The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio's Quest to Save the Soul of New York

by Joseph P. Viteritti

Overview

When Michael Bloomberg handed over the city to Bill de Blasio, New York and the country were experiencing record levels of income inequality. De Blasio was the first progressive elected to City Hall in twenty years. Invoking Fiorello La Guardia's name, he pledged to improve the lives of those marginalized by poverty and prejudice. Unlike La Guardia, de Blasio did not have allies in Washington like President Franklin D. Roosevelt who could effectively support his progressive agenda.

As de Blasio approached the end of his first term, the situation worsened, with Donald Trump in the White House and a Republican-controlled Congress determined to further reduce social programs that help the needy. As a result, de Blasio's mayoralty is an illuminating case study of what mayors can and cannot do on their own to address economic and social inequality. As the Democratic Party attempts to reassemble a viable political coalition that cuts across boundaries of race, class and gender, de Blasio's efforts to redefine priorities in America's largest city is instructive.

Joseph P. Viteritti's The Pragmatist is the first in-depth look at de Blasio-both the man himself and his policies in crucial areas such as housing, homelessness, education, and criminal justice. It is a test case for the viability of progressivism itself. Along the way, Viteritti introduces the reader to every NYC mayor since La Guardia. He covers progressives who breathed life into the "soul of the city" before the devastating fiscal crisis of 1975 put it on the brink of bankruptcy, and those post-fiscal crisis chief executives who served during times of limiting austerity. This engaging story of the rise, fall, and rebirth of progressivism in America's major urban center demonstrates that the road to progress has been a long-and continuing-journey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190679507
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Joseph P. Viteritti is the Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy at Hunter College, CUNY, where he is Chair of the Urban Policy and Planning Department. Prior to Hunter, he taught at Princeton, New York University, Harvard, and the State University of New York at Albany. This is his twelfth book. He has published widely in social science journals, law reviews, and popular venues such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Huffington Post, covering topics that include city politics, education policy, criminal justice, and law. His work has been translated into four languages other than English. Over the years, he has advised governmental leaders on a variety of public policy issues.

Table of Contents

Preface: Why This Book?

1.Who is Bill de Blasio?


I. EARLY YEARS

2. All in the Family

3. A "Radical" in the Mainstream


II. PAST AS PROLOGUE

4. The Soul of New York

5. Fiscal Collapse, Dreams Deferred

6. Growing Inequality


III. BEING MAYOR

7. Let's Take City Hall

8. A New Agenda

9. No Place Like a Home

10. Taking Stock, Looking Ahead

Editorial Reviews

"What happens when New York City's tradition of progressive mayoral priorities collides with a much changed political landscape, where Washington offers less of a helping hand and the search for resources necessitates increasing dependence on the private sector? That's the challenge facing Mayor Bill de Blasio, compellingly probed by Joseph Viteritti. The Pragmatist is deeply engrossing local history at its best, but it also sheds light on a larger national story that Americans are facing everywhere."

— Lizabeth Cohen, Dean, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies at Harvard University, author of A Consumers' Republic

"Written with wit and incredible insights, Viteritti examines the career of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a man who espouses progressivism but practices serviceable pragmatism. This book is required reading for city reformers, journalists, scholars and aspiring politicians who find themselves in the baffling environment of New York City politics."

— Wilbur C. Rich, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Wellesley College, author of David Dinkins and New York City Politics

"Are progressive cities possible? Joseph Viteritti, one of the country's foremost urban scholars, has written a fascinating study of a mayor, a city, and the future of progressive politics in the United States. Full of historical detail, The Pragmatist is the first full-fledged account of Bill de Blasio's political career and mayoralty to this point. Deeply informed and elegantly written, The Pragmatist crackles with insights on every page.

— Richard Schragger, Perre Bowen Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law; author of City Power

"Insightful... [Viteritti] cogently places Mr. de Blasio in context..."

—Sam Roberts, New York Times

"A well-documented, academic description and analysis... Professor Viteritti places Mayor de Blasio within the legacy of progressive politics in New York City going back to Mayor La Guardia. In doing so Viteritti joins the company of New York exceptionalists, suggesting that the phenomena of Bill de Blasio is indigenous to New York."

—Bruce Berg, Gotham

"Sharp insights into our current moment...essential to understanding New York politics in the early twenty-first century."

— Mason Williams, Dissent

"Joseph P. Viteritti, an astute public policy professor at Hunter College, has written an early book about de Blasio's mayoralty that wisely situates the liberal mayor in the context of New York's volatile past ..... Viteritti is clear-eyed about the accomplishments and sober about the challenges de Blasio still faces."

— Ross Barkan, Village Voice

From the Publisher