USA > New York > New York City > New York panorama : a comprehensive view of the metropolis > Part 46
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Within less than a decade after adoption of the "home rule amend- ent," scandal broke anew around the city administration. A series of velations shocked the nation and impelled the State legislature, on [arch 23, 1931, to authorize an investigation of the governmental affairs New York City. This investigation lasted II months, coming to a dra- atic climax with the resignation of Mayor James J. Walker, during for- al proceedings for his removal.
How far-reaching were the consequences of that investigation is a mat- r for historians to evaluate. Suffice it to say here that the older order was placed in 1934 by one in which the reform aspects were less spectacular tan the adjustment to a changed conception of the municipality's respon- bility for the economic welfare of its citizens. The mayoralty election of 933 took place at a time when the lowest point of a nation-wide depres- on had been reached. Nearly 700,000 persons in New York were de- endent on relief. The state of municipal finances was unsatisfactory, and ankers were clamoring for budget stability. A division in Tammany's inks gave a new Fusion reform party its opportunity, and its standard earer, Fiorello La Guardia, was elected mayor. Four years later he was re- lected by the support of such divergent groups as the Republican and
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Fusion Parties, whose official candidate he was, the anti-Tammany Dem( crats, the American Federation of Labor, the Committee for Industri: Organization, and lastly, but not least important, the newly organize American Labor Party. He was also the latter's official candidate, and h own vote was cast as a member of that party. The Communists and See cialists, while not officially endorsing the La Guardia ticket, put forwar no candidates of their own for the office of mayor.
Thus it was evident that a great political realignment had taken place one in which many ideas of government were synthesized. There was a ceptance of the municipal government as a functioning agent for soci: welfare and unemployment relief. There was evident approval of th large-scale public works program, especially an increase of recreation: facilities, undertaken by the municipality. There was recognition of th city's responsibility in labor disputes, through appointment by the May of special fact-finding committees and his active intervention in some di putes. And, in no less degree, there was general satisfaction with the pr vious four-years' administration of the city.
A new charter for the city was approved at a referendum held Noven ber 3, 1936, after several legal attempts had been made to prevent thil vote. This document was drafted by a Charter Revision Commission af pointed by Mayor La Guardia, the purpose being to bring the municipa government machinery more closely in line with the modern demanc placed upon it. The commission was concerned with the elimination ( duplicating functions in municipal, county and borough governments, wit securing a larger degree of centralization in the governmental structur and with setting up a more representative form of legislative body. Th last named objective was achieved when, in the first election under th new charter, in November 1937, members of a City Council to replace th old Board of Aldermen were elected in accordance with the principle ( proportional representation and preferential voting, whereby political pa ties are given representation in proportion to their voting strength, in cor tradistinction to the old system of majority rule. How the principle worl out with respect to representation of all sections of the population is ind cated by the party affiliations of the first City Council: Democrats, 14, or of whom was not an organizational candidate; Labor, five; Republican three; Fusion, three; and Independent, one.
The counting of the vote in the first election took weeks; the organiz. tion of the Council, in view of its divergent party representation, toc months. Yet by the spring of 1938 the Council was in full action and, ;
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ywood Broun remarked, was "putting on a better show than the Plane- [um."
d ste Municipal Government
Only a very brief outline can be given here of the more important ele- nts and workings of New York City's huge governmental apparatus, h particular reference to the new agencies and arrangements instituted der the charter that became effective in January 1938. These latter are especial interest as indicating the adjustments made by one of the rld's greatest cities to the swiftly changing social and economic exigen- ; of our time.
Although a large majority of the agencies and officers of government iction for the city as a whole, the geographic-political divisions of bor- ghs and counties still retain a place in the governmental structure, with 1 or limited jurisdiction in certain matters within their respective boun- ies. As a result, three more or less distinct forms of local government operative in New York City: (1) that for the city as a whole-an en- ly centralized form; (2) that for the individual boroughs, partly cen- lized through representation on the Board of Estimate; and (3) that the individual counties, which is wholly decentralized.
