Recently, I had a conversation about current politics and we discussed how dire things felt in the 80's as well and how what felt like sea changes then may have opened the door to what's going on now. Welp, this book pretty much underscores some of that thinking. This was in some weird ways a nostalgic book for me. Although I was in HS and early college during these years of change for NYC, I remember some of these events and knew well the NYC that came next. The author carefully curates the events in NYC during these four years and is able to weave these histories together into a clear narrative.

Gods of New York is both panoramic and intimate. Mahler brings to life a city of millions by giving us intimate access not just to the titans whose decisions shaped the city at the end of the 1980s, but also to the regular New Yorkers whose lives were transfigured into symbolic representations of the city's neighborhoods, classes, races, and genders by activists and the tabloid press. Mahler wisely constrains his authorial voice to the present, giving his narrative a page-turning immediacy. Readers know which Gods of New York are destined for the national stage, but in this telling they are first and foremost New Yorkers.

The research on this book is outstanding. There are so many layers to peel back to the tumultuous times of the 80’s - The Central Park 5, the iconic Mayor Koch, the racial unrest , the rampant crime. And the ever present DT - he’s always shown us who he is I wish more people would have listened. This book reads more like a history textbook but the subject is so interesting you don’t even realize as you’re reading it.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Random House for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. This is an extremely well researched and well written book about New York City in the 4 years from 1986-1990. It was the last 4 years of Ed Kock's mayoral stint, and saw many changes and events, good and bad. It is unflinching and expansive. Names that still resonate today, Fauci, Guliani, Goetz, The Preppy Murder, Cuomo and Trump. The city doesn't sleep and neither did I until I finished this book.

I love reading about NYC history and I have read Mahler's previous work, The Bronx is Burning, so this was a must read for me. And I loved it!

I was immediately caught up in the narrative, and my attention never waned. It seems a bit odd to select a big, 400 plus page nonfiction work for a beach read, but that is exactly what I did because I could not put this down. Mahler's writing just carries the reader along, in such a way that you feel like you are reading a blockbuster novel. I am old enough to have vivid memories of those last four years of NYC in the eighties, but there were many things I learned for the first time. Will be highly recommending this one.

A lot can happen in four years and The Gods of New York certainly proves it. I was in high school in Ohio during the time frame of this book. I wouldn’t first visit the city until the early 90’s and move there in 1998.

This book was such a page turner which is impressive since its history and you know how things are going to end up. It does a fantastic job of weaving the big events of the time to create a picture of the city. It kept reminding me that so many of the challenges society faces now are not new and that everything in modern politics can be traced back to Roy Cohn.

I was familiar with some of this material — I can remember reading a book about the Preppy Murder — but the more I read it’s astonishing how this deep dive covers that along with the Central Park jogger, multiple instances of racial violence and protests, AIDS, crack, and Black Monday.

And the cast of characters from the time is impressive with lasting impact like Ed Koch, Jimmy Breslin, Rudy Giuliani, Al Sharpton, Larry Kramer, Anthony Fauci, Spike Lee, Roger Stone, and of course Donald Trump.

This is the kind of book I didn’t know I needed but I’m so glad it exists.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for an advance copy of this history of the greatest city on Earth, and the strange times that were the late eighties, where a gathering of politicians, protesters, performers and Ponzi schemers found their way, their fortunes, their reputations, something that we are still dealing with today.

My parents were part of the Great Migration from the Bronx and into the wilds of Connecticut during the 1970's. Stolen cars, attempted break-ins, a few attempted muggings made my parents decide to fold and get out. However being Bronx Irish Catholics, they made Connecticut an outer borough, never really assimilated to the New England mindset. They still read the Daily News and the New York Post, along with the Times when the subscriptions were cheap. Their news channels were New York Stations, maybe switching for weather, and the radio was all New York Channels. I still remember watching Live at Five when my cartoons changed times, watching the news while playing computer games, hearing names like Koch, Sharpton, Ruby my personal favorite Hortense Gabel. My parents might have moved, but they still cared about the city, talking about it, visiting almost weekly, and sharing this with their children. Reading this book was like looking though a photo album, one can remember certain things, but not everything. And being surprised at how bad things were in the Big Apple, and how these events are carried over today. The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990 by New York Times writer Jonathan Mahler is a look at a pivotal time in both the city and America, where fissures were starting to show in what government could and wanted to do, money was starting to be everything and a bunch of schemers were getting ideas to take their big time city acts, national.

New York in the year 1986 looked, smelled, and appeared great. Gone were the days of being told to drop dead by the federal government, the economy, a booming stock market, a roaring art world made New York to the place to be. Unfortunately the happy days would not last, as President Reagan lowered the tax rates, cut spending to help people, and declared the business of the country was business. Which didn't help when the markets began to suffer, and bills started to become due. The mayor of the city was Ed Koch, a larger than life character, on his third term, and hoping for his fourth. Though the city was running out of money, and people were starting to get tired. Especially the minority communities, who were dealing with no services, an occupying army of police who were immune to laws, and just the exhaustion of always doing without. Adding to this was a health crisis affecting the gay community, one the Koch was slow to back. Soon new players began to enter the scene Al Sharpton a showman of protesting, with his own look, style and a growing list of enemies. Rudy Giuliani a federal prosecutor with a zest for headlines and getting ahead, at any cost. And a newcomer to the real estate of Manhattan, a certain Donald Trump who created his own chaos in almost everything he did.

I loved this book. Reading along I could see the voices of the people mentioned, remember the good and mostly bad times, and remember how odd the city seemed, nervous, angry and always awaiting the worst. The book is really well written. Mahler does a great job of introducing people, telling you what the were doing, and letting them go. The book covers four years of time, but never bogs down, or feels bloated. I am sure there are things that Mahler just didn't want to cover, but he does a wonderful job. Howard Beach, the riots in Tompkins Square Park, AIDS and Act Up. Even the making of Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee. Mahler gives all these real characters a chance to shine, or well become dull. What I loved most was that one can see the seeds for what is happening now. The cops going wild, no real oversight, the political blaming of others, and the politics of today. A great scene is when Giuliani lost his bid for mayor, the feeling in the crowd was that voter fraud in black precincts was the cause. So little changes.

A great book on New York, politics, art, culture and about people. I really enjoyed this book, and can't wait to recommend it to others. I was surprised by how much I remembered, and again how the seeds were being planted for the horror show we call the world today. This is the second book by Mahler I have read, and I really enjoyed it.

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.