City Hall: Before

First, a little background on this poster.

In a unanimous 1989 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court found New York City's government to be unconstitutional. Specifically, the five boroughs had equal votes on the city's Board of Estimate despite having unequal populations. After 91 years of operating that way, things had to change.

The New York City Charter Revision Commission was formed to recommend a new arrangement. Part of that process was to create a 2'x3' poster to help city residents understand the existing, unacceptable set-up. Below is what I came up with (click on the image to enlarge), which was distributed to city officials and schools and also put up in subway stations. Yes, subway stations. [continued below]

I hid my first name among the 59 Community Board buildings (4th row from the bottom).

There was one snag while drawing the poster. I couldn't find complete pictures of Gracie Mansion, which would represent the mayor. This was pre-Internet, and the best source, the New York Public Library's photo archives, didn't have what I needed. So I subwayed up to Gracie Mansion and found the perfect view. Standing on an empty bucket with my head resting atop a brick wall surrounding the grounds, I made my sketches. I had an explanation ready if the guards at the main gate noticed, but that didn't turn out to be necessary.

A few days later, when I mentioned my field trip to my contact at the Charter Revision Commission, Gretchen Dykstra, she said, "You should have told me. I could have gotten you in." So I decided I needed to make some more sketches, and she arranged a private tour for me.

A memento

Nothing really stands out about seeing the mansion's insides aside from having to be hurried out toward the end. Mayor Ed Koch was about to arrive, and he didn't like finding strangers in the house. Just before I left, I asked for one of the matchbooks laying on the dining room tables. It now sits in a bookcase in my studio, next to an olio of other political collectibles I've accumulated over the years, most of them having to do with Grover Cleveland (something to explore another day).

Here's an article that appeared in The New York Times after the poster came out.

Tomorrow: the follow-up poster that showed the commission's proposal.