Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local political machine of the Democratic Party and played a major role in controlling New York City and New York State politics, and helped immigrants, most notably the Irish, rise in American politics from the 1850s into the 1960s. Tammany usually controlled Democratic nominations and political patronage in Manhattan for over 100 years following the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854, and used its patronage resources to build a loyal, well-rewarded core of district and precinct leaders; after 1850, the vast majority were Irish Catholics due to mass immigration from Ireland during and after the Irish Famine of the late 1840s.
The Tenderloin was an entertainment and red-light district in the heart of the New York City borough of Manhattan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Richard Welstead Croker, known as "Boss Croker", was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of Robert A. Van Wyck as the first mayor of all five boroughs. During his tenure as Grand Sachem, Boss Croker garnered a reputation for corruption and ruthlessness and was frequently the subject of investigations. As his power waned following the 1900 and 1901 elections, Croker resigned his position and returned to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his life.
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.
Thomas Francis Gilroy was the 89th mayor of New York City from 1893 to 1894.
Charles Becker was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department between the 1890s and the 1910s. He is known for the scandal of being convicted of first-degree murder and subsequently executed for the killing of Herman Rosenthal, a bookmaker and gambler, in 1912 near Times Square.
John William Goff, Sr. was an American lawyer and judge from New York City.
Clarence Lexow was an American politician and member of the New York Senate from 1894 to 1898.
Charles Frederick Lindauer I was a New York businessman and criminal. He was involved in the New York City corruption scandal of 1894 as the policy dealer, cigar dealer and tobacconist in Manhattan and Hoboken, at Lindauer and Company. He was a Free and Accepted Mason.
Charles Henry Parkhurst was an American clergyman and social reformer, born in Framingham, Massachusetts. Although scholarly and reserved, he preached two sermons in 1892 in which he attacked the political corruption of New York City government. Backed by the evidence he collected, his statements led to both the exposure of Tammany Hall and to subsequent social and political reforms.
The Hofstadter Committee, also known as the Seabury investigations, was a joint legislative committee formed by the New York State Legislature on behalf of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to probe into corruption in New York City, especially the magistrate's courts and police department in 1931. It led to major changes in the method of arrest, bail and litigation of suspects in New York City. It also coincided with the decline in Tammany Hall's political influence in New York State politics.
Albert James Adams, known as "The Policy King" and the "Meanest Man in New York," was an American racketeer. He ran the numbers game in New York City from around 1890 to around 1905.
Timothy Daniel Sullivan was a New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent leader within Tammany Hall. He was known euphemistically as "Dry Dollar", as the "Big Feller", and later as "Big Tim" because of his physical stature. He amassed a large fortune as a businessman running vaudeville and legitimate theaters, as well as nickelodeons, race tracks, and athletic clubs.
William Stephen Devery, nicknamed "Big Bill". was the last superintendent of the New York City Police Department police commission and the first police chief in 1898. Devery and Frank J. Farrell later co-owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.
Alexander S. Williams was an American law enforcement officer and police inspector for the New York City Police Department. One of the more colorful yet controversial figures of the NYPD, popularly known as "Clubber Williams" or "Czar of the Tenderloin", he oversaw the Tenderloin and Gas House districts as well as breaking up a number of the city's street gangs, most notably, the Gas House Gang in 1871. He, along with William "Big Bill" Devery and Thomas F. Byrnes, were among several senior NYPD officials implicated by the Lexow Committee during the 1890s.
Maximilian Frances Schmittberger was an American law enforcement officer and chief police inspector for the New York City Police Department from 1909 until his death in 1917. He and Captain John Price were both wardmen closely associated with Inspector Alexander "Clubber" Williams while a precinct captain in the Tenderloin district. Schmittberger later became a star witness testifying before the Lexow Committee on police corruption within the NYPD.
Samuel Seabury was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Seabury is famous for dedicating himself to a campaign against the corrupt Tammany dominance of New York City politics. He later presided over the extensive 1930–32 investigations of corruption in the New York City municipal government, which became known as the 'Seabury Hearings'. Seabury became a Georgist after reading Progress and Poverty.
The Committee of Seventy was a committee of 70 citizens of New York City, formed in 1871 and under the lead of Samuel J. Tilden, which conducted an investigation and prosecution of misuse of government office by William M. Tweed.
Daniel Bradley was an American politician from New York.
Philip Wissig was a German-American hatter, saloon keeper and politician from New York.
