Gotham Gazette

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Ed Koch

Ed Koch

  • Looking Back at Mayor David Dinkins, 30 Years After His Historic 1989 Win

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    Former Mayor David Dinkins (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


     On the night of November 7, 1989, then-Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins made history. With election night returns coming in, it became clear that Dinkins had narrowly defeated then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani and would become the first black mayor of New York City. It was the culmination of an arduous election cycle for Dinkins, having beaten incumbent Mayor Ed Koch in the Democratic primary two months earlier.

    Now, with the 30th anniversary of that momentous election, ...

  • Max & Murphy Podcast: The 30th Anniversary of David Dinkins' Election as Mayor

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    (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)


    August 21, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The 30th Anniversary of David Dinkins' Election as Mayor

    may dd wbai250This November marks 30 years since David Dinkins was elected New York City's first (and to date only) black mayor. Dinkins joined the show to discuss his 1989 victory, his term as mayor, and more. Then, journalist Tom Robbins joined

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  • Another Way of Looking at Infill Housing Development

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    The Mayor's NYCHA plan (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The mayor touted the number of affordable apartment units - 20,325 - as a one-year record, and far from anything seen in the city since Mayor Ed Koch’s ambitious housing plans of the ‘80s. The 20,000-plus, which includes both new and preserved units, is a big first step toward the de Blasio administration’s plan to build 80,000 entirely new affordable units and preserve another 120,000 over the next ten years. And, at a

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  • 26 Years Since the Board of Estimate's Demise

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    The mayor, council members, & advocates (photo: William Alatriste)


    New York City politics might seem convoluted now, but for nearly a century the city was governed by the Board of Estimate, an eight-member body as opaque and sinister as it sounds. On March 22, 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional. The subsequent revision to the City Charter created the political system we have today. Twenty-six years after the Court's decision, a few of the attorneys involved with this landmark case have

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