1989 in NYC History

If you lived during the Cold War, the idea that the Soviet Union and Communist Eastern Europe would one day cease to exist seemed impossible. The Cold War, the literal and metaphorical Berlin Wall, the great divide between East and West, between capitalism and communism, between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, was the status quo. It just ... was. It existed as a fundamental, unalterable reality of our world.

Another world seemed impossible, thinking about it pointless. For nearly 50 years, the status quo prevailed. 

Until, one day, it didn't.

Between 1989 and 1991, Communism collapsed in Europe and the Soviet Union broke up. And another monumental change, the end of apartheid in South Africa, happened at the same time and just as quickly. A world transformed indeed.

So what does this have to do with NYC? 

At the very same time, the city was transforming in ways we couldn't have imagined.

The thinking goes that the monumental changes in NYC over the last thirty years are due to the crash in the crime rate -- crime went down, the population and housing market demand went up, foreign money flooded in, gentrification ensued, etc. etc. etc. But at the same time this was happening, the city government was fundamentally changing, and this has had massive ramifications in how we live today.

How did this happen? Simple: in 1989 the US Supreme Court ruled that the Board of Estimate was unconstitutional.

What was the Board of Estimate?

It was basically like the city council (it controlled the budget, land-use, and many other great powers; the city council was more of a constituent services group) except that it was un-elected and unrepresentative -- the city-wide elected officials and borough presidents each appointed members and they literally met in back room, hashing out the city's business like mob bosses. They were deeply connected to the political machines, took bribes from contractors, and basically turned it into a racket 

Until, one day, it ceased to exist.

The Board of Estimate was older, a lot older, than the Cold War -- it came into existence after NYC consolidated into the 5 boroughs in 1898. For nearly a century it ruled the city, undercutting mayors, sidelining the council, ignoring the public. The city was basically being run in secret by a kind of Politburo (to use another Cold War example) until it didn't. Now we have a strong mayor and city council and live in a much more democratic, less corrupt city.

So how did this happen?

Read this fascinating history about the end of the Board of Estimate and how it dramatically changed the city government and life in NYC. It's a history that we live with every day but know little about. It's amazing to think how long the BOE existed, how powerful it was, and how quickly it fell into the ash-heap of history.  

 That 1989 was a hell of a year!