Key Takeaways
- Eric Adams is one of the few New York City mayors to be indicted while in office, joining A. Oakey Hall, who was charged with neglect of his official duties in 1871.
- The potential for scandal in any mayoral administration exists due to the enormous size of New York City government, which now tops 300,000 employees and requires a $116 billion budget.
- Several New York City mayors have been accused of perfidy, including Jimmy Walker, William O’Dwyer, Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani, and Bill de Blasio, but some escaped without charges or conviction.
- The city’s history of corruption is rooted in its complex political machine and the opportunities for graft and corruption that come with it.
- The extent to which a mayor is implicated in their administration’s scandals is a key factor in determining their culpability.
Introduction to New York City Mayoral Scandals
The history of New York City mayors is marked by scandals and corruption, with some mayors being accused of perfidy and others escaping without charges. Eric Adams, the current mayor, is one of the few to be indicted while in office, joining A. Oakey Hall, who was charged with neglect of his official duties in 1871. Hall was supposedly on watch when Boss Tweed and his nefarious Tammany Hall cabal looted and pillaged what today would be untold millions of dollars through inflated city contracts and a remarkable variety of shakedown schemes.
The Tammany Hall Era
The Tammany Hall era was marked by corruption and graft, with politicians like George Washington Plunkitt explaining the mindset of the time by insisting there was such a thing as "honest graft." Plunkitt said, "I seen my opportunities and I took ’em." The Boss, William Tweed, was found to hold a secret interest in the quarry that supplied the marble that built the Tweed Courthouse, a wildly inflated boondoggle that sits behind City Hall as an unrivaled monument to political corruption. Tweed himself died in prison, but Hall never did a day in jail, going on trial three times and ultimately being acquitted.
Modern Mayoral Scandals
In modern times, several New York City mayors have been accused of perfidy, including Jimmy Walker, William O’Dwyer, Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani, and Bill de Blasio. Jimmy Walker, the impeccably dressed Tammany Hall mayor of the Roaring ’20s, was accused of accepting thousands of dollars from vendors seeking city contracts, which he called "gifts" and was never charged. William O’Dwyer, a prosecutor who had brought down the mob world’s assassination combine, Murder Inc., resigned as mayor in 1950 amidst a cop scandal involving organized crime. Ed Koch’s reputation tanked due to his choice to allow the city’s most powerful political machine strongmen to divvy up municipal agencies and install their cronies to run them.
The Giuliani and Bloomberg Eras
Rudy Giuliani’s legacy suffered due to his choice of Bernard Kerik as police commissioner, who pleaded guilty to a wide variety of crimes after his tenure at One Police Plaza. Mike Bloomberg managed to get through two of his three terms unscathed by corruption allegations, but his run of good luck came to an end in 2011 when the city’s Department of Investigation and federal prosecutors announced indictments against several consultants hired to oversee the digitizing of the city’s payroll system under a program dubbed CityTime. The scam ripped off taxpayers for $600 million through inflated invoices and shell companies.
The de Blasio Era
Bill de Blasio came close to indictment after the Manhattan U.S. attorney found evidence the mayor had solicited donations for a nonprofit he controlled from real estate developers, businessmen, and lobbyists seeking favors from his administration. The mayor denied any wrongdoing, but the Manhattan U.S. attorney, Cy Vance Jr., ultimately declined to bring charges. Vance also demurred on another de Blasio effort involving fundraising aimed at switching state Senate leadership from Republican to Democrat, determining that de Blasio’s role in funneling funds violated the spirit of campaign finance rules, but not the law.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the history of New York City mayors is marked by scandals and corruption, with some mayors being accused of perfidy and others escaping without charges. The potential for scandal in any mayoral administration exists due to the enormous size of New York City government, and the extent to which a mayor is implicated in their administration’s scandals is a key factor in determining their culpability. As the city continues to grow and evolve, it is essential to remember the lessons of the past and work towards a more transparent and accountable government.
