1969 Gurvin Pictorial Map of New York City for Norman Mailer's Mayoral Campaign

This is a 1969 Abe Gurvin pictorial map of New York City, created as a campaign poster for the Norman Mailer - Jimmy Breslin campaign promoting the idea that New York City should secede from New York, becoming its own state. Mailer and Breslin ran on this platform in the 1969 New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Election. The Fillmore-style poster evokes the Summer of Love and incorporates a recognizable map of New York City. King Kong marks Manhattan and appears atop the Empire State Building battling planes. The Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Gardens represent the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island are not marked in the same way using landmarks to personify the borough. Certain neighborhoods also garner this treatment, including Coney Island (roller coaster), Forest Hills (tennis racket and tennis ball), and Far Rockaway (a beach and a beach umbrella).

The 1969 Mayoral Election and New York City: The 51st State

Norman Mailer, the celebrated novelist, filmmaker, and journalist, ran for New York City mayor in 1969 and had Jimmy Breslin, a newspaper columnist and author, as his running mate for City Council President. Mailer and Breslin promoted many unconventional solutions to problems facing the city, including traffic congestion, crime, school overcrowding, and air pollution. Perhaps their most unusual plank, however, was statehood for New York City. Mailer proposed that the five boroughs should secede from New York State and become the 51st state. If elected, he proposed that the first step would be to hold a referendum on the question of statehood. Mailer and Breslin finished second to last in the Democratic Primary, winning five percent of the vote.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Abe Gurvin and printed by the G. Ned Stone Company in 1969. This piece is not cataloged in OCLC. It appears occasionally on the private market.