Economy
The Time the Teacher's Union Saved New York From Bankruptcy
In October 1975, only the whims of a union leader separated the city from default.
Earlier this week, writing in the New York Post, Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute called Detroit's bankruptcy a "warning shot" reminding New York to get its finances in order. Asked about that comparison by Dana Rubinstein of Capital NY, mayoral candidate Christine Quinn quickly dismissed it:
Gelinas and Quinn and others can debate the extent of that learning in the press. As for the history, it was 1975, to be more precise, when New York nearly had to do what Detroit has done: file for bankruptcy. The era is described with a delightful thoroughness in The Man Who Saved New York: Hugh Carey and the Great Fiscal Crisis of 1975 (SUNY Press, 2010), by Seymour P. Lachman and Robert Polner.