years and everybody outside New York is delighted, the lights go out in the worst blackout in the city's history and the poor loot and burn, Reggie Jackson comes to the Yankees and his teammates yawn, and Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch slug it out to win the honor to run this disaster.

There is an old adage that a sports team eventually takes on the personality of the head coach. Can a city take on the personality of a sports team? Or does a sports team accommodate its home city. These parallel stories told in The Bronx is Burning make you wonder about the relationship between sports and politics and the value of heroes in our society.

The Bronx is Burning is really about leadership, or more specifically, a public's desperate search for leadership. In hindsight, 1977 was the bottom of an ugly cycle. Reggie Jackson, Mr. October, rose to heroic heights to deliver New York City another World Championship and Ed Koch will be remembered as the courageous mayor that started the turnaround of a once great city that still had its best years in front of it.
The Shut Mouth Society
The Shopkeeper

Jonathan Mahler has written an exceptionally well-crafted book about a single year (1977) in the history of New York City. The fascinating story alternates between the Yankees and mayoral politics. As the ball drops in Time Square to usher in the New Year, New York and the Yankees are far down in the standings, but the situation is about to get much worse.

In 1977, New York City goes bankrupt and nobody in the nation gives a hoot, the Yankees haven't won the World Series in years and everybody outside New York is delighted, the lights go out in the worst blackout in the city's history and the poor loot and burn, Reggie Jackson comes to the Yankees and his teammates yawn, and Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch slug it out to win the honor to run this disaster.

There is an old adage that a sports team eventually takes on the personality of the head coach. Can a city take on the personality of a sports team? Or does a sports team accommodate its home city. These parallel stories told in The Bronx is Burning make you wonder about the relationship between sports and politics and the value of heroes in our society.

The Bronx is Burning is really about leadership, or more specifically, a public's desperate search for leadership. In hindsight, 1977 was the bottom of an ugly cycle. Reggie Jackson, Mr. October, rose to heroic heights to deliver New York City another World Championship and Ed Koch will be remembered as the courageous mayor that started the turnaround of a once great city that still had its best years in front of it.

The Shopkeeper

Jonathan Mahler's book, "The Bronx is Burning", recalls that time in The City when the city was collapsing in crime and decay, visible for all the world to see on the evening news. Mahler, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, weaves together the story of the 1977 mayoral race, serial killer Son of Sam, the blackout and subsequent riots, and the fractious Yankees who had just signed Reggie Jackson and would go on to win their first World Series since 1962.

Born and raised in the Bronx, I remember that time and those events quite well. As a baseball fan, I was disillusioned by a Yankees team that hadn't won a championship in 15 years and seemed to expend most of its energy fighting with itself and with owner George Steinbrenner.

"The Bronx is Burning" - the title is taken from a Howard Cosell remark during the 1977 World Series broadcast as the aerial shot of Yankee Stadium revealed a nearby five-alarm fire - is a well-documented narrative of the New York City of the mid-1970s. Although the baseball story seems, at times, grafted on, and the subplot of Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the New York Post became more relevant in later years, the 67-chapter, 3-part, 339-page book accurately reflects the experience of most New Yorkers at the time. Those were our day-to-day concerns: crime, the mayor's race, and Steinbrenner's Yankees.

But New York's story doesn't end with Ed Koch as mayor and the Yankees as World Series champions. Mahler leaves the impression that these two outcomes would lead to the turnaround of the city's fortunes and that 1977 was the bottom of the inverted bell curve. Neither is true.

Crime would continue to rise. The murder rate peaked at 2,262 in 1992, a full 15 years later. The Yankees wouldn't win another World Series for 19 years, against the Atlanta Braves in 1996. Drug use continued to rise all through the 1980s. A 1989 U.S. News & World Report story listed New York as one of a dozen major U.S. cities ravaged by crime.

The nadir of New York City's recent history was not 1977, and the resurgence was not due to Ed Koch or Reggie Jackson. When I left New York in 1986, the city was still a dismal and depressing place. When I visit today, it is vibrant, clean, safe and more exciting than ever. A new Yankee Stadium is under construction. As long as readers of "The Bronx is Burning" understand what came after chapter 67, they can appreciate this very readable book.

For baseball fans, the ESPN adaptation of Mahler's book is well done and worth watching. As befits the network that aired it, the mini-series (now available on DVD The Bronx is Burning) leads with the Yankees story while moving the crime and decay to the background. And, as befits the medium, it tells the story through big personalities: Billy and Reggie and George, plus Son of Sam. Grab a beer and a hot dog and sit down to enjoy.

What can I say the book was a great read with a tremendous introspective in on some yankee legends. A great read not only for any baseball fan but also anyone who enjoys a great read. The product was in superb condition as well when I recieved it.

A must read for anyone who grew up in the City. This was a low-point for NYC with race driven politics, a pair of losing ball teams, blackouts, riots and a brush with bankruptcy. Throw in the Son of Sam and disco, and anyone who could afford to was fleeing for the 'burbs. Mahler captures the mood along with the gallows humor and manages a happy ending.