NYC Mayors and Federal Officials — NYC Department of Records & Information Services
Fiorello La Guardia’s three terms as Mayor (1934-1945) coincided with a significant time in the city’s history, from the Great Depression through World War II. The collection demonstrates how closely he worked with federal officials at every level as they sought to ameliorate Depression-related conditions. There is voluminous correspondence regarding efforts to provide unemployment relief through public works projects such as highways, parks, and housing, that would forever change the physical landscape of New York City.
The first folder of “correspondence with federal officials” in Mayor LaGuardia’s collection shows how the City obtained federal funds for construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway. In May 1934, Harold Ickes, the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works, informed City officials that “the project is worthy of future consideration.” He asked for a detailed application. Within days, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses obliged with a detailed multi-page proposal, including blueprints and project cost estimates. Ickes approved, and construction began in February 1935; the portion south of the George Washington Bridge opened to motorists on October 10, 1937.
Clerks in the Mayor’s Office continued the practice of separately filing federal correspondence during the administration of LaGuardia’s successor, William O’Dwyer (1946-1950). And, beginning with the O’Dwyer administration they further separated letters to and from the President. Not all federal correspondence concerned fiscal matters. There are numerous letters concerning special events, and notes politely thanking one another for an invitation or hospitality during a visit to their respective cities.
Mayor O’Dwyer’s files, for example, include a letter to his Executive Secretary, John Tierney from Murray O. Smyth, Director of the Office of Public information in the Treasury Department. Dated May 4, 1950, it confirmed that Mayor O’Dwyer would ring an exact duplicate of the Liberty Bell set up on the steps of City Hall. Smyth suggested this would “make a fine event for the newsreels as well as for press photos.” He also noted that the Liberty Bell is an exact duplicate of the original bell in Philadelphia, “without the crack.”
