[1] She was formerly a professor at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study and the History Department of the College of Arts and Science at New York University (NYU).
Her book Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics was named a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for History.
The book is an account of how high-powered individuals fought against the legacy of the New Deal from World War to the election of Ronald Reagan as President.
[6] Phillips-Fein published her second book, Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics, in 2017.
[7] Fear City was named a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for History[8] and she received a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship.