I use the case of New York to explore how federal activism in the wake of crisis affects US urban regimes. Multiscalar policy networks, formerly used to extend neoliberalism to subnational levels, now feature an odd mix of progressives and neoliberals. I use the idea of path dependence to explain this indeterminacy in terms of the contradictory effects of US federalism on national regime formation: while federalism provided havens for progressives to mobilize for regime change, it also anchors defenders of neoliberalism and its legacies. The Obama administration has exploited crisis to move scalar relations in a progressive direction. This has brought some changes to New York's neoliberal regime. That, along with the White House's cool reaction to recent proposals from New York, suggest a break with the neoliberal apparatus. Yet neoliberal legacies constrain efforts to institutionalize new federal roles and scalar relations, leaving the New York regime unsettled. What seems the likely result is a heterodox national regime that combines state and market mechanisms and a policy network open to heterogeneous influences—a mix where progressives are back in contention, if not necessarily in control.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abu-LughodJ, 1999New York, Chicago, Los Angeles (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN)
2.
BagliC, 2009, “As finance offices empty, developers rethink ground zero”The New York Times 15 April, page A19
3.
BakerP, 2010, “What happened? The limits of Rahmism”The New York Times Magazine 14 March, pages 37–43, 52–55
4.
BhagwatiJ, 1998, “The capital myth: the difference between trade in widgets and dollars”Foreign Affairs777–12
BraniganW, 2009, “Obama lays out clean-energy plans”The Washington Post 24 March, page A5
8.
BrennerNTheodoreN, 2002, “Cities and geographies of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’”, in Spaces of Neoliberalism: Urban Restructuring in North America and Western Europe Eds BrennerNTheodoreN (Blackwell, Oxford) pp 2–32
ChanS, 2009, “White House was unlikely, Bloomberg tells biographer”The New York Times 8 August, page A14
14.
ChenD, 2009, “Much vilified, financial titans find a friend in Bloomberg”The New York Times 14 April, pages A17, A20
15.
City of New York, 2009, “Mayor Bloomberg announces major progress for New York City Anti-Poverty Strategy under Center for Economic Opportunity”, 21 April, http://www.nyc.gov/cgi-bin/misc/
16.
DavidG, 2009, “Playing politics with city budget”Crain's New York Business 1 June, page 11
17.
FainsteinS, 2001The City Builders: Property Development in New York and London, 1980–20002nd edition (University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS)
18.
FainsteinS, 2008, “Mega-projects in New York, London and Amsterdam”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research32769–785
19.
FainsteinSFainsteinN, 1991, “The changing character of community politics in New York City: 1968–1988”, in Dual City Eds MollenkopfJCastellsM (Russell Sage Foundation, New York) pp 315–332
20.
FainsteinSYoungK, 1992, “Politics and state policy in economic restructuring”, in Divided Cities: New York and London in the Contemporary World Eds FainsteinSGordonIHarloeM (Blackwell, Oxford) pp 203–235
21.
FreemanR BRogersJ, 2007, “The promise of progressive federalism” in Remaking America: Democracy and Public Policy in an Age of Inequality Eds SossJHackerJMettherS (Russell Sage Foundation, New York) pp 206–227
22.
FujitaKHillR C, forthcoming, “Industry clusters and transnational networks: Japan's new directions in regional policy”, in Locating Neoliberalism in East Asia: Neoliberal Spaces in Asian Developmental States Eds ParkBHillR CSaitoA (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford)
23.
GalbraithJ, 2009, “This crisis is way bigger than dead banks and Wall Street bailouts”The Washington Monthly 28 March
24.
GladstoneDFainsteinS, 2001, “Tourism in US global cities: a comparison of New York and Los Angeles”Journal of Urban Affairs2123–40
25.
HerzenhornD, 2009, “A smaller, faster stimulus plan, but with a lot of money”The New York Times 13 February, page A14
26.
IndergaardM, 2009, “What to make of NewYork's new economy? The politics of the creative field”Urban Studies461063–1094
27.
JessopB, 2001, “Institutional re(turns) and the strategic–relational approach”Environment and Planning A331213–1235
28.
JessopB, 2002, “Liberalism, neoliberalism, and urban governance: a state-theoretical perspective”Antipode34452–472
29.
