Thomas Willett, first mayor of New York. The Mayor of New York City is the executive director of the New York City Government, as stipulated in the New York City statutes. The current incumbent of office, the 110th in the sequence of regular mayors, is Eric Adams, a member of the Democratic Party. As the city grew in population and complexity during the 19th century, so did the relative importance of the mayor's office.
The collection of documents from the mayor's office of the Municipal Archives reflects this trajectory of the executive office in city government. Although the office of mayor dates back to 1665, the first collection of municipal documents consists exactly of two thin folders with documents from the office of Mayor Philip Hone (1826-2). By contrast, Common Council documents from that same period amount to more than 13 cubic feet. New York City's mayors have been religiously diverse; the city has had Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic mayors.
It has been observed that politicians are rarely elected to higher office after being mayor of New York City; the last mayor who later achieved higher office was John T. Since then, deputy mayors have been appointed with their areas of responsibility defined by the mayor who appoints them. Brooklyn elected a mayor from 1834 until its consolidation in 1898 in Greater New York City, whose second mayor (1902-190), Seth Low, had been mayor of Brooklyn from 1882 to 1885. Deputy mayors have no right to succeed the mayor's office in the event of a vacancy or incapacity of the mayor. That year, during the American Revolution, New York State formed a Nominating Council.
After the creation of the British province of New York in 1664, British military governor Richard Nicolls led the newly renamed New York City. In 1665, shortly after the English took control of the colony from the Dutch, Governor Richard Nicolls appointed Thomas Willett as the first mayor of New York City. Future blogs will examine the role of the mayor and how the municipal collections of the Municipal Archives, each of them in a unique way, reflect the time period and the person who held office. The Consolidated City Statute of 1897 stipulated that the mayor should be elected for a single four-year term.
The mayor of New York City can appoint several deputy mayors to help oversee the main offices within the executive branch of the city government. The mayor appoints numerous officials, including deputy mayors and the commissioners who lead the city's agencies and departments. The Mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of New York City, is the head of the executive branch of the New York City government and the executive director of New York City. In theory, the consolidation of Great New York City in 1898 and the enormous increase in the municipality's jurisdiction should have consolidated the mayor's power.
The mayor's office manages all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all municipal and state laws in New York City. Direct elections for mayor of the unconsolidated New York City began in 1834 for a one-year term, which was extended to two years after 1849.
