“Like the Big O says in the The Late Great Planet Earth, '70 per cent of biblical prophecy has already come true. The remaining 30 per cent will come true in our lifetime.' ”

“The essence of the ruling was that Esposito, who has become a caricature of the county party boss, is in fact no boss at all and thus cannot be penalized for breaking state laws that limit the commercial activity of a county leader.”

“The initial plan called for Trump to purchase the hotel, sell it to the city, and then lease it back from the city at a nominal rental — and no real-estate taxes.”

“The most curious aspect of the Bowery/UDC relationship is the striking similarity between letters sent by both to the city con­cerning the Commodore deal.”

The Commodore story led the author into a series of possible conflicts concerning Ravitch's role as the unpaid chairman of the New York's Urban Development Corporation

“Before Friedman left the city to join his new firm, he had to clean up a few loose ends for longtime Cohn client Donald Trump.”

Cohnhead methods em­phasize the last-minute smear, the appeal to ethnic prejudice, and the judicious use of patronage: “These people are haters. They'll stop at nothing and they're crazy.”

Three killings have been linked to show­ings of 'The Warriors' during the first week of its release. “They don't come here looking for trou­ble, but they see this movie and it ends up trouble”

“Rumors of Studio 54’s link with organized-crime figures began when it became known that Ian Schrag­er’s father was the late Louis Schrager, also known as 'Max the Jew,' the legendary chief of Williamsburg loan-shark and racketeer operations.”

“Here at last was art with access to a contemporary, white, English-speaking proletarian culture. It pos­ited kids whose very determination to survive took guts and whose unwillingness to give up the idea of victory was positively heroic”