A fascinating portrait of an unbelievable year in New York history.  As the book continued, I was shocked by how many dramatic events occurred within a single year in this powerful city. I loved Mahler’s thesis that New York has struggled but continues to be an iconic, essential city that will consistently rebrand and recover. 

The baseball, the race relations, the mayoral race, the blackouts, the looting and burning, the serial killer—all these seemingly disparate elements were clearly connected throughout 1977, but it was a bit challenging to follow the book’s back and forth organization.