- Borough President
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Borough President (informally BP, or Beep in slang) is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.
Contents
Reasons for establishment
Prior to January 1, 1898, the city was coterminous with New York County, which at that time comprised Manhattan and the Bronx. On that date, Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and Richmond (Staten Island) were created. Brooklyn was coterminous with Kings County, the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx with New York County, and the Borough of Richmond with Richmond County. Queens County included the borough of Queens together with all of what today is known as Nassau County. The boroughs assumed most county functions, but did not replace them.[1]
The offices of borough president were created by charter in 1898 with the formation of the City of Greater New York, to preserve (in a later writer's words) “local pride and affection for the old municipalities” after consolidation.[2]
Memorial to Joseph Guider, Borough President of Brooklyn
On January 1, 1899, Queens County was partitioned. The easternmost 280 square miles (730 km2) was transferred to form Nassau County, which terminated its connection with New York City.[3]
On April 19, 1912, the New York State Legislature separated the County of Bronx (which began separate activity in January 1914) from the County of New York, which now became coextensive with the Borough of Manhattan.[4]
Role
To balance local authority along with the centralization of government, the Office of Borough President was established with a functional administrative role derived by having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. The Board of Estimate consisted of the Mayor, the Comptroller and the President of the New York City Council, each of whom were elected citywide and had two votes, and the five Borough presidents, each having one vote.
In 1989, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris (489 U.S. 688) declared the New York City Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that the city's most populous borough (Brooklyn) had no greater effective representation on the board than the city's least populous borough (Staten Island), this arrangement being an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.[5]
The city charter was revised in 1990 and the Board of Estimate was abolished. The Office of Borough President was retained but with greatly reduced power. The borough budget reverted to the mayor or the New York City Council. A Borough President has a small discretionary budget to spend on projects within the borough. The last significant power of the borough presidents—to appoint a member of the New York City Board of Education —was abolished, with the board, on June 30, 2002.
The two major remaining appointments of a Borough President are one member of the city Planning Commission and one member of the Panel for Educational Policy. Borough Presidents generally adopt specific projects to promote while in office; but, since 1990, Borough Presidents have been seen mainly as the ceremonial leaders of their boroughs. Officially, they advise the Mayor on issues relating to each borough, comment on all land-use items in their borough, advocate borough needs in the annual municipal budget process, appoint Community Boards, chair the Borough Boards, and serve as ex officio members of various boards and committees They generally act as advocates of their boroughs at the mayoral agencies, the city council, the New York State government, public corporations and private businesses.
Borough presidents are elected to four-year terms.
As of 2009, the borough presidents are:
Borough President Party The Bronx Ruben Diaz Jr. Democratic Brooklyn Marty Markowitz Democratic Manhattan Scott Stringer Democratic Queens Helen Marshall Democratic Staten Island James Molinaro Conservative/Republican Borough Boards
Each Borough has a Borough Board consisting of the Borough President, the City Council members from the borough, and the chair of each of the borough's Community Boards. The Borough Boards meet monthly to serve the needs of the local communities. They may hold public hearings, make inquiries into the performance of public services, and make recommendations about city owned land use and sales within the borough.
Community Boards
See also: Bronx Community Board, Brooklyn Community Board, Community Boards of Manhattan, Community Boards of Queens, and Staten Island Community BoardsNew York City is divided into 59 administrative districts, each served by a Community Board. Community Boards are local representative bodies that serve as advocates for New York City residents and communities. Each board has up to 50 voting members, with one half of the membership appointed each year for two-year terms; there are no term limits. Additionally, all city council members whose council districts cover part of a community district are ex-officio board members and may participate in all board activities. However, council members may not vote on board issues. Borough presidents appoint the voting Community Board members, with half of the appointees nominated by council members representing the district in proportion to the percentage of the community board's population they represent. Broadly assigned by the city charter to "Consider the needs of the district which it serves," the boards have been limited in their ability by ineffective local communication channels, minuscule budgets and archaic technology. As a result, many residents have concluded that they have little impact on the operation of their communities or their lives. The BeyondVoting Wiki and the Community-Based Planning Task Force have begun to address the limitations. See Queens Community Board 3's website for an example of a typical board's operation and efforts to improvement neighborhoods.
