The Politics of Urban Beauty

"The Art Commission of the City of New York 'reviews all works of art designed for City property' from benches and streetlamps called street furniture to works of art placed on city buildings' walls as well as in the parks. The history is fascinating and some of the descriptions of the participants fighting with the art commission are hilarious. I recommend The Politics of Urban Beauty. It's easy and delightful reading and you will learn a lot.", former mayor of New York City>

--Edward I. Koch, former mayor of New York City

"Who decides how a city 'looks'? In Paris, it's been the government. In New York, it's been more a free-for-all, with contending classes and cultures battling to leave their stylistic mark on the metropolitan landscape. Still, for a century now, as Michele Bogart argues in this intriguing study, a major player in the aesthetic wars has been a municipal agency called the art commission, whose decisions on everything from mailboxes to monuments have had an outsized (and largely beneficial) impact on Gotham's public appearance."

--Mike Wallace, coauthor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

"Eminently readable, Michele H. Bogart's political analysis of design excellence relates tales, familiar and obscure, of the transformation of our city's character and aesthetic quality through the efforts of the Art Commission of the City of New York. From controversies about newsstands, signage, and memorials, to debates over parks, public art, and major public buildings, The Politics of Urban Beauty candidly speaks of the dramatic circumstances under which projects get built or blocked. Along with the passion of an engaged participant, former art commission member Bogart brings an historical perspective that edifies, clarifies, and excites any reader of the urban scene."

--Rick Bell, FAIA, executive director of the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter

"Outstanding. The Politics of Urban Beauty will be the definitive history of the Art Commission of the City of New York. The depth of the research is remarkable, as is Bogart's ability to narrate a highly complex story of New York politics and culture."The Creative Destruction of Manhattan>

--Max Page, author of The Creative Destruction of Manhattan