Census reports that whites have become a minority of city residents. Jealous lover sets fire to Happy Land, a social club in the Bronx, killing 87, mostly Honduran immigrants. Construction uncovers African Burial Ground, cemetery for blacks in the 18th century. Nine die in stampede to get into rap concert at City College. Feds convict mob boss John Gotti after 3 acquittals.
Voters approve term limits for city officeholders.
Welfare rolls decline after reaching peak in 1993. Concrete removed from Carnegie Hall stage. Wiring of the city for cable TV completed, three decades after first cables were strung in Manhattan. Deaths from AIDS decline. 1997 New Amsterdam Theater reopens as Times Square booms.