''A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic'' is the autobiography of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's 106th mayor,
David N. Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office.
Before enteri ...
, co-authored with
Peter Knobler
Peter Knobler (born 1946) is an American writer living in New York City. He has collaborated on fifteen books, ten of them best sellers and was the editor-in-chief of ''Crawdaddy'' magazine from 1972 to 1979.PublicAffairs Books, the autobiography recounts the life and career of David Norman Dinkins, who defeated
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
and
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
to become mayor of New York. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it a "moving... inspiring account of New York's first black mayor." Set against the backdrop of the rise of
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
's influence on city politics, which produced several state and national black leaders and energized the base that ultimately led to the election of President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, ''A Mayor's Life'' deals with Dinkins' childhood in
Trenton, NJ
Trenton is the capital city, capital city (New Jersey), city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
and
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty.
Brookly ...
, his political career beginning at the Carver Democratic Club and moving through jobs as City Clerk and Manhattan borough president to his election as mayor. Dinkins discusses his administration's successes, including an historic decrease in the city's crime rate; the cleanup of
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
; the restoration of dilapidated housing in Northern Harlem, the South Bronx and Brooklyn; the deal to keep the US Tennis Open in New York City, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called "the only good athletic sports stadium deal, not just in New York but in the country"; and the hosting of
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
on the South African diplomat's first international visit after being freed from prison. He also discusses its difficulties.
Crown Heights
Dinkins presents a detailed analysis of the
Crown Heights riot
The Crown Heights riot was a race riot that took place from August 19 to August 21, 1991, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York City. Black residents attacked orthodox Jewish residents, damaged their homes, and looted businesses. Th ...
in Brooklyn. He writes, “There was no order given, there was no unstated code, there was no tacit understanding, there was nothing anytime or anywhere that authorized the police not to do their jobs, to stand down, to allow the black community to attack Jews and create mayhem.”
Racism
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said, "Mr. Dinkins offers insights into his views on race, a subject that he typically skirted as the city’s first African-American mayor, and into how being black shaped his personality." Dinkins accuses his Republican opponent, Rudy Giuliani, of running a racist campaign but says that was not the only reason for his 1993 re-election loss."Ex-Mayor David Dinkins says racism to blame for losing 1993 election against Rudy Giuliani" ''New York Daily News'', July 17, 2013
"Gorgeous Mosaic"
“New York is not a melting pot,” Dinkins writes, “but a gorgeous mosaic… of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation – of individuals whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago, coming through Ellis Island, or Kennedy Airport, or on Greyhound buses bound for the Port Authority.”
References
Further reading
* Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007) ''And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress''. New York: St. Martin's Press.
* Walker, John C. ''The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920–1970'', New York: State University New York Press, 1989.
* Paterson, David (2020). ''Black, Blind, & in Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity''. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.