JessopB, 2008State Power (Polity Press, Cambridge)
KatzA, 2010, “Gentrification hangover”The American Prospect (January/February) pages 17–20
32.
KingNJrMcCrakenJ, 2009, “U.S. forced Chrysler's creditors to blink”The Wall Street Journal 11 May, pages A1, A16
33.
KrinskyJ, 2007a, “The urban politics of workfare: New York City's welfare reforms and the dimensions of welfare policy making”Urban Affairs Review42771–798
34.
KrinskyJ, 2007bFree Labor (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL)
35.
KrugmanP, 2009a, “Out of the shadows”The New York Times 19 June, page A27
36.
KrugmanP, 2009b, “Averting the worse”The New York Times 10 August, page A17
37.
KuttnerR, 2009, “Betting the fed”American Prospect (June) 33–37
38.
LauriaM (Ed.), 1996Reconstructing Urban Regime Theory: Regulating Urban Politics in a Global Economy (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA)
39.
LeonhardtD, 2009, “After the great recession”The New York Times Magazine 3 May, pages 36–41, 76, 87
40.
LowensteinR, 2010, “Testimony of Ronnie Lowenstein, Director of the New York City Independent Budget Office to the New York City Council Finance Committee on the Mayor's Preliminary Budget for 2011”, 4 March
41.
LuceE, 2009, “Few escape blame over subprime explosion”The Financial Times 6 May, page 3
42.
McGeehan, 2010, “In New York, Wall Street bailout softens the blow of a recession”The New York Times 3 March, pages A1, A27
43.
MachtD, 2009, “Masters of universe confront a new world”Crain's New York Business 2 February, page 18
44.
MasseyD, 2009a, “Economic development 2.0”Crain's New York Business 18 May, pages 3, 9
45.
MasseyD, 2009b, “NYC passes $2.7b break for big biz”Crain's New York Business 8 June, pages 1, 8
46.
MedinaJ, 2009, “Education's odd couple do their act and promote controversy”The New York Times 2 April, page A25
New York Apollo Alliance, 2009a, “The new Apollo Program, the economic stimulus and NYC: public forum discusses how federal level action could affect New Yorkers and the City”, press release, 3 February
52.
New York Apollo Alliance, 2009b, “New York Apollo Alliance calls on Governor and Mayor to prioritize green principles in stimulus fund disbursement”, press release, 25 February
53.
NYC Center for Economic Opportunity, 2009, “The City of New York's proposal for a Federal Urban Innovation Fund”, http://www.nyc.gov/cgi-bin/misc
OsborneD, 1990The Laboratories of Democracy (Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA)
56.
ParrottJ, 2009a, “The impact of the economic crisis on the Bronx workforce”, testimony before the Bronx Borough Board, Fiscal Policy Institute, New York, 22 January
57.
ParrottJ, 2009b, “Something's slowing plunge: taxpayer bailouts”Crain's New York Business 20 April, page 9
58.
PeckJ, 2002, “Political economies of scale: fast policy, interscalar relations, and neoliberal workfare”Economic Geography78331–360
SangerD, 2009, “‘Great Society’ plan for the middle class”The New York Times 28 February, page A14
63.
ScottJ, 2005, “Mayor wins wide praise for initiatives on housing”The New York Times 4 November, pages B1, B5
64.
ScottR, 2008, “When giants fall: shutdown of one or more US automakers could eliminate up to 3.3 million U.S. jobs”, briefing paper, 3 December, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC
65.
SheppardK, 2008, “The green gap”American Prospect19 (May) pp 18–21
66.
SilverH, 2010, “Obama's urban policy: a symposium”City and Community (March) pp 3–12
67.
SimonB, 2009, “Chastened GM sets out on a fresh start”The Financial Times 12 July, page 1
68.
SitesW, 1997, “The limits of urban regime theory: New York City under Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani”Urban Affairs Review32536–557
69.
SitesW, 2003Remaking New York (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN)
70.
SollarsM, 2009, “Stimulus = status quo”Crain's New York Business 16 February, pages 3–4
WyldeK, 2009b, “Financial sector is key to bolstering economy: city could reinvent itself by diversifying into new sectors”Crain's New York Business 2 February, page 16
