McMahon in a full-page New York Post review. That book, based on Lachman's 17 years in the New York State Senate, was an indictment of the way things work in Albany: Only if the governor and the majority leaders of the Senate and the Assembly agree can anything get done in the state government. Over the last four years, Three Men in a Room has become one of the most often cited books among good-government advocates in New York state.
Accompanying the governor was Peter Maas, the author of Serpico , a best-selling book about a whistle-blower cop who nearly brought down the New York Police Department in the Lindsay years. Maas was friendly with Rohatyn, a player in the world of securities and corporate reorganizations, and Carey was planning to ask for Rohatyn's help placating and winning the cooperation of the financial community. With his puckish grin and flecks of gray hair, Rohatyn, forty-six, was no stranger to the ways of prominent politicians, though he had never met Carey before. He took Rohatyn aside and popped the question he'd come to ask: Would he be willing to turn his full attention away from his successful career and serve instead in the less lofty world of state government?
Around the time Carey made his sales pitch, Rohatyn got a call from a bond broker he didn't know, offering to sell him New York City notes paying an unusually high 9. The governor and David Burke began that meeting by presenting Rohatyn with some grim facts and figures. Would he or wouldn't he help save the city from possible bankruptcy? Burke had already worked on Rohatyn, reminding the Viennese-born finance man of his public declarations that he owed his life to the United States, as his family had escaped to America from the Nazi occupiers in France, and wanted to repay the debt to his adopted country.
Now was that day, Burke urged. At the same time, some editorial writers and budget watchdog groups began faulting Carey for keeping his distance from the city's problems, as he continued to make trips upstate and resolutely focused on many other things. But his attempt to be governor of the entire state, and not just one part of it, was growing more challenging by the day.
For he was also aware that if the city defaulted and filed for bankruptcy, there would be hell to pay — possible walkouts by police, firefighters, sanitation workers, and teachers, and perhaps even outbreaks of looting, arson, and violence.
In an atmosphere of civic breakdown, a federal judge would be empowered to take the entire city government and its day-to-day affairs under receivership, superseding all elected officials, labor agreements, and existing rules and regulations. The judge would seek to create immediate mechanisms for continuing public services and running the city's many departments down to the most minute levels — deploying police, regulating schools, ordering supplies, dispatching child protective workers, all the while beginning the possibly decade-long process of sorting through the claims of perhaps tens of thousands of creditors-bondholders and their lawyers, city employees, welfare clients, and suppliers.
In the wake of such dislocations, some argued, fear and loathing would roil the municipal bond market. In this dramatic and colorful account, Seymour P.
While others were willing to see the city slide into default, Carey grew to become a bulwark against that distinct possibility, determined to prevent insolvency because it would not only affect the state as a whole but would have reverberations both nationally and internationally. In recounting the rescue of New York City as well as the aftershocks that nearly sank the state government, Lachman and Polner illuminate the often-volatile interplay among elite New York bankers, hard-nosed municipal union leaders, the press, and powerful conservatives and liberals from City Hall to the Albany statehouse to the White House.
Carey and the talented people he attracted to state government the credit they deserve. Plus it is timely—because New York and a handful of other states stand once more on the brink of bankruptcy. This is vital reading and instructive history. This is important reading for today, when our political and financial systems are in jeopardy. His story and the fiscal crisis of is brilliantly told and beautifully written by Lachman and Polner.
I loved the book. The authors are not even curious enough to explore the issue. And despite his social liberalism, Carey was an unflinching anti-tax, anti-spending economic conservative. Was this the best policy for New York? A deeper book would at least have considered alternative views. Jun 08, Michael rated it liked it Shelves: This story reads like a lengthy newspaper article, full of names and figures.
The Man Who Saved New York: Hugh Carey and the Great Fiscal Crisis of ( Excelsior Editions) [Seymour P. Lachman, Robert Polner] on donnsboatshop.com Hugh Carey and the Great Fiscal Crisis of Excelsior Editions The Man Who Saved New York offers a portrait of one of New York's most remarkable.
It could have included more scenes, instead of merely information, because the pressures and fights Governor Carey endured during New York's fiscal crisis are amazing. I mean, the prior governor Rockefeller who left Carey part of the mess became vice president in the Ford administration, which famously opposed federal assistance for New York City; Shakespeare couldn't have picked better elements for drama.
In his fir This story reads like a lengthy newspaper article, full of names and figures. In his first State of the State address, Carey declared, "In the very simplest of terms, this government and we as a people have been living far beyond our means. There has been scarcely an activity, a category of public spending, in which we did not lead the nation Now the times of plenty, the days of wine and roses, are over There is responsibility enough to go around for all. But if we would master our fate, we must first acknowledge our condition.
At one point it came within hours of defaulting. Carey's will, strategic skill, and bullheadedness helped the city and the state navigate a howling torrent and somehow stay afloat. President Ford famously and perhaps correctly chastised New York for its mistakes, but when the Daily News printed the headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead," Carey and his team knew the political tide in their state would turn in their favor.
The stance likely cost Ford the state and the presidency in his loss to Jimmy Carter, although he did shift slightly while in office to support Carey's suggested change to bankruptcy law. That would buy them time in the courts and give NYC a gentler fall should bankruptcy have occurred.
The parallels with the past four years and likely many to come are obvious. In October , correctly predicting Obama's victory, Carey said, "He's walking into a maelstrom.
Oct 02, Peter rated it it was amazing Shelves: Well-researched and for a book about public finances, well written. Jennifer rated it liked it Aug 27, Bob Monek rated it really liked it Mar 09, Brad rated it liked it Feb 27, Josh rated it liked it Jan 05, TJ Hatter rated it really liked it Jul 17, Bill rated it really liked it Jan 07,