who got caught in the nightmare of the city's bankruptcy.
Being here in Philly, almost a stone's throw away, my mom had subscribed to the NYT (and at one time, the Wall Street Journal - way before Murdoch, and it arrived in the U.S. mail every day), plus listened to NYC radio stations here (and could even pick up the ABC channel 7 here), so would get the scoop on what was going on up there from the '70s and on. 
(and ETA - I was always fascinated by the frequency assignments afforded the city - "660" (WNBC), "770" (WABC), & "880" (WCBS). I even remember when WNBC played music, where after changing formats, the call letters were changed as well to WFAN)
Dinkins, as the first black mayor, always had a struggle (I think he had been the Manhattan Borough President previously), and had continual run-ins with the PBA & Ghouliani, where Ghoul eventually cut Dinkins out of a 2nd term, and the rest is history with respect to going back to more "bombastic mayors".
The city is so unique, basically a conglomeration of 5 cities jammed together, but is also the epitome of a "political animal". 
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