Annie Kessler

1. On March 3, 1977 Mayor Abraham Beame gave his final state of the city address. The main topic of his speech was clear and consistent throughout his address; the city was facing a major financial crisis and was trying to claw its way back from the brink of bankruptcy. Woven into the economic crisis facing the city, Mayor Beame also addressed the city’s high but dropping crime rates and the education system. Given the grave state of the city and the difficult subject matter of the speech, this address had an incredibly somber tone that was only lightened in a few instances, when the Mayor makes mention of successes and hopes for a brighter future.

The mayor is very detailed and technical throughout his speech and he does not utilize elevated or stylistic language. He does make mention of his tendency to use numbers to put some of the challenges facing the city in context: “Problems cannot be solved with statistics; but numbers can add a measure of reality to emotional issues”. The mayor goes on to describe the amount of jobs that have been cut and reinstituted in various government agencies and departments, especially ones that are critical to keeping the city safe and functioning like the police, fire and sanitation departments. He also speaks about the economic efficiencies that have been realized and instituted over the past year in the city government in order to work towards paying off the city debts and financial stability.

Over the course of the speech, it seems like Mayor Beame teeters between one tone that is almost apologetic and another that is trying to show progress and hope for moving forward. He says outright: “Our parks are still as well kept as I would like” and “We regard with increasing frustration the inability of the courts to deal with juvenile offenders”, clearly acknowledging the shortcomings of the current state of the city. He is equally straightforward in the language that he uses to describe the successes and hope for the future, saying on a few occasions, “I was particularly happy last month…” and “I am pleased that the State…” when describing the rehiring of firefighters and the investment of the state to support higher education.

It is only at the very end of his speech that the mayor starts to use more stylized language in order to end on a hopeful or positive note. He uses the metaphor of the city being a “marathon runner” to talk about the need to continue to persevere during the difficult economic times. Like many other addresses, Mayor Beame also uses the end of the speech as an opportunity to reconstitute the audience as people who can support his cause of strengthening the city and of being resilient through challenges: “We are New Yorkers. We will never settle for less”.

2. The content and tone of Mayor Beame’s 1977 state of the city is not surprising given the dire circumstances that New York City was facing. The city was on the verge of bankruptcy, unemployment was high and many parts of the city were riddled with crime. A recent article in The New Yorker chronicles the events surrounding October 16, 1975, a day when the city was incredibly close to defaulting on its loans and needing to officially file for bankruptcy.[1] Although Mayor Beame and his administration were able to avoid bankruptcy, the financial status of the city was not much improved by the time he delivered his 1977 state of the city address.

There are countless books and movies that depict the grit and danger of New York City during the early 1970s and during Beame’s administration. Commentary from Time Magazine on the novel “City of Fire”, which is set in 1970s New York City and involves many of the squatters on the Lower East Side, describes the crime rates in the city as “truly out of control” and that violent crime was so rampant that policing squatters in neglected buildings was low priority.[2] The Daily News also published a photojournalism account of the rise in homelessness, the prevalence of drug dealing and prostitution and the deterioration of the subway system during the 1970s.[3]

3. Although I have been unable to find the actual video footage of the state of the city address, I have been able to read some accounts of the speech and watch a short clip from Mayor Beame’s inaugural address. Based on my research, it seems that the context of the delivery of the speech was as straightforward as the language used during the speech. Apparently, the mayor was greeted by a quick standing ovation and that the speech only lasted about 30 minutes. Mayor Beame was a man of small stature; video footage of his inaugural address shows an aid needing to adjust the height of the microphones, so as to not block his face.[4] In his 1977 state of the city address, he spoke from a podium that was custom-built to be a better fit for him.[5]

4. Much of the press reactions to Mayor Beame’s 1977 state of the city address talk about the speech as sounding like the beginning of a re-election campaign. Given that it was Beame’s final year of his first term, many people thought that although he did discuss the current state of debt, he spent more time in his speech talking about how far the city had come back economically, how many city jobs were being reinstated and the plans to continue to make improvements moving forward. A City Councilman from Brooklyn is quoted in a March 4, 1977 New York Times article saying: “It sounded like a man who has made some progress and wants to make some more”. In the same article, The Bronx Borough President was quoted as saying straightforwardly: “It sounded like a campaign speech to me”. [6]

6. There are some references to events or situations made in the state of the city address that were likely obvious to the audience at the time, but that have lost some context over time. Mayor Beame opens his speech by saying “Some people may believe that this is not the best time to report to you on the State of the City. A serious fiscal deadline looms before us. If we do not meet it we may face insolvency”. At the time of the speech, New York City needed to payoff almost one billion dollars to the banks and the threat of bankruptcy continued to loom over the city.

