Traces the rise of New York City as a brand and the resultant transformation of urban politics and public life. This title shows that the branding of New York was not simply a marketing tool; rather it was a political strategy.

Winner of the 2009 Robert Park Book Award for best Community and Urban Sociology book! Branding New York traces the rise of New York City as a brand and the resultant transformation of urban politics and public life. Greenberg addresses the role of "image" in urban history, showing who produces brands and how, and demonstrates the enormous consequences of branding. She shows that the branding of New York was not simply a marketing tool; rather it was a political strategy meant to legitimatize market-based solutions over social objectives.

"A cunning, wonderfully dialectical analysis" - Mike Davis, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine "I love New York. I am equally taken by Miriam Greenberg's fascinating account of how powerful political interests invented this famous slogan as a strategy for asserting their claim over the city's image, resources, policies, and priorities." - Dennis Judd, Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois, Chicago "This concise work explores the efforts of New York elites to brand their city in order to deal with repeated crises confronting the city in the last third of the 20th century...a well-written and thoroughly researched urban history that makes a valuable contribution to the field. Highly recommended." -- T.A. Aiello, Choice, February 2009