The NYC Special Election of 1950

Last night there was a lively debate for the Public Advocate special election on February 26th. As previously noted, this is the first city-wide special election since 1950, when Acting Mayor Vincent Impelliteri was elected to complete the term of recently-resigned Mayor William O'Dwyer.

This upcoming special election was triggered when former Public Advocate Tish James was elected as New York State Attorney General last November and subsequently vacated the office. She ran for AG after former NY AG Eric Schneiderman resigned in a scandale.

Not surprisingly, scandale is what triggered the last city-wide special election in 1950. O'Dwyer was under heat for his connections to organized crime so he accepted President Truman's offer to become Ambassador to Mexico and promptly resigned in the summer of that year. City Council President Impelliteri became Acting Mayor and then ran in the special election.

This was at a time when Tammany Hall still exerted a lot of power over NYC politics and, for whatever reason, Tammany and Impelliteri had had a falling out -- so Tammany didn't support him for mayor. So Impelliteri, or Impy as he was popularly known, quickly created and ran on his own party line -- the Experience Party -- and won.

His victory would be short-lived. In 1950, the New York State government was completely controlled by Republicans, under the leadership of Governor Tom Dewey, and they did everything they could to thwart Impy's initiatives to govern the city (it's the opposite today, where the Democrats completely control the New York State government). Robert Moses was another powerful presence, heading various state and city agencies that turned Moses' policy preferences (i.e. building highways) into the mayor's. So Impy was boxed in -- and, in 1953, Tammany got its revenge when it supported Robert Wagner in the 1953 primary and Impy lost.

NYC would then not have another city-wide special election until now -- for almost 69 years. And whoever wins this race for Public Advocate will be in a powerful position to run for mayor either in 2021 or later on. 

A Man Called Impy

NYC's Mayors are a ubiquitous bunch: Rudy's running for Prez ... Mike might run for Prez ... Ed Koch
still materializes wherever a live microphone or TV camera is present ... Dinkins gives the occasional interview. Some other Mayors still live in the popular imagination of New Yorkers: the forceful LaGuardia (who recently had a mailbox named after him - I kid), the sturdy Wagner, the dapper but ultimately tragic Lindsay, the good but overwhelmed Abe Beame. Yet one 20th century Mayor seems lost to history, destined to be remembered (if at all) as a fluke and a failure - Vincent Richard Impelliteri (1900-1987; Mayor: 1950-1953).

Call him the forgotten Mayor of memorable times. He came to power after Mayor O'Dwyer resigned in 1950 (under a legal cloud) to become Ambassador to Mexico. The City Council President, Impelliteri, became Acting Mayor and then won a special election to complete O'Dwyer's term. His time in office produced no great achievements and it is widely believed his adminstration was heavily Mobbed up. However, it was during this man's tenure - a man who called himself Impy - that Robert Moses, the great builder, began massive housing and highway projects that transformed this city into what she is today. It was during Impy's time that the United Nations opened for business in 1952; he was the first and only Mayor to address the UN General Assembly until Giuliani in 2001 (after the attacks on America). And it was during Impy's brief tenure that Bobby Thomson hit "the shot heard 'round the world", winning the NY Giants the National League Penant and making baseball history in 1951. (Read the first chapter of Don DeLillo's Underworld for more.) Impy was defeated for re-election in 1953 and disappeared. He died in 1987, and was not greatly mourned. However, he was a man whose moment was memorable indeed and perhaps he did a little good along the way.

Today, Mr NYC, doffs his hat and raises a carbonated beverage to his memory. At Sardi's, above the pictures of the Broadway stars, are pictures of the Mayors. And when I was there, I'm sure I was the only one who recognized Impy's mug, and was heartened to see him having the last smirk.

Offical Bio

Mr NYC Ahead of His Time

The 2025 NYC Democratic Mayoral primary will end on June 24th and it will go down in history as one of the most befuddling in our fair city. The leading candidates are a former NY State governor (Andrew Cuomo) who resigned in disgrace four years ago and a Muslim Socialist Assemblyman (Zohran Mamdani). 

Once upon a time -- let's say, ten years ago -- the idea that either person could win a primary and maybe get elected mayor seemed unthinkable. Yet here we are. Of course once upon a time we never imagined that a bankrupt conman convicted felon and adjudicated rapist who was twice impeached and tried to violently destroy democracy could be elected -- and re-elected -- President. Yet here we are. 

Dark times. Weird times. Take your pick.

