The Fall of a
Great American City

New York and the
Urban Crisis of Affluence

By Kevin Baker
Foreword by James Howard Kunstler

The Fall of a Great American City is the story of what is happening today in New York City and in many other cities across America. It is about how the crisis of affluence is now driving out everything we love most about cities: small shops, decent restaurants, public space, street life, affordable apartments, responsive government, beauty, idiosyncrasy, each other. This is the story of how we came to lose so much—how the places we love most were turned over to land bankers, billionaires, the worst people in the world, and criminal landlords—and how we can – and must – begin to take them back.
Co-published with Harper’s Magazine, where an earlier version of this essay was originally published in 2018.