New Book "Drop Dead" Reexamines 1975 NYC Fiscal Crisis with Contemporary Relevance

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Richard E. Farley’s Latest Work Reveals How New York City’s 1975 Fiscal Crisis Mirrors Today’s Fiscal Challenges, Making This History Urgently Relevant

NEW YORK, April 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Richard E. Farley’s new book, 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), launches nationwide today, offering a timely reexamination of New York City’s 1975 fiscal crisis with striking parallels to present conditions.

“Everyone who was anyone was in on the grift,” Farley writes in this incisive exploration of the forces behind New York’s 1975 fiscal crisis. The book provides not only historical documentation, but also an analytical framework for understanding similar dynamics at work today.

“What makes this book particularly relevant is how closely the city’s financial and economic challenges mirror today’s fiscal and economic challenges,” says Farley, whose previous financial histories have established him as one of America’s foremost chroniclers of financial crises on Wall Street. “The institutional factors that caused the 1975 crisis evolved rather than disappeared, and we’re seeing the effects in the city’s current fiscal challenges.”

Drop Dead meticulously dismantles long-accepted narratives about the 1975 fiscal crisis. The famous tabloid headline “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD” entered the collective memory as historical fact—suggesting President Ford abandoned New York. Farley reveals this was strategic messaging by political operatives, while the actual policy response was more nuanced: Ford ultimately provided federal assistance.

Among other revelations, the book reconsiders established accounts that have persisted as “historical fact”:

  • The Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC), portrayed as created by “wise men” to raise bailout money, faced significant challenges in achieving its bond sales objectives.
  • Union leader involvement in the city’s recovery through pension fund loans followed a more complex trajectory than commonly portrayed.
  • Real estate sector participation in pre-payment of taxes included financial advantages for those participants.

The book’s contemporary relevance is underscored by current fiscal realities.  NYC Comptroller’s Office reports show a $3.6 billion shortfall for fiscal year (FY) 2026, projected to increase toward $10.1 billion by FY2028. Data from the New York State Department of Labor reveals Wall Street’s share of securities jobs has decreased from one-third to less than one-fourth of the market. Meanwhile, financial industry reports document over $1 trillion in managed assets relocating to other states, and Census Bureau data confirms that more than 101,000 residents left the city in 2023 alone.

Drop Dead takes readers to a New York where organized crime controlled industries, institutional ethics were compromised, and figures like Roy Cohn, Fred and Donald Trump, Felix Rohatyn and David and Nelson Rockefeller operated within a complex system of political fraud and financial and legal alchemy.

This comprehensive examination demonstrates how the interaction of politics, banking, law, real estate and public relations functioned in New York City in the 1970s, offering perspective for those engaged in similar pursuits today in municipal, national and international contexts.

Drop Dead is available nationwide beginning April 29, 2025 ($32.00 USA / $42.00 Canada).

About the Author

Richard E. Farley is an attorney in New York City and author of the critically acclaimed books Wall Street Wars: The Epic Battles with Washington that Created the Modern Financial System and Gonzo Wall Street: How the Go-Go Bankers of the 1960s Crashed the Financial System and Bamboozled Washington. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other publications. He is the recipient of Bloomberg BNA’s Burton Award for Legal Achievement for exceptional legal writing.

Media Contact:

Arielle Lapiano

[email protected]

917.841.8805

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