No New York mayor, not even La Guardia, durably shaped the city.

Evidence

The city in which the shaping by his hand is most evident is New York, Titan of cities, colossal synthesis of urban hope and urban despair. It had become a cliché by the mid-twentieth century to say that New York was “ungovernable,” and this meant, since the powers of government in the city had largely devolved on its mayor, that no mayor could govern it, could hope to do more than merely stay afloat in the maelstrom that had engulfed the vast metropolis. In such a context, the cliché was valid. No mayor shaped New York; no mayor—not even La Guardia—left upon its roiling surface more than the faintest of lasting imprints. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 41

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines what “ungovernable” meant in the mid-century New York context — that mayors were merely staying afloat.