But staying closer to home, one really has to wonder how Cuomo and Mandami became the mayoral frontrunners. This article posits that it's due to the withering of the political clubs in NYC. Tammany Hall is long gone, and the remaining clubs no longer have the power to "deliver" votes that carry mayors to victory. Instead, individualized campaigns took over from the clubs, public financing meant that clubs couldn't throw around money in quite the same way. Clubs can canvas and help turn out voters but they don't have the patronage power of jobs that they used to, they don't have the neighborhood-to-neighborhood power that they used to. And obviously television and social media and outright fame can deliver vastly more voters than a party boss.  

The article also revives the memory of a mayor that I blogged about in 2007: Vincent Impelliteri (called Impy) who was handpicked by Tammany Hall to run for City Council President in 1945 because he was an Italian from Manhattan ;they needed to balance the citywide slate (Mayor, William O'Dwyer; Comptroller, Lazarus Joseph; City Council, Impelliteri) with an Irishman, a Jew, and an Italian. When O'Dywer resigned in 1950 Impy became mayor. This is held up as an example of how clubs, the political "machines", made mayors back then.

But one thing the article gets somewhat wrong is that while the political clubs and machines can't "make mayors" these days, they can still make members of the city council, State Assembly and State Senate. No, they can't make another Impy -- or Robert Wagner or (going even farther back) Jimmy Walker, but the clubs/machines still wield a lot of power in NYC under the radar. 

So here we are, less than a week before the primary, and the most likely winners are a guy running on huge name-recognition and another on social media savvy. 

Tammany Hall could never have imagined that.

If you want to know more about where Zohran came from, read this article by three-time Mr NYC interviewee Ross Barkan about Zohran when Ross ran for State Senate in 2018 and Zohran worked for him. It's interesting to see where this possibly transformative political figure came from and who he is.

And remember, I was blogging about all of these people -- Cuomo, Zohran, Ross, even  Impy! -- several YEARS before this current moment. 

And yet again Mr NYC is ahead of his time while the rest of NYC is catching up!

Mr NYC Ahead of His Time

As the legal inferno involving Mayor Eric Adams continues to burn, some NYC scribes are rememebering other mayors from times gone by that also got into trouble.

The two mayors mostly commonly remembered for getting into big trouble are Jimmy Walker and William O'Dwyer, both of whom resigned in 1932 and 1950, respectively, and then fled the country. Also there was Fernando Wood, the 19th mayor who was vastly more corrupt than either Adams, Walker or O'Dywer -- and never got into trouble at all.

I recently came upon a few articles (here, here and here) about these men, comparing their stories to the predicament that Eric Adams finds himself in (sadly two of these articles are behind a paywall).

But Mr NYC, yours truly, was blogging about these naughty mayors long ago, before any of this meshugas (read about them here and here) -- and remember, Mr NYC is always ahead of his time.

Election Aftermath

It's really hard to know where to begin in analyzing yesterday's election. There was some good news but mostly it was bad. And trying to make sense of it all will be difficult. But I shall try.

First, the bad news: it was a bummer to see Mayor Bloomberg win a third term that, if the real will of the voters had been respected, he wouldn't have been able to run for. And it was also unsettling that a couple of Republicans out in Queens won City Council races using vile tactics.

Bloomberg proved that lots of money and negative ads work. He so distorted and corrupted the playing field that it was impossible to have an honest debate on the issues. Also, Republicans Dan Halloran and Peter Koo won city council seats by a) in Halloran's case, whipping up anti-Asian sentiment and having his campaign thugs go around intimidating voters, and b) in Koo's case, spreading lies and rumors among Jewish voters that his Democratic opponent Yen Chou was an anti-Semite. These races were close but, still, the typical divisive, dishonest, nasty modus operandi of the Republican party was on full display this campaign season. It's depressing that it worked its evil magic once again. Nauseating. But ultimately the Democrats ran poor campaigns so they have only themselves to blame. Bullies and bad people will be get away with it if the good guys let them.

Second, the good news. John Liu was elected City Comptroller and is now the first Asian American citywide elected official. He won more votes than any other candidate, even Bloomberg. I supported him from the start so I'm glad to see that he won. But the REALLY good news is that Bloomberg margin of victory was an embarrassing five percent. FIVE PERCENT! He spent nearly $100 million on this race against a broke, unknown opponent and that's all he came up with! He spent almost $200 per vote. Wow.