The Mayor is chief executive and magistrate of the city. The City Coun- (replacing the old Board of Aldermen) is the legislative body. The ard of Estimate, notwithstanding its misleading title, is the general ad- nistrative body. The Comptroller is the chief financial officer. Ranging wn from these peaks in the governmental structure is an imposing array departments, bureaus, boards, commissions and other agencies, along th the borough presidents and a number of other special officers.
The Mayor, elected from the city at large for a four-year term at an an- al salary of $25,000, is directly assisted by a Deputy Mayor and a dget Director, appointed by himself. As chairman of the Board of timate, he exercises an important influence in that body in addition to ting three of its 16 votes. Local laws enacted by the City Council are oject to his approval or veto, and his veto can only be overridden by a o-thirds vote of the Council. He appoints the heads of departments, well as the members of various commissions and boards, in the city gov- nment, and can remove them at will; he also appoints the city magis- ites and the justices of the Court of Special Sessions. He serves as ex- ficio member on the boards of trustees of a dozen or more of the city's
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libraries, museums and other public institutions. Next to that of the PI dent of the United States, his job is perhaps the most difficult and wear of any in the country.
Members of the City Council, the legislative branch in local gov ment, are elected on the basis of proportional representation within eff of the five boroughs, with one councilman for every 75,000 voters j borough and an additional councilman if the remaining borough reaches 50,000. The Council elected in November 1937 on this basis ( sists of 26 members. The President of the Council is elected by city-v majority vote at the same time as the Mayor, and for a corresponding t of four years, at a salary of $15,000; he presides at Council meetings participates in discussion, but has no vote except in case of a tie. councilmen are elected for a two-year term, at a yearly salary of $5,cl No one already serving the city in any official capacity is eligible for € tion as councilman. Within certain somewhat technical restrictions, City Council has the sole power of initiating and passing local laws.
In direct contrast with the Council, the Board of Estimate is of wh ex-officio composition, its eight members being the Mayor, the Compt ler, the President of the Council, and the five Borough Presidents. three officials first named above have three votes each in the board's de erations, the borough presidents of Manhattan and Brooklyn have votes each, while the borough presidents of the Bronx, Queens and R mond have a single vote each. The Mayor serves as chairman of board, whose functions in general are similar to those of the board of rectors of a business corporation. It fixes salaries and approves franchi authorizes sales or leases of city property and exercises final control cht matters of financial policy. In these and other affairs it has at its disp the services of a large technical staff organized in five bureaus, as well the assistance of any department or agency of the municipal governm
Although, as has been said, the Comptroller is the chief financial off of the city, his duties under the new charter are largely of an auditing investigating character. But the charter makes him sole trustee of the sif ing funds and of all other trust funds held by the city; and he contirla to exercise the important functions of borrowing money and of settling&t monetary claims in favor of or against the city, in addition to advise and other powers. He is elected from the city at large for a four-year tuts at a salary of $20,000 a year.
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The collection and disbursement of city funds, formerly handled by the mptroller, are assigned by the new charter to a Department of Finance ided by a City Treasurer and two Deputy Treasurers. Within the de- Vetment are (I) a bureau of city collections in charge of a city collector, h a deputy collector for each of the five boroughs; and (2) a bureau receipts and disbursements for the reception and safe-keeping of all ney paid into the city treasury and for the payment of all money on grants drawn by the Comptroller and countersigned by the City Treas- Wir.
"Fundamentally important in the city's governmental mechanism is the 5 qual budgeting of finances. In briefest possible statement prospective benditures and receipts for an ensuing fiscal year are formulated in two Ofarate budgets-one having to do with current expenses, the other with ital projects (permanent public improvements, acquisition of real prop- S, 7, etc.). Responsibility for preparing the expense budget is vested in Mayor and his Budget Director; the task of making up the capital hoget is assigned to the City Planning Commission-a creation of the poly charter. After preliminary investigation and reports involving every · .
