This was a lot to read right now. Definitely timely and I might have been more invested if I didn't know a lot of it already. But the timing here is impeccable.

I grew up on the suburban doorstep of New York City, with most of my extended family living and working in the city. Some of my earliest memories are of listening to my relatives complaining about the governance of the city – mostly about Giuliani and Pataki in the mid 90s – and about Trump, whose dealings affected my blue collar construction working father and his friends. By the 2000s I was old enough to have my own experiences and opinions of the city’s goings-on, but I’ve always been a little bit fascinated by how the city got to that point, the people and policies and events that shaped it while my parents and grandparents were growing up there, how it became what it is today.

“The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City 1986-1990,” by Jonathan Mahler, immediately caught my attention when I was offered the chance to read & review it – here was a book about the forces shaping New York City during the time period immediately before I came onto the scene, the years during which my parents were young adults in the city. I was all in.

Mahler follows the actions of a selection of the most important or influential figures of NYC in the 80s – including Mayor Ed Koch, Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward, public health advocate and gay rights activist Larry Kramer, SDNY attorney Rudy Giuliani, lawyers & civil rights activists Alton Maddox and C. Vernon Mason in conjunction with activist Al Sharpton, filmmaker Spike Lee, and Donald Trump. Each chapter follows what these men were getting up to over the course of a single year, from 1986-1990, and how their involvement in the major social and political incidents during those years shaped New York for decades to come. More importantly, Mahler attempts to show how the city and its people acted & reacted to what was going on around them, all the things that these men were getting their fingers into while everyday people had very different concerns.

This book’s strength is in context. Anybody can pick up a book that is long in the facts but short on actually understanding not just what happened but why, all the little ways that the friction caused by the tensions and emotions of competing concerns, interests, and values eventually lead to fire. I may have known the broad strokes of many of the events covered in the book – the Preppy Killer, Howard Beach, the Central Park Jogger, the Tawana Brawley case, Yusuf Hawkins – and I would certainly have told you that the answer to any question about the problems of NYC in the 80s was institutional racism, but had never really thought much about all the sticky little contextual threads that truly make many of these events into not multiple separate incidents but a series of flare ups in one conflagration. Showing those threads to the reader and making those cause and effect connections, exposing how those in power were quietly or not so quietly making things better or worse (but mostly worse), is what makes this book shine.

Who would I recommend this book for? “The Gods of New York” was recommended to me as “…if you liked Robert Caro’s The Power Broker…”, and I think that’s fair to an extent. Caro is a much bigger undertaking; Mahler’s book is a friendlier read, more easily digestible, with a quicker pace, and the focus being on a wider spread of people and events rather than laser focused on one figure means you’ll never be bored. In this respect, I’d more readily recommend Mahler to all but the most dedicated urban development nerds. If you’re interested in the civil rights movement, the 80s, New York City, or even just pop culture, I don’t think you’d go wrong reading this book – at the very least I think you’ll do better on Jeopardy! after reading it. I enjoyed “The Gods of New York” very much and will certainly recommend it to friends.

I tore through this book. It brings late-’80s New York to life in a way that’s both deeply researched and totally immersive—packed with major events, larger-than-life personalities, and a real sense of a city on the edge of transformation. The writing is sharp and fast-moving, but never loses sight of the bigger picture. If you’re into New York history or just love a good, sweeping narrative, this one really delivers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House (Will) for the ARC of the book.

A while back I read Stephen Fry’s Mythos, his retelling of the ancient Greek myths. I was not very familiar with the stories of Zeus, Hera, Ares, Aphrodite, et al, but the book was very entertaining. The gods all came off as being incredibly petty, jealous, thin-skinned, vain, vengeful, etc. Pretty horrible traits when coupled with god powers and quick tempers.

I couldn’t help but think of the Greek gods as I read Jonathan Mahler’s The Gods of New York. Ed Koch, Donald Trump, Al Sharpton, Rudy Giuliani, and a host of other individuals just slamming against one another in New York City in the late 1980s, each with their own agenda and enough power to almost make it happen. Like the Greek gods, they each have their domain while also trying to expand their power into other areas. They see their viewpoint as the only one that makes sense, and though they claim to do things for the people of the city, their actions almost always seem to have self-serving ends. The city is plagued with racial tensions, the AIDS epidemic, unemployment, the homeless issue, the collapse of the financial sector, government corruption; the list of problems goes on and on, and no one in a position to do something seems capable of doing anything. The powers that be battle it out in the newspapers and on television and radio while the citizens of New York City watch and pick sides. Mahler does an excellent job reporting what the city went through in those years; even though the events took place decades ago, his writing makes it feel like you’re in the moment.

Despite covering four years filled with many events and what feels like dozens of individuals, Mahler’s writing is clear and propulsive. You never lose the different threads of the stories he writes, and the book is really a page turner. I found myself regularly saying, “Okay, just one more page.” I don’t regularly read non-fiction, but The Gods of New York was a very enjoyable read.

