Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning
| Author | Jonathan Mahler |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | History |
| Set in | New York City |
| Published | 2006 |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishers |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 368 |
| ISBN |
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning is a book by Jonathan Mahler that focuses on the year 1977 in New York City. It is 'a layered account', 'kaleidoscopic', 'a braided narrative', that weaves political, cultural, and sporting threads into one narrative. It was first published in 2006, and was the basis for the television drama The Bronx Is Burning.
Part of the phrase surfaced in television media in 1972 as the title of an episode from the Man Alive documentary series co-produced by BBC Television and Time-Life Films. Entitled The Bronx Is Burning, the hour-long episode shadowed Engine Company 82 and Ladder Company 31 as they operated throughout the Bronx, chronicling the impact of austerity upon fire safety services in the borough.
It was five years later in this same borough that Game 2 of the 1977 World Series was played on October 12th at Yankee Stadium. ABC cameras covering the game cut to a helicopter shot of the surrounding neighborhood where a large fire was shown raging out of control in Public School 3, a building occupying the block bordered by Melrose and Courtlandt Avenues and 157th and 158th Streets. The following exchange occurred between ABC announcers Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell:
Jackson: "That is a live picture, obviously a major fire in a large building in the south Bronx region of New York City. That's a live picture, and obviously the fire department in the Bronx have there, a problem. My goodness, that's a huge blaze."
Cosell: "That's the very area where President Carter trod just a few days ago."
About nine minutes later, viewers were again being shown the scene of the fire from the helicopter's camera:
Cosell: "That's a live shot again, of that fire in the south Bronx that Keith called to your attention just a few moments ago. Wonder how many alarms are involved? But as Keith said, the fire department really has its work cut out for it."
Altogether the two men spoke about the fire on five separate occasions. Television viewers were repeatedly assured that no one had been hurt, but were told mistakenly that the site was a vacant apartment building. According to the New York Post, the words used by the two broadcasters during the game were later "spun by credulous journalists" into the now ubiquitous phrase "Ladies and gentleman, the Bronx is burning" without either of the two announcers actually having phrased it that way.
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