ABSTRACT
Shortly after being elected to his first term as mayor in 1966, John V. Lindsay called New York ((fun city," a remark for which he was resoundingly ridiculed. In his second term, people were more likely to damn New York as ((fear city," decry its ((mean streets," or predict its death. The rise of prostitution in Times Square further earned Gotham the label ((sin city." A startling conglomeration of ills confirmed New York's image as the worst of all possible worlds. Rampant arson, ravaging disease, surging welfare roles, high unemployment, untrammeled drug use, brazen crime, filthy streets, sprawling graffiti, crumbling schools, huge rats, extensive homelessness, fiscal bankruptcy, police corruption, and political scandals horrified the nation. Gotham epitomized the problems everyone else hoped to avoid. It symbolized the urban crisis.2
