Father Gigante has rebuilt much of the South Bronx. But who has profited more, his parish­ioners or the mob family run by his own brother?

“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.”

“Dinkins unswervingly pursued a strategy of coalition politics, founded upon a message of hope, and won the Democratic nomination with substantial support from Jews and white Catholics in addition to Latinos, Asians, blacks, and gays.”

“Oh yeah, he fed her to the homeless,” says Hank, who lives on East 5th Street. “A few days after it happened, before it hit the pa­pers, while the rumors started spreading around the Village, the homeless in the park were going, ‘Yeah, Dan did give us soup yesterday.’ They were goofing on it but they were pretty much grossed out.”

“The perception among many civil rights activists is that their issues took a back seat during Giuliani’s tenure. Civil rights are simply not part of this crimebuster’s image”

“Even before he had formally an­nounced his candidacy, Rudy’s sweet­heart relationship with the press spawned a wet-kiss orgy of free publicity”

"Since October 1985, rock has been attacked from city halls, statehouses, fundamentalist pulpits, and the executive echelons of the FBI."

How did people ever swallow the supposition that the real Warhol was a white-wigged idiot standing around saying, “Great”?

“Motherfucking drug dealers. They want me to kill myself. They always smiling, saying, ‘Hey, Charlie, how many? You got my money?’ Nah, I can’t do it. It’s a fuckin’ nightmare.”

“James Brown, probably the most influ­ential black musician of all time, will turn 56 in prison — and then 57 and perhaps 58 as well”