PROGRAM

Please join us at Roosevelt House as we welcome Hunter College’s own Joseph P. Viteritti to mark the publication of his new book, The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio’s Quest to Save New York’s Soul. Viteritti, the Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy, will be in conversation with Joyce Purnick, the former Metro editor of the New York Times and the author of Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics.

The Pragmatist explores the rise, decline and regeneration of progressivism in New York from the time of Fiorello La Guardia through the years following the fiscal crisis of 1975.  Professor Viteritti presents Bill de Blasio’s  mayoralty as a test case for the very survival of progressivism at a time when the federal government has abandoned support for cities and adopted a policy agenda that minimizes help for those in need.  At Roosevelt House, Professor Viteritti and Ms. Purnick will discuss these issues and others, including why, in Viteritti’s estimation, Mayor de Blasio is an anomaly in American politics: a consummate insider, but one who plays by his own rules and continues to baffle observers.

We hope you will be able to participate in this important and timely discussion.