Books: Jonathan Mahler’s The Gods of New York describes how bankers played a role in changing New York City

Gabfest Reads is a monthly series from the hosts of Slate’s Political Gabfest podcast. Recently, host Emily Bazelon spoke with author Jonathan Mahler about his new book, The Gods of New York.

This partial transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Emily Bazelon: I also wanted to ask you about the reality of New York leading up to this period. You tell us that a million people left the city before 1986, a million people went on welfare, and then there’s this crazy series of fires that I either didn’t know about because I’ve never lived in New York or had forgotten. What are the fears leading up to the mid-’80s about what New York could become?

Jonathan Mahler: Yeah, I mean, the ‘70s, the city had just bottomed out in such an extreme way that, as you say, there were these