nicipal agency, tentative budgets are drawn up and presented to the delard of Estimate. When approved by vote of that body, they are certi- " by the Mayor and submitted to the City Council. Then, after ap- Rival by the Council, they are certified by the Mayor, Comptroller, and y Clerk. From beginning to end the parturition of a city expense budget of low and painful. It is attended by acrimonious official debate, cries of hifguish from the taxpayers, inside political jockeying, incessant paring and ojching-with usually in the end a compromise result not wholly satis- spitory to anyone. But the democratic process has been fulfilled, and the vellnocratic purpose roughly achieved. f
mgA significant feature of the new charter is its recognition of the fact oft "the growth and development of a modern city depend upon the wis- gan and foresight with which capital improvements are undertaken and sin extent to which the integrity of zoning regulations and of the city map tin|maintained." To eliminate the log-rolling and pork-barrel evils of the ngặt in this connection, the charter provides for a City Planning Commis- vista, comprising the chief engineer of the Board of Estimate and six mem- tes appointed by the Mayor for overlapping terms of eight years. The iction of this commission in preparing the city's capital budget has been
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mentioned above. It is also charged with making and maintaining a "mp ter plan" of the city, embodying the most desirable arrangement of public and private improvements; it is guardian of the official city ma and it has the power to recommend changes in existing zoning regu tions. In these, as well as other similar duties and prerogatives, the co mission is assisted by an Advisory Planning Board of three members each of the five boroughs.
Of somewhat closely related significance is the creation of a new I partment of Public Works and a new Department of Housing and Bui ings. The former supersedes the old Department of Plant and Structur its duties are to "plan, construct, and repair all public works except the otherwise provided for in the charter or by statute." In the Department Housing and Buildings, which replaces the old Tenement House Depa ment, are centralized "all functions of government relating to the regu tion and control of the planning, construction, inspection and occupancy private buildings." Each department is headed by a commissioner and t deputy commissioners, and each is empowered to set up special bure: within the departments.
Except for an occasional shift of duty or authority, many of the depa ments and agencies of municipal government in New York continue function as before adoption of the new charter. For the casual reader, 1 names of these agencies sufficiently indicate in most cases the general fic or purpose of each. The problems of local government in New York d fer, in the main, only with respect to scale from the corresponding pro lems of other great American municipalities. Certain unique or unusı features of the city's governmental apparatus and procedure, particula the progressive features initiated under the new charter, are noted abor but the rest is, for the most part, distinctive only because of relative s. and complexity.
The magnitude, if not the complexity, of New York's present-day go ernmental machinery is perhaps best indicated by the totals of its financ balance-sheet for the calendar year of 1937. In that year the city receiv in cash from all sources a grand total of $1,402,361,066.03, includi borrowings of $614,700,000. In the same year it paid out in cash a gra total of $1,416,487,321.66, exclusive of transfers between funds. T city's proposed expense budget for the fiscal year of 1938 totals $683,26 660.88. Of that amount considerably more than half is allocated for "p sonal service"-i.e., for paying the salaries or wages of 155,486 employe
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mirough Government
In addition to their representation in the centralized municipal govern- nt, New York's five boroughs enjoy a modest share of local self- vernment with respect to strictly local improvements paid for by assess- nt on the property of residents within a single district.
At the same time and for the same term as the Mayor of the city, each rough elects a Borough President, who receives a salary of $15,000 a .r. While his chief activities and influence are as a member of the Board Estimate in the centralized municipal government, he is in some de- e a local mayor, responsible for local improvements and with power to point a commissioner of borough works, a secretary, clerks, etc.
The five boroughs are divided into 24 "local improvement districts," in h of which there is a Local Improvement Board, presided over by the sident of the borough of which the district is a part. With the creation a City Planning Commission under the new charter, the power of these irds and of the Borough Presidents with respect to local improvements ve been greatly restricted.
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Counties as political subdivisions were established in what is now the te of New York in 1684, twenty years after the British capture of New hsterdam from the Dutch. The present City of New York covers an a that embraces five such political subdivisions-New York County, onx County, Kings County, Queens County and Richmond County. ese five counties are respectively coextensive with the boroughs of Man- tan, the Bronx, Kings, Queens and Richmond. As counties, the areas political subdivisions of the State; as boroughs, they are political sub- isions of the city.
