Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning is a book by Jonathan Mahler that focuses on the year 1977 in New York City. It is 'a layered account', 'kaleidoscopic', 'a braided narrative', that weaves political, cultural, and sporting threads into one narrative. It was first published in 2005, and was the basis for the television drama The Bronx is Burning. The title borrows from a fragment of television commentary. Game 2 of the 1977 World Series, about an hour before the first pitch, a fire had started in Public School 3 , an abandoned elementary school a few blocks west of the Yankee Stadium. By the time ABC began its broadcast at 8 in the evening, flames were licking toward the sky. The network cut to its camera in a helicopter hovering above for an aerial view. "There it is, ladies and gentlemen," announced Howard Cosell, "the Bronx is burning." The main political thread of the book is provided by the 1977 Mayoral election; the main cultural thread is that of the effect of the arrival of Rupert Murdoch on the scene; the main sporting thread is provided by following the fortunes of the New York Yankees.

The book begins by telling of the fiscal and spiritual crisis, as Jonathan Mahler calls it, of the city in the mid 1970s. In political cartoons New York had become a sinking ship, a zoo where the apes were employed as zookeepers, a naughty puppy swatted by a rolled-up newspaper. New York's finances were in need of attention. Less than halfway through Abraham Beame's term as mayor the city was 'careering toward bankruptcy'. And perhaps there were signs that the 'cultural axis' had tilted. In 1972 the Tonight Show had moved from mid-town Manhattan to Burbank, California - the cultural equivalent of the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles - and Johnny Carson would stick the boot in by sprinkling his monologues with reminders of the city's decline. "Some Martians landed in Central Park today...and were mugged."

The baseball thread of Mahler's book focuses on the New York Yankees. In the 1976 World Series the Yankees had been beaten by the Cincinnati Reds, but had won their first pennant since 1964, and the fans were cheering Billy Martin - back in new York after 18 years. At 47 'he had the look of a rather shopworn Mississippi riverboat gambler.' Martin's cockiness, scrapiness and hunger to win met with a positive response in the South Bronx. And on November 29 1976 Reggie Jackson joined the Yankees. Mahler compares Jackson, not to Joe Di Maggio but to another Joe - Joe Namath, "both were mini-skirt chasing bachelors, and had confidence to bring the city victory." But all winter the papers filled with speculation about how Reggie and Thurman Munson, the Yankees catcher and captain, were going to get along. Those who knew him described Munson as moody. His friend Sparky Lyle didn't agree: "When you're moody, you're nice sometimes." Mahler looks at the new Yankee dynasty that was forming in '77. Mickey Rivers, Willie Randolph, Reggie..and those close to Martin - Catfish Hunter, Lou Piniella, Nettles. Fran Healy the backup catcher was Reggies only friend on the team. Mahler looks at certain key games - May 23 1977 Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox, when Reggie Jackson having hit a homer ignored his teammates and manager who had gathered at home plate for the requisite posthomer handshakes. 'I had a bad hand' Reggie said - 'He's a fucking liar' said Munson . June 18 1977 - the bust-up between Reggie and Martin. August 21 1977 when Ron Guidry helped push the Yankees past the Baltimore Orioles and within half a game of the Red Sox. Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. The Yankees had got to 3-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers - "and the teams had become emblematic of the cities for the time being - the friendly easy-going Dodgers, the tired neurotic Yankees - Annie Hall made the same point." In Game 6, Jackson hit 3 home runs, in consecutive at bats, on three pitches.

The cultural thread of Mahler's book focuses particularly on the impact of Rupert Murdoch.