'Ford to City: Drop Dead!'

So I'm whiling away the free moments at work tonight in between editing pages by reading "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning," Jonathan Mahler's engaging, well-written book about 1977 New York City. Picked it up at the library today.

The book centers around the mayoral campaign that year, a face off between two newcomers -- Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo -- as well as the New York Yankees' tumultuous chase for the World Series championship.

Everybody in the Big Apple, it seems, was fighting. (Koch v. Cuomo, Billy v. Reggie, New York v. The World). A murderer (the so-called "Son of Sam") was on the loose). The city was broke.

A couple of years earlier, President Gerald Ford had famously refused to bail the city out of debt, leading to this classic headline in the Daily News:

Anyway, it's a good read. And if you haven't heard, ESPN is airing a miniseries beginning Monday, July 9, 10 p.m. (EDT) after the Home Run Derby.

OK, back to compo to see how much longer till I can get out of here. Y'all have a good weekend.