Wow! 'This book encompasses so much history that it almost hurts my brain! I'm not usually one for non-fiction but this book is set during the late 1980's so I was an adult seeking answers to so many events that happened in our crazy history. This book covers the racial violence, the controversy over Mayor Ted Koch, as well as Trump and his seemingly radical ideas. It seems we've come full-circle with Trump in office again so it's a fascinating book--even if you prefer to skim--as its much better than a history book!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley

I have to admit I debated over accepting the invitation to read this book. I am currently trying to cut down my TBR mountain range, so that is a project. But when Penguin Random House knocks, I answer. So, I said yes, even as I wondered why always NYC (you live in Philly, you get annoyed about being overlooked all the time in favor of NYC or Washington).
I’m glad I did.
Mahler chronicles the big movers in the city from 1986 to the early days of 1990. In short, Edward Koch’s last term as mayor. He focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on Koch, Trump, Giuliani, Larry Kramer, Al Sharpton, Police Chief Benjamin Ward, Spike Lee, Public Enemy, and Alton H. Maddox. The period Mahler covers includes ACT UP, the Tawana Brawley case, the “Preppy Murder”, the Howard Beach attack, the murder of Yusef Hawkins, and the Central Park Jogger case. The book is sectioned off by years.
Mahler starts with referring to the death of Michael Stewart, the subject of Elon Green’s new The Man Nobody Killed. So, if you read Green, you should also read Mahler. However, in Mahler’s book, Green’s murder and the lack of justice are a reference point to illustrate how the effects of that case can be seen in later events, and not simply because of the connection to Spike Lee or Alton H. Maddox.
It is to Mahler’s credit that he keeps a neutral tone but presents the story that allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about people. In fact, the two people that look bad in the book are Trump and Guiliani, though to be fair to Guiliani he comes across as a very typical politician. Trump comes across as who he always been – a grifter. But when detailing some of the actions of Maddox and Sharpton, Mahler makes sure the reader understands them in the context of the times. How the reader judges the men is left up to the reader, but Mahler makes sure that the reader has the knowledge to do so. This is important because of the racial violence that occurred at the time ( and is still occurring).
The same is true of Kramer and ACT UP, and the challenges they faced when dealing with the lack of response to the AIDS crisis. In fact, this book is a perfect example of why people should read books about historical events or periods as opposed to the Wikipedia article or YouTube video. By giving all the details not only about the case or about the AIDS crisis, but also the context of the society in which that event occurred, Mahler informs/educates the reader and gives, in most cases, a nuanced view. For instance, it is easy to get outraged over activists staging a die in during a mass, but once a reader knows the context, they might understand the frustration at the very least.
It was something to read this and see the actions of Guliani, Trump and Fauci, and then compare to that to the modern day.
Overall, an excellent page turner.

I really enjoyed this fast paced history of New York - it was interesting to see a lot of what was going on and connecting everything together. It kept me turning pages like a thriller. My only complaint is that it felt like there was definitely an angle to this book

The Gods of New York is a book that makes you stop and really think. Focusing on New York City in the early 2000s, Mahler zeroes in on three of the most powerful figures in city government: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. He calls them “gods,” and it’s not an exaggeration. Each of them, in his own way, had an enormous impact on the city, and Mahler traces how their decisions shaped New York during a time of crisis, recovery, and reinvention.

The book is smart and fast paced, but what really makes it work is that it’s also personal. Mahler doesn’t just throw facts at you, he builds real portraits of these men, showing what drove them, what they believed, and how their ambitions collided with the people they were supposed to serve.

There are moments where Mahler could have gone deeper into the experiences of everyday New Yorkers, the people most affected by stop-and-frisk, by school closures, by the rising inequality. The focus stays pretty tightly on the “gods” themselves. But even with that limitation, the book does a great job of capturing the complicated, often messy nature of governing a big city in turbulent times.

If you care about cities, education, policing, or just how power really works, this is a book worth reading. It's engaging and it raises big questions about leadership, accountability, and who gets to decide what progress looks like. Honestly, fascinating no matter how you feel about the people and their policies.

Jonathan Mahler's "The Gods of New York" is a compelling look into New York City and the 1980'2. Two characters loom large throughout the narrative, Ed Koch and Donald Tr*mp. The legacies of both men permeate New York today. Detail-rich without slowing down the pace of the book. Mahler has made it a bit of a page-turner. It's a hard book to put down. It also makes you want to turn back time and make people see that the Tr*mp who is leading us to destruction today from the White House was the same person in the 1980's as he tried to have his wy in New York. Why don't we learn? "The Gods of New York" is a sold, enjoyable read.. Many thanks to #netgalley and #randomhouse for the chance to preview this book.

The Gods of New York is a gripping, panoramic account of a city on the edge of transformation. Jonathan Mahler captures the late '80s in New York City with vivid, journalistic precision, weaving together the lives of towering personalities and explosive events that reshaped the five boroughs. From Wall Street excess to racial unrest, from the cultural impact of Do the Right Thing to the tragedy of the Central Park Five, Mahler’s storytelling is immersive and evocative. The book excels in showing how a city can embody both hope and despair, often on the same block. At times, the sheer number of characters and events can feel overwhelming, but it reflects the frenetic energy of NYC during this pivotal moment. Capturing the energy, chaos, and contradictions of a city at war with itself, Mahler’s sharp eye for character and moment makes this a dynamic read—equal parts history, drama, and cultural reckoning. Dense at times, but worth the ride.

Many thanks to NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for providing an eARC of The Gods of New York prior to publication.

Great look at the sleazy white collar side of 80s NYC. A fascinating look at the dying days of working-class, blue collar New York and the rise of an oligarchic city-state within the traditional city. The larger than life figures that embodied this transformation are both fascinating and repellant - harbingers of the 'greed is good' ethos that haunts our society to the present moment.