Fiorello Henry La Guardia was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1946. He was known for his irascible,energetic,and charismatic personality and diminutive,rotund stature. An ideologically socialist member of the Republican Party,La Guardia was frequently cross-endorsed by parties other than his own,especially parties on the left under New York's electoral fusion laws. A panel of 69 scholars in 1993 ranked him as the best big-city mayor in American history.
William O'Dwyer was an Irish-American politician who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City,holding that office from 1946 to 1950. O'Dwyer went on to serve President Harry Truman as Ambassador to Mexico from 1950–1952. O'Dwyer began his political career by serving as the Kings County District Attorney from 1940–45. His brother Paul O'Dwyer served as President of the City Council from 1973–77,and his nephew Brian O'Dwyer was appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul as New York State Gaming Commission Chair in 2022.
Vincent Richard Impellitteri was an Italian-American politician and judge who served as the 101st Mayor of New York City from 1950 to 1953. He was elected as a Democrat and president of the City Council in 1945 and reelected in 1949. When Mayor William O'Dwyer resigned in 1950,he became acting mayor. He lost the Democratic primary for the nomination for the rest of the term but was subsequently elected mayor on a new ticket,the "Experience Party". He lost the Democratic primary when he ran for a full term in 1953 and became a judge in 1954.
The New York City police commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department as well as the appointment of deputies including the Chief of Department and subordinate officers. Commissioners are civilian administrators,and they and their subordinate deputies are civilians under an oath of office,not sworn members of the force. This is a separate position from the chief of department,who is the senior sworn uniformed member of the force. The first deputy commissioner is the commissioner and department's second-in-command. The office of the police commissioner is located at the NYPD Headquarters,One Police Plaza. Both the commissioner and first deputy commissioner outrank all uniformed officers,including the chief of department.
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
Augustus Newbold Morris was an American politician,lawyer,president of the New York City Council,and two-time candidate for mayor of New York City.
The New York City fire commissioner is the civilian administrator of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY),and is appointed by the Mayor of the City of New York. Prior to 1865,the New York City Fire Department was staffed by volunteers. On March 30,1865 the New York State legislature passed a law organizing the Metropolitan Fire Department as a paid firefighting force that took control of all the powers and authority of the volunteer department,as well as all the assets such as the fire trucks,equipment,and buildings. The law also created a commission to oversee the department,and for its administration and functioning. After a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the law was dismissed by the New York Court of Appeals,it immediately started to operate.
Frank J. Quayle Jr. was appointed the 15th Fire Commissioner of the City of New York by Mayor William O'Dwyer on January 1,1946 and served in that position until his resignation on December 1,1950.
Edith Evans Asbury was an American journalist who spent nearly 30 years as a reporter with The New York Times.
Lewis Joseph Valentine was the New York City Police Commissioner from 1934 to 1945,under Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia during the Murder,Inc. era. He was the author of an autobiography Night stick:The autobiography of Lewis J. Valentine. He was Police Commissioner of New York for eleven years,longer than any other previous person in that position. Time magazine credited him with cleaning up the department so that New York City had one of the most honest police departments in the nation.
George Skakel was an American businessman. He founded the Great Lakes Carbon Corporation,and was the father of Ethel Kennedy,the widow of Robert F. Kennedy.
The La Guardia and Wagner Archives was established in 1982 at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City,Queens,New York,to collect,preserve,and make available primary materials documenting the social and political history of New York City,with an emphasis on the mayoralty and the borough of Queens. The purpose of its founding went beyond serving as a repository,but to establish the college as a location for scholarly research. The archives serves a broad array of researchers,journalists,students,scholars,exhibit planners,and policy makers. Its web site provides guidelines to the collections,as well as over 55,000 digitized photographs and close to 2,000,000 digitized documents.
The 1945 New York City mayoral election took place on November 6,1945,in New York City. The candidates were King County District Attorney William O'Dwyer,a Democrat,and Jonah J. Goldstein,a Republican judge,as well as other,third-party candidates.
The 1929 New York City mayoral election was held on November 5 in concert with other municipal elections. Democratic incumbent Jimmy Walker defeated Republican challenger Fiorello H. La Guardia in what was considered "a Crushing Defeat to [the] City G.O.P. [delivered]" by Tammany Hall. Socialist candidate Norman Thomas also ran,as did Socialist Labor candidate Olive M. Johnson and former Police Commissioner Richard Edward Enright for the Square Deal Party.
Fiorello La Guardia served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from January 1,1934,to January 1,1946. His mayoralty presided over New York City during the Great Depression and World War II. He is considered the builder of modern New York City due to his numerous infrastructure projects. He replaced John P. O'Brien and was succeeded by William O'Dwyer.
Stephen Patrick Kennedy was an American law enforcement officer who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1955 to 1961.
William P. O'Brien was an American law enforcement officer who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1949 to 1950.
The 1950 New York City special mayoral election was held on November 7,1950. Incumbent Democratic Mayor William O'Dwyer had resigned as mayor of New York City in August 1950 to become the United States Ambassador to Mexico. As a result,fellow Democrat Vincent R. Impellitteri became acting mayor in August,having to run in the special election in November to serve out the remaining three years of O'Dwyer's term. Ultimately,Impellitteri was not nominated by New York City Democrats in this election. However,Impellitteri won the election as a third-party candidate.