Office holders
Bronx Borough Presidents
# Name
with years of birth & death when knownParty Term[n 1] 1 Louis F. Haffen (1854–1935) Democratic 1898-Aug. 1909 2 John F. Murray (1862–1928) Democratic Aug. 1909–1910 3 Cyrus C. Miller (?1867–1956) Democratic 1910–1914 4 Douglas Mathewson (?1870–1948) Republican/Fusion 1914–1918 5 Henry Bruckner (1871–1942) Democratic 1918–1934 6 James J. Lyons (1890–1966) Democratic 1934–1962 7 Joseph F. Periconi (1910–1994) Republican/Liberal 1962–1966 8 Herman Badillo (born 1929) Democratic 1966–1970 9 Robert Abrams (born 1938) Democratic 1970–1979 10 Stanley Simon Democratic 1979 - Apr. 1987 11 Fernando Ferrer (born 1950) Democratic Apr. 1987 - 2002 12 Adolfo Carrión, Jr. (born 1961) Democratic 2002 - Feb. 2009 13 Ruben Diaz, Jr. (born 1973) Democratic Apr. 2009 - Brooklyn Borough Presidents
Main article: History of Brooklyn#Mayors of the City of BrooklynEdward M. Grout was the second Comptroller of the post-consolidation City of New York, 1902–1905. Bird S. Coler was the first New York City Comptroller after consolidation, 1898–1901; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of New York in 1902.
# Name
with years of birth & death when knownParty Term 1 Edward M. Grout (1861–1931) Democratic 1898–1901 2 Edward J. Swanstrom (1853–1911) Fusion 1902–1903 3 Martin W. Littleton (1872–1934) Democratic/Independent 1904–1905 4 Bird S. Coler (1867–1941) Municipal Ownership League 1906–1909 5 Alfred E. Steers (c. 1861–1948) Democratic/Independent 1910–1913 6 Lewis H. Pounds (1861–1947) Republican/Fusion 1913–1917 7 Edward J. Riegelmann (1870–1941) Democratic 1918–1924 8 Joseph A. Guider (1870–1926) Democratic 1925–1926 9 James J. Byrne (1863–1930) Democratic 1926–1930 10 Henry Hesterberg (c. 1882–1950) Democratic 1930–1933 11 Raymond V. Ingersoll (1875–1940) Democratic/Fusion 1934–1940 12 John Cashmore (1895–1961) Democratic 1940–1961 13 John F. Hayes (1915–2001) Democratic 1961 14 Abe Stark (1894–1972) Democratic 1962–1970 15 Sebastian Leone Democratic 1970–1976 16 Howard Golden Democratic 1977–2002 17 Marty Markowitz (born 1945) Democratic since 2002 Manhattan Borough Presidents
Main article: List of mayors of New York CityBefore 1874, when it annexed part of the Bronx, New York City was no greater in extent than the present Borough of Manhattan. George McAneny was President of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York (first in succession to the Mayoralty), 1914–1916; New York City Comptroller, 1933. Frank Dowling was President of the Board of Aldermen, 1917. Andrew Stein was the last President of the New York City Council (the office that replaced the President of the Board of Aldermen and preceded the New York City Public Advocate as first in succession to the Mayoralty) 1986–1993. Robert F. Wagner, Jr. was Mayor of New York City, 1954–1965. David Dinkins was Mayor of New York City, 1990–1993. Constance Baker Motley was Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1966–2005.
