Reclaiming Gotham

Journalist González makes the case for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio as representative of a growing progressive movement against inequitable city governance. For background, González discusses housing discrimination in New York City and at the federal level as far back as the F.D.R. administration, an injustice that he cites as a cause of the race riots of the 1960s. This section may feel familiar to readers already well-versed in U.S. urban policy or racial history, but González offers facts and figures with fierce clarity, and it’s the consistency of his examination of politicians’ promises versus their policies that sustains the book. González makes the case that de Blasio’s policies should be seen through the lens of his progressive upbringing as well as the larger progressive pushback against pay-for-play politics. The battle over stop and frisk is detailed, as are a paid-sick-leave initiative and the city’s universal pre-K program. González doesn’t paint de Blasio as a progressive saint, detailing his administration’s missteps and the resulting backlash. Later chapters that examine how the progressive agenda has spread to other cities make it clear that de Blasio is a factor in, and not the whole of, this movement. González’s book gives progressive readers a reason to have hope for the future of cities. (Sept.)