“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

"As one of the old trustees said, 'When we hired him we didn't know we were getting a dictator,' "