Ed Koch and the rebuilding of New York City / Jonathan Soffer.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-476) and index.

Introduction -- Struggling to be middle class: Ed Koch's early life -- "It takes a village" (1949-1958) -- "Rhymes with notch" (1959-1964) -- "He's the hottest thing they've got" -- "A rebel with reason" -- "Koch's corridor" (1969-1976) -- "A liberal with sanity:" Koch as the anti-Bella -- "One-seventh of a mayor" (1973-76) -- The 1977 mayoral election -- Mayor!: the dynamics of dynamism (1978-81) -- The politics of race and party -- Shakeup (1979-1980) -- Controlled fusion: or, to Koch or not to Koch (1980-1981) -- Governor Koch? (1982-83) -- Larger than life (1984-1985) -- New spatial order: gentrification, the parks, Times Square -- Homelessness -- The Koch housing plan (1986-1989) -- Aids -- Crime and police issues (1978-1984) -- Crime and police issues (1984-1989) -- Don't follow county leaders and watch your parking meters -- Koch's endgame (1988-89) -- Epilogue.

Exploring Koch's legacy through personal and mayoral papers, authorized interviews, and oral histories, this volume plots a history of New York City through two rarely studied but crucial decades, the bankruptcy of the 1970s and the recovery and crash of the 1980s.