“The notion that John Gotti — or any single mob figure — was some sort of omnipotent New York mafioso is ludicrous. The word 'Godfather' had a nice, Brando-­esque ring, but the title itself is a fraud.”

“The most popular explanation hinged on the impatience of one John Gotti, a violent little fat man from Howard Beach”

“The David Dinkins that David Dinkins wants voters to see is a man who can bring the city together, who cares about the city's growing underclass, and who can do something about New York's out-­of-control drug and crime problems.”

“Hughes was the first black American writer many of us ever read... and his career re­mains an inspiring model for black writers determined to make a living solely from their work.”

“Rakim's persona is that of a sagacious gangster, like Miles Da­vis's ... We're talking about that school of self-confirmed bad-assed-ness, where you don't need spectators to know you're looking sugarshit sharp. Drop Miles or Rakim on the moon, they'd still be chilly-most”

“It’s time to judge him for who he is and what he is doing, rather than forever anticipating what he may become. This is the story of one test of Mario Cuomo’s government: its ethics”

"My beef is, okay, you got De La Soul, Jungle Broth­ers, A Tribe Called Quest, and that whole new Afrocentric, boho hiphop posse and they're progres­sive, but the muhfuhkuhs put on the weakest shows in God's creation."

The Saudi arms merchant and de­veloper appeared on the scene last summer claiming an interest in three of the four buildings that symbolize the “hid­den wealth” of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos

The indictment al­leges that Bulgari used the “empty box” scam to illegally allow customers — including Henry Kissinger, Frank Sinatra, Mary Tyler Moore, and Donald Trump — to avoid paying New York State sales tax.

“Max's heroically mixed quality had led to such meetings as Alice Cooper and Lou Reed, Candy Darling and Divine, Andy Warhol and Valerie Solanas, Sargent Shriver and Jackie Curtis, meetings which might not have a settings today.”