Community: Journal of Power Politics and Democracy in Hell's Kitchen

In Mary Clark's fifteen-year journey through New York City politics, she walked the volatile streets to the halls of power, and experienced the triumphs and defeats of the Hell’s Kitchen community as it fought "development fever." In the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic was at its height. Homeless families were placed in midtown hotels, which resembled refugee camps. Crime associated with the illegal drug trade threatened one of Manhattan's oldest communities. Meanwhile, ambitious politicians vied for dominance behind the scenes. She had a grassroots view of the fall of Ed Koch, a working relationship with David Dinkins, and saw the rise of Rudolph Giuliani.

"Community" is a memoir of local democracy in action, with its genuinely virtuous aims and outcomes, its frustrations and machinations. In it, the author shows a constructive approach in contrast to the usual power games.

Three years into her years as a community activist, she met James R. McManus, Democratic district leader and head of the last Tammany Hall club in New York City. In a twist of irony, the “radical liberal” found with the McManus Club the opportunity to have the most productive time of her life. The neighborhood is famous for its wild side, but is also the home of generations of families, immigrants, and aspiring actors and artists.

There is a fire in Hell’s Kitchen, and you are invited to sit by its light and hear in its flames a prayer of hope, a song of love, and a cautionary tale.