Sublime

Moses would suggest that the commissioner designate one of his aides to do nothing but handle Park Department liaison, perhaps even allowing him to work in the Arsenal. Then Moses, by bullying or by charm, would take the aide into camp—making him an ally of the Park Department and thereby practically freeing himself of the necessity of winning the

But while the old warrior was unhappy now and terribly bitter, he had lost none of his wiliness. Wait, he told his friends. The time wasn’t right yet. Moses didn’t need him to hold out. The newspaper editorials and civic association resolutions would enable him to do that. Moses needed him to win. The moment when he should step in was the moment at

If anyone knows about having a lot on the line, it’s Jordan Walters of the Silicon Valley branch of the investment house Smith Barney. Jordan is exactly the kind of person you’d look for in a financial planner: he’s calm, he’s thoughtful, and he always takes the time to listen. As we sat down in his office and sipped from the minibar-sized can of a

La Guardia’s predilection for pageantry, preferably with himself at its center, was obvious to anyone who noticed the yards of gold braid with which the Major outfitted his policeman bodyguard or his penchant for holding full-dress military-type inspections of anything that could conceivably be inspected—police or firemen with motorized equipment,

When Moses submitted a preliminary outline of suggested commission goals, he included a phrase straight out of the reform textbooks and his Municipal Civil Service Commission days: “Elimination of unnecessary…personnel.” Mrs. Moskowitz struck the phrase out. Personnel, she said, were voters. You didn’t antagonize voters.

East Tremont may have been a loud community, a shrill community, a materialistic, money-conscious community. But it was a community.

Natalie loved her job. Sam had never once been cruel or abusive or even flirty. Just the opposite: she felt protected by him from the abuse of others. He’d occasionally surprise her with some kindness—for example, after he’d met privately with President Clinton, and asked him what the United States might do if China invaded Taiwan. Whatever Clinton