When the people of New York have their say on Election Day, there’s always plenty of drama that goes with the territory. Warren Shaw, a former NYU professor and a city historian, shared a few of the doozies. From the city’s shortest mayoralty, to our most violent election and how a presidential election gave birth to the infamous Tammany political machine: This is his Election Day New York.
1. Masonic Hall, 314 Broadway
The most tumultuous election in city history took place in 1834, when the city held its first runoff for mayor, until then an appointed office. It pitted Democrat Cornelius Lawrence against Gulian Verplanck, a Whig. Voting took place over three days, which were marked by brawls and riots, as each side tried to keep the other from casting ballots. The two parties “built what amounted to mock battleships on wheels, named the Constitution and the Veto, to carry voters to the polls to protect them,” says Shaw. The mayor at the time, Gideon Lee (above), appealed to the rioters outside of the Masonic Hall to stop, and was severely injured for his efforts.
2. Home of former Mayor John Lindsay, 1 W. 67th St.
“John Lindsay was probably the most controversial mayor of any city in the 20th century,” notes Shaw. “That made him an extremely odd choice to be Richard Nixon’s presidential running mate in 1968.” But it seems one of Lindsay’s staffers tried to sell the law-and-order Nixon on the idea, “because one of my proudest possessions is a political button that reads ‘Nixon/Lindsay,’ ” says Shaw, who believes they were printed up by “this unknown staffer in his overheated imagination.”
3. City Hall
The mayoral election of 1884 put Democrat William Grace in office, and also led to the shortest mayoralty in city history: just 12 hours.Back then an outgoing mayor’s term ended at midnight on Dec. 31, with the next mayor sworn in at noon the next day. The lame duck that year was Franklin Edson. “At midnight he announced that his term was over and walked out of City Hall.” With nobody at the wheel, the president of the board of aldermen, William Kirk, pronounced himself mayor by succession. “Then at noon, Kirk walked out and Grace walked in,” says Shaw. “The entire 12-hour mayoralty was eventually declared invalid. Really bizarre.”
4. Aaron Burr’s estate Richmond Hill, corner of Varick and Charlton streets
New York City’s most important involvement in a presidential race came in 1800, when the city played a key role in electing Thomas Jefferson, bringing the forerunners of today’s Democrats to power. The Democrats’ efforts in New York State were spearheaded by Aaron Burr (left), “and he drove a really intense campaign,” says Shaw. The result gave Dems control of the legislature, which meant the state sent a Democratic slate of electors to the presidential election. “And that’s what put the Democrats over the top, and got Jefferson elected,” marking the beginning of our two-party system, says Shaw. “Burr’s local victory changed the nation’s course.”
5. Tammany Hall, East 14th Street between Third Avenue and Irving Place
A key factor in Aaron Burr’s success in 1800 was the way he mobilized the Society of St. Tammany – a veterans’ group that until then “was anything but political,” says Shaw. “It held meetings where people would reminisce about the war and get drunk and go to parades dressed up as Native Americans. It was pretty sophmoric.” But Burr began to politicize the group, “and pretty soon the Democrats had the nation’s first grassroots political organization.”
6. William Randolph Hearst’s residence, floors 8 through 12 of The Clarendon, 137 Riverside Drive
The media magnate was well known for using his newspapers to influence politics, but “before he tried to become a kingmaker he tried to become a candidate,” says Shaw. Hearst (right) ran for congressman and for president – and also, in 1905, for mayor of New York City, against Tammany man George McClellan. “Like Mike Bloomberg, he ran with the support of his own media empire and unlimited money,” says Shaw. His was a liberal campaign – “he was really a lefty in those days,” says Shaw. “He had practically a socialist platform.” The race was a squeaker, with Hearst losing by less than 4,000 votes. Crying foul, he sued for a recount and his “his newspapers began calling McClellan ‘the fraud mayor.’ ”