411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
1894 New York City mayoral election
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
none
January 2025
November 2024
1894 New York City mayoral election Presidential no 1892 New York City mayoral election 1892 1897 New York City mayoral election 1897 (Greater New York) November 6, 1894 File:William L. Strong.jpg William L. Strong Republican Party (United States) 154,094 56.6% File:Hugh J. Grant.jpg Hugh J. Grant Democratic Party (United States) 108,907 40.0% 250px Results by Borough Mayor Thomas F. Gilroy Democratic Party (United States) William L. Strong Republican Party (United States)
An election for Mayor of New York City was held on November 6, 1894.
Incumbent mayor Thomas Francis Gilroy, whose administration had been severely weakened by the Lexow Committee investigations, was not a candidate for a second term. William Lafayette Strong, a reformist banker, easily defeated former mayor Hugh J. Grant to succeed Gilroy.
This was the final mayoral election held prior to the consolidation of Greater New York (including Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island) by a public referendum in December 1894. As a result of that referendum, Strong's term as mayor was extended by one year, making this the only election to a three-year term in office.
Background
Beginning with the election of Hugh J. Grant in 1888, Tammany Hall and boss Richard Croker had dominated New York City politics. Despite 1890 hearings in the New York Senate which uncovered evidence of bribery and corruption, Tammany won large majorities in the 1890 and 1892 elections.
In 1894, a more aggressive Senate investigation chaired by Clarence Lexow publicized New York Police Department corruption, bribery, and complicity in prostitution rings under police chief Bill Devery. During the hearings, Croker fled the country to Europe and Devery feigned an illness to avoid criminal prosecution. The Lexow Committee ultimately published over 10,000 pages of testimony, uncovering an institutional system of "extortion, bribery, counterfeiting, voter intimidation, election fraud, brutality, and scams" with direct involvement and leadership by high-ranking Tammany Hall members.2010-06-04 Mayor Thomas Gilroy: printer's devil, and Tammany's, too https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2010/06/mayor-thomas-gilroy-printers-devil-and.html 2024-12-02 The Bowery Boys: New York City History en-USRobert C. Kennedy , "On September 6, 1902, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about William Devery, the corrupt police chief of New York City" New York Times Sept 6. 2001 In response, Mayor Gilroy appointed a bipartisan board of police directors, but his popularity had sunk, and he did not stand for election to a second term.
In addition to the Tammany and police corruption scandals, the national fiscal depression dampened support for the incumbent Democratic Party in cities across the country.
General election
Candidates
George Gethin (Prohibition)
Hugh J. Grant, former mayor of New York City (Democratic)
James McCallum (People's)
Lucien Sanial, newspaper editor, economist, and activist (Socialist Labor)
William Lafayette Strong, banker (Republican, Empire State Democracy, New York State Democracy, Democratic Reform, and Good Government)
Withdrew
Nathan Straus, owner of Macy's and Abraham & Straus department stores (Democratic)
Campaign
The Democratic nomination initially went to department store magnate Nathan Straus, but he withdrew after two weeks, fearing reprisals against his businesses.Sharonsays 2008-09-09 Know Your Mayors: William Lafayette Strong https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2008/09/democrats-and-republicans-in-this-years.html 2024-12-02 The Bowery Boys: New York City History en-US
Results
Strong received support throughout the city, particularly from German and Jewish immigrants.1894 New York City mayoral election
Republican Party (United States) William Lafayette Strong 154,094 56.63%
Democratic Party (US) Hugh J. Grant 108,907 40.02%
Socialist Labor Party of America Lucien Sanial 7,225 2.67%
Prohibition Party George Gethin 780 0.29%
People's Party (United States) James McCallum 1,093 0.40%
Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States)
References
Mayoral election
Category:1894 New York (state) elections
New York
1894
Category:Tammany Hall
Category:November 1894 in the United States