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THE SPIRIT OF NEW YORK CITY IN THE 1970s
I was in my late pre-teens and early adolescence in the period described in this book. But I do remember hearing, as a 10-year old, about New York being on the verge of bankruptcy and asking Uncle Sam for a bailout. I remember, too, the 1976 World Series in which the Reds swept the Yankees. The Yankees had virtually no offensive power, to speak of. It seemed to me that only Thurman Munson (the catcher) was providing the bulk of Yankee offensive power. Alas! it was not enough and consequently, I fell out of love with the Yankees. To this day, I am NOT a Yankees fan.
The book also talks about Studio 54, the disco & gay scene, the Son of Sam murders, and the 1977 NYC mayoral race. Fascinating stuff. Koch I remember. But I didn't know that Mario Cuomo and Bella Abzug had also run for the mayoralty against Koch, who was a dark horse at the time. I also remember watching an ABC Special Report in July 1977 at the time of the Great Blackout in NYC. Totally blew my mind trying to comprehend how NYC could cope with that!
Then there was the 1977 World Series. I was now a Dodgers fan and expected they would beat the Yankees. Didn't count on "Mr. October" coming to the fore. When Reggie Jackson hit those 3 home runs in that game (which I watched at home in the living room) off of 3 different pitchers (each time off the first pitch), I GROANED. I knew then that the Dodgers couldn't win the Series. Reggie Jackson that day had become like a demigod.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book for any reader who wants to get a good understanding of what life was like in New York during the 1970s.
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