‘Drop Dead’: How New York City Was Saved From Bankruptcy

Author Richard E. Farley recounts when the Big Apple nearly collapsed and was rescued at the last minute.

"Drop Dead: How a Coterie of Corrupt Politicians, Bankers, Lawyers, Spinmeisters, and Mobsters Bankrupted New York, Got Bailed Out, Blamed the President and Went Back to Business as Usual (And It Might Be Happening Again)" by Richard E. Farley.

New York City teetered on the brink of financial collapse nearly 50 years ago, thanks to years of deleterious economic policies. Unable to save itself, the city turned to the federal government for help. Republican President Gerald Ford was wary of an unconditional bailout that didn’t address the profligate spending that drove the Democrat-controlled city to near ruin.

But rather than show appreciation of his conditional willingness to help the city, Ford’s political enemies in Washington and the media twisted his position utterly out of context. Most notorious was the New York Daily News’s managing editor, William Brink. Brink published an utterly dishonest page one headline on Oct. 30, 1975 that declared in massive 144-point type: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.”