# Name
with years of birth & death when knownParty Term[n 2] Status 1 Augustus Peters Democratic 1898–1899 official 2 James J. Coogan (1845–1915) Democratic 1899–1901 3 Jacob A. Cantor (1854–1921) Democratic 1902–1903 4 John Ahearn (1853–1920) Democratic 1904–1909 5 John Cloughen (died 1911) Democratic Dec. 1909 (4 days) acting 6 George McAneny (1869–1953) Fusion/Democratic 1910–1913 official 7 Marcus M. Marks (1858–1934) Republican 1914–1917 8 Frank Dowling (c.1865–1919) Democratic 1918–1919 9 Edward F. Boyle (c.1876–1943) Democratic 1919 10 Michael Loughman (c.1867–1937) Democratic 1919 acting 11 Henry H. Curran Republican 1920–1921 official 12 Julius Miller (1880–1955) Democratic 1922–1930 13 Samuel Levy Democratic 1931–1937 14 Stanley M. Isaacs Republican 1938–1941 15 Edgar J. Nathan, Jr. (died 1965) Republican 1942–1945 16 Hugo Rogers (1899–1974) Democratic 1946–1949 17 Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (1910–1991) Democratic 1950–1953 18 Hulan E. Jack (1906–1986) Democratic 1954–1961 19 Edward R. Dudley (1911–2005) Democratic 1961–1964 20 Constance Baker Motley (1921–2005) Democratic Feb. 1965–Sep. 1966 21 Percy Sutton (1920–2009) Democratic Sep. 1966–1977 22 Andrew Stein (born 1945) Democratic 1978–1985 23 David Dinkins (born 1927) Democratic 1986–1989 24 Ruth Messinger (born 1941) Democratic 1990–1997 25 C. Virginia Fields (born 1946) Democratic 1998–2005 26 Scott Stringer (born 1960) Democratic 2006– Notes:
- c. (circa) approximately
Queens Borough Presidents
# Name
with years of birth & death when knownParty Term[n 2] 1 Frederick Bowley (1851–1916) Democratic 1898–1901 2 Joseph Cassidy (c.1866–1920) Democratic 1902–1905 3 Joseph Bermel (1860–1921) Democratic 1906–Apr. 1908 4 Lawrence Gresser (1851–1935) Democratic Apr. 1908–Sep. 1911 5 Maurice E. Connolly (1881–1935) Democratic Oct. 1911–Apr. 1928 6 Bernard M. Patten Democratic Apr.–Dec. 1928 7 George U. Harvey (c. 1881–1946) Republican 1929–1941 8 James A. Burke (1890–1965) Democratic 1942–1949 9 Maurice A. FitzGerald (1897–1951) Democratic 1950–Aug. 1951 10 Joseph F. Mafera (1895–1967) Democratic Aug.–Dec. 1951 11 James A. Lundy (1903–1973) Republican 1952–1957 12 James J. Crisona (1907–2003) Democratic 1958–1959 13 John T. Clancy (1903–1985) Democratic 1959–1962 14 Mario J. Cariello (1907–1985) Democratic 1963–1968 15 Sidney Leviss (1917–2007) Democratic 1969–Sep. 1971 16 Donald Manes (1934–1986) Democratic Sep. 1971–Feb. 1986 17 Claire Shulman (born 1926) Democratic Feb. 1986–Dec. 2001 18 Helen M. Marshall (born 1929) Democratic 2002– Notes:
- c. (circa) approximately
Richmond/Staten Island Borough Presidents
In 1975, the Borough of Richmond formally renamed itself the Borough of Staten Island. Guy V. Molinari was a Member of the United States House of Representatives, 1981–1989
# Name
with years of birth & death when knownParty Term[n 2] 1 George Cromwell (c.1860–1934) Republican 1898–1913 2 Charles J. McCormack (died 1915) Democratic 1914–July 1915 3 Calvin D. Van Namee (1857–1924) Democratic July 1915–1921 4 Matthew J. Cahill (died 1922) Democratic Jan.–July 1922 5 John A. Lynch Democratic July 1922–1933 6 Joseph A. Palma Republican 1934–1945 7 Cornelius A. Hall (1889–1953) Democratic 1946–1953 8 Edward G. Baker (born 1907?) Democratic 1953–1954 9 Albert V. Maniscalo (1908–1998) Democratic 1955–1965 10 Robert T. Connor (1919–2009) Republican 1966–1977 11 Anthony Gaeta (1927–1988) Democratic 1977–1984 12 Ralph J. Lamberti Democratic 1984–1989 13 Guy V. Molinari (born 1928) Republican 1990–2001 14 James Molinaro (born 1931) Conservative 2002– Notes:
- c. (circa) approximately
Candidates for Mayor
The following borough presidents were unsuccessful candidates for Mayor of the City of New York:
- Herman Badillo
- Lewis H. Pounds
- Fernando Ferrer
- Percy Sutton
- Henry H. Curran
- Ruth Messinger
- C. Virginia Fields
- David Dinkins (defeated for reelection in the 1993 election)
Notes
See also
References
- ^ New York. Laws of New York; 1897, 120th Session, Chapter 378; Section 2; Page 2.
- ^ Jackson, Kenneth T. (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven, Connecticut: The New York Historical Society and Yale University Press. pp. 129–130. ISBN 0-300-05536-6.
- ^ New York. Laws of New York; 1899, 121st Session, Chapter 588; Section 1; Page 1336.
- ^ New York. Laws of New York; 1912, 135th Session, Chapter 548; Section 1; Page 1352.
- ^ Cornell Law School Supreme Court Collection: Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, accessed June 12, 2006
External links
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