Later in the speech, the Mayor says: “I have striven to avoid the cliffhanging episodes which we have experienced in the past.” In this comment, he is likely referring to the situation earlier in his administration in 1975, when the city was very close to bankruptcy, and thanks to last minute negotiations, the crisis was averted.[7]

When addressing crime, the mayor says: “We regard with increasing frustration the inability of the courts to deal with juvenile offenders”. According to an article in the Juvenile Justice Bulletin, gang related violence involving teenagers was on an upswing in most urban areas, including New York City.[8]

The mayor continued to talk about crime and referred to his crackdown on “the Harlem drug ‘supermarkets’”. During the early 1970s, Harlem was a hotbed for drug dealing, especially selling heroin. Big drug dealers like Frank Lucas were able to be so successful at selling drugs because they were paying off the NYPD so that they could sell drugs more openly.[9]

Towards the end of the speech, the mayor talks about education and the need for the state to play a larger role in higher education: “I am pleased that the State has taken several important steps in recognizing that the funding of higher education is a State responsibility… the need to maintain and protect the special quality and character of our City University”. According to a New York Times article, which was written just after Beame’s death, during Beame’s administration the fiscal crisis led to the city charging tuition at City College for the first time, which led to great debates between the city and state about funding for education.[10]

7. Mayor Beame does not make mention of many places in his speech but he does talk to and talk about a few different groups of people. He spends a good deal of time talking about people who’s jobs have been reinstated, after major cutbacks, during his administration. He talks specifically about policemen, firemen and sanitation workers. The mayor also talks about certain key members of his staff, such as the Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Chairman of the Advisory Commission for Cultural Affairs. He talks about these members of his staff in a positive manner and I think in an effort to showcase the progress that has been made or will be made in certain arenas. The final “person” that the mayor alludes to throughout his speech is the “state”. He does not name the governor or any other position by title or name, but in general he seems to refer to the “state” in a rather harsh or hostile manner. He talks about certain responsibilities that the “state” either has or perhaps has not followed through on or certain responsibilities that he believes that the state should take on.

8. One section of the speech that I think is essential to his overall message is “Some of the conditions that prevailed a year ago are with us today. But there is a major difference. We are now equipped to deal with these circumstances. We have learned that austerity is not a temporary condition, but a continuing reality. We cannot return to the free-spending, charge-account governments of the past”. This passage seems essential to me because it sets the stage for the mayor to talk about the difficult situation that the city is still in and talk about the way that his administration has worked to combat some of the challenges they have faced. Given the fact that this was the final state of the city address of his term, it does also seem to set the stage for a potential re-election campaign.

Another essential passage in the speech for me was: “Not even the sternest lender could reasonably expect us to mortgage our sovereignty now – not when we have achieved unprecedented fiscal reforms, not after we have, strengthened and revamped our management system, not when our elected and appointed officials have shown such courage, not when the President of the United States has voiced again his confidence in our future, not after our people have made such sacrifices.” I think that this passage is so important because it occurs towards the end of the speech and might his most valiant attempt to raise the hope of his audience. In this passage, I think that he both recognizes the hardships endured by his constituents and about by referencing the President, attempts to build confidence for a better future.

9. There are some terms that are think are key in relation to the speech: credibility; efficiency; responsibility; strength/strong.

10. After some extensive research, it seems that there are not many works dedicated specifically to Mayor Beame, perhaps because he was only a one-term mayor who was preceded and followed by multi-term leaders. The was one article that gave a detailed but concise snapshot of Mayor Beame’s life and legacy was the New York Times article written just after his death. There is also a book entitledTo Be Mayor Of New York, which chronicles the history of several New York City mayors, including Mayor Beame and has solid reviews. Another famous book called The Bronx Is Burning talks about the era during which Abraham Beame was the mayor, although again, the book is not specifically about him.

[1] Nussbaum, Jeff. “The Night New York Saved Itself From Bankruptcy.” The New Yorker. Oct 16, 2015. Online. Date accessed Jan 16, 2016.

[2] Begley, Sarah. “City on Fire and the True History of Squatters in 1970s New York City.” Time. Oct 15, 2015. Online. Date accessed Jan 17, 2016.

[3]Bobbe, Leland. “1970s New York City: The Dangerous and Gritty Streets During a Decade of Decline. The Daily News. Online. Date accessed Jan 16, 2016.

[4]“SYND 1-1-74 Abe Beame Inaugurated as Mayor of New York”. Jul 23, 2015. Date Accessed Jan 14, 2016.

[5] Kaiser, Charles. “Beame Says Moratorium Probably Undermining City’s Credibility”.The New York Times. Mar 4, 1977. Online. Date Accessed Jan 16, 2016.

[6]Kaiser, Charles. “Beame Says Moratorium Probably Undermining City’s Credibility”.The New York Times. Mar 4, 1977. Online. Date Accessed: Jan 16, 2016.

[7]Nussbaum, Jeff. “The Night New York Saved Itself From Bankruptcy.” The New Yorker. Oct 16, 2015. Online. Date accessed: Jan 16, 2016.

[8]“Youth Gangs: An Overview”. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Aug 1998. Online. Date Accessed: Jan 17, 2016.

[9]

[10]McFadden, Robert. “Abraham Beame is Dead at 94; Mayor During 70’s Fiscal Crisis”. The New York Times. Feb 11, 2001. Online. Date accessed Jan 14, 2016.