SAVING GOTHAM

In 2002, a dynamic doctor named Thomas Frieden became health commissioner of New York City. With political cover from the new mayor, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, Frieden and his team prohibited smoking in bars, outlawed trans fats in restaurants, and attempted to cap the size of sodas, among other contentious actions. The initiatives drew enormous controversy, but they worked: by 2011, 450,000 people had quit smoking, childhood obesity rates were falling, and life expectancy was increasing.

SAVING GOTHAM introduces a team of innovative doctors battling industry lobbyists, pliant politicians, and tabloid journalists. It also explores the changing role of public health departments in a new era of health, promoting New York as a model for global reforms. Tom Farley, who succeeded Frieden as health commissioner, argues that our greatest health risks are not infectious diseases or chemical toxins but rather corporations marketing unhealthy products that create a toxic health environment. A colorful story set in the bare-knuckle world of city politics, SAVING GOTHAM shows how America's largest city transformed the health of its citizens and set an example that is being copied around the world.

Tom Farley, MD, served as an epidemic intelligence service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before becoming commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene during the Bloomberg administration. His leadership resulted in groundbreaking public health policies that have inspired similar reforms in cities around the world. He is now a Fellow in Public Health at Hunter College.