Norman Mailer in front of 90 Delancey Street, 1969.

Writer and actor Norman Mailer ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic Party primary for Mayor of New York City in 1969. At the suggestion of Gloria Steinem and others, and with journalist Jimmy Breslin as an ally, running for City Council President, he campaigned largely on a platform of New York City secession. He advocated for the creation of a 51st state. His ideas for the city also included a monorail, a ban on private cars in Manhattan, and the self determination of individual neighborhoods to enact their own governance. Here he is on the Lower East Side speaking to the press. Mailer came in fourth in the primary with just 41,000 votes or just about 5 percent. Mayor John V. Lindsay was re-elected that November.