Here's my analysis: a win is a win. Can't spin that. But usually incumbents are re-elected in landslides. In 2005, Bloomberg won with 59% of the vote -- so he suffered an eight percent swing against him this year. That does not bode well for his new term. It's not like he's going to be a new mayor who can win over the people who voted against him (which he did during his first term, after he had won with only 50% of the vote in 2001). The people of NYC today know what kind of Mayor Bloomberg is; that 49% is hardened against him, pissed that he won. Barring another 9/11-like event or something that calls upon him to use his superior skills, that 49% is gone. They won't forgive him for any mistakes he might make in his third, dubiously acquired term. And that 51% that voted for him is vulnerable to getting pissed off he does make any mistakes. They might end up regretting their vote. Then he he'll have no support left.

The result? Mike Bloomberg risks leaving office in four years a despised mayor -- like his third term brethren LaGuardia, Wagner, and Koch did. By the end of their third terms, New Yorkers were totally sick of them. They had outstayed their welcome. Then the city voted for mayors (O'Dwyer, Lindsay, Dinkens) who were totally different from them. And based on the results of last night, that's the direction Bloomberg is going in. His successor could be 180 degrees different from him, elected out of disgust and exhaustion with him -- and that will be a stain on his legacy, a legacy that up until now seemed unassailable.

Now I could be wrong, but I don't think so. And if I'm right, just tell folks that you heard it here first.

So for Mr NYC, election 2009 ends with a sigh, a shrug, and fingers crossed for a better future for his city.

Mr NYC Ahead of His Time -- Also, Mr NYC Corrects the Record

Currently there is a swirl of buzz in the NYC media world about the corruption investigation into Mayor Eric Adams -- and whether or not it might lead to his resignation (including the idea that former Governor Andrew Cuomo might run to replace him, that'd be wild).

Anyway, this morning I came across this article from City and State NY with this headline: "No NYC mayor has resigned Since 1932. But here's what would happen if they did."

Now let's not get to hung up on the grammer of this headline ("No mayor" is singular, "they" is plural), and the article does a fine job explaining how the line of succession works per the city charter --- but the headline is just flat-out, historically wrong.

While a mayor, Jimmy Walker, did resign in 1932 another mayor also resigned in 1950 -- William O'Dwyer. I even did a blog post in 2019 about the special election of 1950. I even wrote a blog post about the mayor who was elected in that special election -- Vincent Impelliteri -- all the way back in 2007!  

So the record now stands corrected!

Sorry Mike

Mayor Drops Off Time’s 100

Challenge for Bloomberg: Vacancies at the Top

The Mayor is running for a third term but the third time has rarely been the proverbial charm. Mayors LaGuardia, Wagner, and Koch all had troubled third terms and they were all succeeded by people who were their political opposites (O'Dwyer, Lindsay, and Dinkins) and who all had really rough Mayoralty's and the city suffered as a result.

Are you still sure you want this, Mike?

Uninteresting Interesting Times

So the FBI just raided the homes of the First Deputy Mayor, the Schools Chancellor (on the first day of school no less!), the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, and, oh, the police commissioner!

This is, uh, not good. But, if you've been following this blog and its musings on Hizzoner, it's not exactly a surprise. At this rate, Adams heading to be another Jimmy Walker or William O'Dwyer.

We live in interestinging times ... and it's so boring!

Gabe Pressman, RIP

The legendary NYC reporter Gabe Pressman died today at the age of 93. Pressman was an institution in this city, covering every mayor from William O'Dwyer in the early 1950s to Bill De Blasio today. If you wanted to know what was going on this town, Pressman knew. A TV reporter, he was as comfortable reporting form the streets as he was interviewing the powerful from a studio. He knew every inch of this city, understood its complexities, and helped New Yorkers learn more about their hometown than anyone else. He'll be missed.

Gotta Love New Yorkers

When it comes to New Yorkers, we are audacious bunch of people, in ways both good and bad. Recently I have read about a few things that New Yorkers, both past and present, have done that have both inspired and shocked me, filled me with hope as well as dread, reminding me about what people in this town can do, for better or worse. For example:

There's the story of Neir's Tavern out in Queens -- the oldest one in NYC and one of the oldest in the United States, dating back almost 200 years -- that was literally hours away from closing. But then the mayor, the community, as well as some landlords who came to their senses, were able to broker a deal and keep the legendary pub open. It was a beautiful example of people uniting in a good cause to do something for the common good and prevailing, keeping part of our history alive. New Yorkers at their best!