The attempt to maintain a county system of government within so large metropolitan area has proved increasingly impracticable since the Greater w York consolidation of 1898, and many of the functions ordinarily formed by county officials or boards have been taken over by the city. ose that still remain are almost wholly of a legal and protective nature. ch of the five counties elects a District Attorney, a Sheriff, and a County erk. A Register (of deeds, mortgages, etc.) is elected in each county ept Richmond. A Public Administrator (for intestate property, etc.)
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and a Commissioner of Jurors is appointed for each county. A Comr. sioner of Records is appointed for New York, Bronx and Kings Count: and New York County has a special Commissioner of Records for its S rogates' Courts.
With the coming into full effect of an amendment to the State cor. tution, adopted in 1935, all county offices other than those of the dist attorneys, county clerks, and judges of county courts will be done av with and their functions assigned to offices or officers within the centrali city government.
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HIV. SOCIAL WELFARE
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TEN the visitor who comes to town for two or three days goes home 1 a sincere but slightly complacent opinion about New York's coldness inhumanity. To him it is a city of machines in more than the physical e; he may feel that the people themselves are motivated by the ma- e spirit. His day-by-day perceptions add up to the impression of a ter- e and casual disregard for human life. Too often he is bewildered and alled by the contrast with his own home town. This latter may be a ropolis of a million or two; but the pace is slower there, the people e relaxed and affable. A more ready sympathy is in the air; disease want seem to be more obviously the concern of the whole community. ut if the humanitarian impulses of a great city can be gauged by the ive number of its social agencies-its home and work relief bureaus, Hospitals and clinics for the poor, its settlement houses, its parks and spaces, its homes for the aged and orphaned-then New York com- s favorably with the most progressive and socially sensitive of Ameri- communities. Broadly speaking, for nearly every form of hard luck flesh is heir to there exists in the city today an institution or an agency ared and willing to offer alleviating aid. In its broad organization relief and remedial work, New York stands high among American s. In the field of prevention it is, like most communities, only begin- ; to master its job. In eradicating preventable disease, in building the imum of physical and mental health in the young, in guiding the hful delinquent away from a career of professional crime, in caring chronic illness, in eliminating slums and making a minimum standard ecent housing a universal requirement, in absorbing the social shocks personal tragedies consequent upon unemployment, the city is still in oneering stage. It has made a beginning, and in some of these fields established effective techniques, but many years must pass before results be obtained comparable to the effort expended.
he present system of social services in New York is the outgrowth of
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decades of effort, of trial and error, gradually evolving in the direction orderly planning and execution. The obstacles were uncommonly for dable. The city grew at a prodigious rate, fed by successive waves of migrants from countries ever more distant, geographically and cultura It had a disturbing tendency to crowd upward instead of spreading . ward. Though it has repeatedly shown a fine frontier impulse to exter. helping hand in great emergencies, it had little of that tradition of ( tinuing public responsibility for distress upon which the social service: the great western European cities were built. It had an almost ende habit of political corruption, relieved but not checked by occasional form administrations. And it had, and still has, its peculiar problem: the thousands of sailors daily in port seeking or switching jobs, in great national market on the Bowery for casual and migrant labor, and the streams of Negroes from the South and Puerto Rico, unequippec physique or training for successful life in a congested industrial city.
The earlier history of New York's social services, going back to Ri lutionary days, is one of organizing to meet isolated problems as they peared, or rather as they made an impression on the pity of philant] pists or charitable groups. Hospitals and orphan asylums were an e and obvious need. The New York Hospital was incorporated in 17 Bellevue City Hospital in 1811; the Orphan Asylum Society in the of New York in 1806. The needs of the seamen in the western her phere's greatest port were likewise evident. Sailors' Snug Harbor for a sailors was founded in 1806, and has become legendary for the fant? appreciation in the value of the real estate bequeathed to it in those e days. Characteristic of the period was the Association for the Relief Respectable, Aged, Indigent Females, organized in 1815. But until toward the end of the 19th century such efforts to meet the city's wel needs were impulsive and sporadic, and left vast areas of essential ser neglected. In some respects and at certain periods, the city was a lei among American communities. The public health work of Herman Bi just after the Civil War, was unequalled in its day. But in many other spects, in the second half of the century, New York's welfare work merely the same standards, or lack of them, that characterized all 1: American cities.
