 This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. In 1974, The New Yorker first published a series about a political big shot in New York City. He was an appointee. He never held elective office. And even in the city, you might have recognized his name, but you probably wouldn't know what job he had.