Then there's Hope Consolo. Who was she? She was a very successful real estate broker in NYC for decades who died a few years ago. At first, upon her death, retrospectives of her life story had made it seem like she was an admirable woman who has forged a great career. In reality? She was a fraud. She lied about her background, her accomplishments, and was a sleazy and dishonest a businessperson. Her revised obituary makes for fascinating reading because it's a story of pure sociopathy, pure greed, pure vanity, pure heartlessness. If you wonder how another dishonest real estate person from NYC made it to the White House, this deep-dive into the life of this lesser known person gives you a glimpse into the fetid world of NYC real estate world they both operated in and that is now stinking up the country.

Another person with a less than savory legacy is William O'Dwyer. He was mayor in the late 1940s and his entire mayoralty was basically a tool for the mafia. He was controlled by organized crime. In 1950, just months into his second terms, he resigned, left the country, and never returned. The story of his rise and fall is fascinating and depressing, the story of a time in our city's history when its government was not being run for the benefit of its people. The story its like something out of a crime movie -- but it was depressingly real.

But then there's The Snowy Day. This is a great children's book by the NYC born author Ezra Jack Keats. Published in 1962, it's a very simple story about a young black boy who goes out and plays with the snow. The story is so simple and so beautifully told that it's become a classic. It won the Caldecott Medal in 1963 but it's now won an even bigger prize -- it's the most checked out book in the history of the New York Public Library, having been checked out almost half a million times. That's more than any Harry Potter book, more than any Dr. Seuss book, more than any other book ever. I've read this story to my kids many times and the fact that I'm sharing this story with them along with hundres of thousands of other NYC kids, is heartwarming indeed.

Public Advocate: Special Election on February 26, 2019

Get more information about this special election, and who's running, here and here.

As far as I can tell, this is the first city-wide special election since, I jest not, 1950 -- when Acting Mayor Vincent Impelliteri was elected to complete recently resigned Mayor O'Dwyer's term. 

It's rather amazing to realize that, for almost 70 years, NYC has not had a vacant city-wide office (Mayor, Comptroller, City Council President/Public Advocate) requiring such an election. In those decades, New York State had had (at least) two governors, two Attorney Generals, and two Comptrollers resign. We've also had one U.S. President die and one resign (and, hopefully soon, a second). And in NYC ... stability. 

So this election is a historic moment, and I can't wait to be a part of it.

Mike: Then and Now

When Michael Bloomberg became the 108th Mayor of the City of New York on January 1st, 2002, a lot of people wondered "Why?"

Why did this very private billionaire -- a man who had a built a global financial/media empire, a man with the ultimate jet-set lifestyle who had homes all over the world, who dated beautiful women and was the consummate social animal, who could retire and live like Louis the 14th -- want such a tough, thankless, unglamorous job?

Why would he want to deal with the NYC public school system, formulate trash policies, haggle over the budget, battle the unions, attend funerals of police officers and firefighters, and get his balls broke daily in the press -- all for the salary of one dollar a year?

Was this just a huge act of noblesse oblige? Was he just so generous that he wanted to donate his superior skills (if not his money) to the people of the city that made him rich? Was he just so bored that he thought he'd try this mayor thing out for a while as a lark?

Why?

In April of 2002, 100 days into his first term, New York magazine speculated on this very question. Michael Tomasky wrote, "Just why did he want to do this? Is he happy -- really, deep down -- to have the job?"

Tomasky speculated that maybe Bloomberg was regretting his recent career move, found the job a bore, couldn't run out the clock fast enough to January 1st, 2006 when he could be free and retreat back into his lush life.

This week New York magazine answered it's own question from 2002, coming to the conclusion that Bloomberg wants to "own" New York. But it's more than that.

Mike became mayor because he was bored. He wants to remain mayor because he's in love.

With power. With fame. With public adoration. With the idea that he will single-handily shape NYC for generations to come.

This job has become an obsession to this man. It's not really a job anymore. It's like a woman he's become infatuated with and cannot stand to let go. He believes that he and only he can and should govern NYC. Only he knows how to lead us to the bright dawn of morning.

New York City is at a crossroads. We're in uncharted territory. We've never had a mayor like Bloomberg before. Never in our history has the richest man in town also been the most powerful. We're almost like a 16th Century German principality or some southern state in the 1930s.

And now, after the voters twice approved term limits, Bloomberg muscled through an extension to snag a third term. His greatness needs to spread to over a decade. According to some, Bloomberg is the best mayor we've ever had and deserves a third term.

But third terms have generally been disastrous for mayors. La Guardia's bad third term beget the criminal O'Dwyer and a mobbed up city government, Wagner's the incompetent Lindsay, and the fiscal crises, Koch's the ineffective Dinkins and a booming crime rate.

And if Bloomberg gets a third term, well, who knows who will follow him ... and what our city will be in for.