Those were the days when the destitute were obliged to stand for ho in bread lines, though Thanksgiving or Christmas might bring a baske groceries from the neighbors or the district political boss for a treat ; w the natural meal for a lonely poor man was the free lunch in the co
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oon; when it was seriously debated whether feeding a destitute man. for of Itura "d his family did not deprive him of "self respect" and "initiative"; ien homeless children were herded into an impersonal institution (when ey were not loaded onto railroad trains for the West, where farmers ig @:ked them up as "help"); when abandoned babies were put in con- egate institutions where the brand of "illegitimate" was affixed per- ps for life; when the unmarried mother was treated as an outcast and en drifted all too naturally into prostitution as her most natural means. support; when youthful delinquents, even mere children, were regarded "depraved" and "dissolute" and were hidden away with experienced minals in institutions where society could forget them; when anyone 10 contracted "consumption" was given up for lost; when persons. ind with communicable diseases were rushed off to the pest house, while hilis, being unmentioned, went unchecked; when babies went blind : lack of a few drops of silver nitrate in their eyes at birth and others ed off by the hundreds each year of "summer complaint" for lack of ele- entary diet knowledge in the home.
At some time before the end of the century (the grouping of many dis- hilar agencies into the Charity Organization Society in 1882 marks a venient dating point ) the necessity began to be felt among social work- to know the facts about the unmet needs, to study methods and pro- Hures systematically, to set standards for the measurement of success or lure, to bring some degree of order and method into financial adminis- tion, to eliminate duplication of effort. It is hard today to realize that s impulse met with considerable public hostility. "Scientific charity" is commonly regarded by our pious grandparents as a contradiction in ms, almost a sin; the greatest of the abiding virtues seemed somehow iled and its divine source withered by any admixture of calculation.
The process of transforming the neighborly impulse of charity, which fis sufficient to pioneer life, into an instrument that would be effective Buder metropolitan conditions was slower and more complex in New her tk ork than in most other communities, because of the city's sheer size and e heterogeneousness of its racial composition. Nevertheless, by 1910 the- cial services here had acquired some degree of organization and certain undards to measure professional skill, expressed and stimulated by the brew York School of Social Work, incorporated in 1898-the first profes- ke onal graduate school of social work in the country.
Once the concept of city-wide effort and standards of effectiveness had coften achieved, the city's voluntary social services expanded notably. In.
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1910 these services, exclusive of hospitals, spent some $15,000,000; 1936 they were spending about $50,000,000, and employing thousands full-time workers. If all forms of welfare, public and private, except hotiv pitals, are included, the figures for 1936 reach the huge total of $44:a 000,000. But more than $379,000,000 of this represented "outdooffer (non-institutional) relief from public funds, inclusive of the cost of a is ministration, supplies and materials; and of this sum two-thirds was spela for the Federal works program. How enormously the depression figur lol in New York's welfare problem is indicated by the fact that at the pea in March 1936, 1,550,000 persons, or nearly 20 percent of New York S total estimated population, were receiving some form of public assistance Reports as of February 1938 showed some diminution, with a total 1,255,800. At this time, 557,000 individuals were on home relief, at 568,000 were deriving their chief support from 142,000 work-relief ertud ployes of the Federal WPA. There were, in addition, the following spro cial classes of relief recipients whose plight was not entirely, or eve chiefly, due to general economic conditions: 48,500 recipients of old ages assistance, 1,300 blind, 13,000 homeless, 23,500 children in institution na and foster homes, 37,000 children maintained in homes of parents or rel no tives by payments from the city, and 7,000 youths in CCC camps-a tot of 130,300.
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