1.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
2.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
3.
New York's 10th congressional district
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With a size of 14.25 mi², this is currently the second smallest congressional district in the whole country. Demographically, it includes neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn that are heavily Jewish, from 2003-2013, the district was located entirely within Brooklyn and was majority African-American. It included the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Heights, Brownsville, Canarsie, East New York and Ocean Hill, as well as parts of Fort Greene, Prospect Heights and Williamsburg. The 10th District was a Brooklyn-based seat prior to 1972, when that became the 16th and the 10th District was reassigned to a district in northern Queens. The 1980 redistricting restored the 10th District to Brooklyn, in the 1990 remap, much of the old 10th District was added to the new Queens-Brooklyn 9th District. The new 10th then absorbed much of the old 11th District, following the 2012 redistricting cycle, the district shed most of its Brooklyn territory and picked up parts of Manhattan that had been in the 8th district. In New York State, there are numerous parties at various points on the political spectrum. Certain parties will endorse either the Republican or Democratic candidate for every office, hence the state electoral results contain both the party votes, and the final candidate votes. List of United States congressional districts New Yorks congressional districts United States congressional delegations from New York Martis, the Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts
4.
Fernando Wood
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A successful shipping merchant who became Grand Sachem of the political machine known as Tammany Hall, Wood first served in Congress in 1841. In 1854 he was elected Mayor of New York City. S. Woods Democratic machine was concerned with maintaining the revenues that fed the system of patronage. Following his service as mayor, Wood returned to the United States Congress, Wood, the son of Benjamin and Rebecca Wood, and brother of United States Congressman Benjamin Wood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His Spanish forename was chosen by his mother, who found it in an English gothic novel written by George Walker and he moved to New York, where he became a successful shipping merchant. He was chairman of the young mens political organization in 1839 and was a member of the Tammany Society. As a member of the Democratic party, he was elected to Congress in 1840, in late 1854 Wood was elected mayor of New York City. Tallmadge as superintendent, to replace Woods corrupt Municipal Police, talmadge demanded for Wood to disband the Municipal Police, but Wood refused, even in the face of a May 1857 decision by the Supreme Court. Superintendent George Washington Matsell,15 captains and 800 patrolmen of the Municipal Police backed Wood, Captain George W. Walling pledged his loyalty to the new Metropolitan Police and was ordered to arrest Wood. Wood refused to submit and when Captain Walling attempted force, New York City Hall was occupied by 300 municipal policemen, fifty Metropolitans in frock coats and plug hats then marched on City Hall with night sticks in hand. The Municipals swarmed out and routed the Metropolitans, fifty-two policemen were injured in the New York City Police Riot. The Metropolitan Police Board called out the National Guard, and the Seventh Regiment surrounded City Hall, a platoon of infantry with fixed bayonets marched into City Hall and surrounded Mayor Wood who then submitted to arrest. Mayor Wood was charged with inciting to riot, released on nominal bail, the feud continued on through the summer of 1857, with constant confrontations between the rival police forces. When a Municipal arrested a criminal, a Metropolitan would come along, at the police station, an arresting officer would find an alderman and a magistrate from the opposing side waiting. A hearing would be held on the spot and the released on his own recognizance. The gangs of New York had a field day, pedestrians were mugged in broad daylight on Broadway while rival policemen clubbed each other to determine who had the right to interfere. Soon the gangs were looting and plundering without interference, but turned on one another in turf wars, the Dead Rabbits and several other Five Points gangs marched into the Bowery to do battle with the Bowery Boys and to loot stores. They attacked a Bowery Boys headquarters with pistols, knives, clubs, iron bars and huge paving blocks, the Bowery Boys and their allies, the Atlantic Guards, poured into Bayard Street to engage in the most desperate and largest free-for-all in the citys history. The Metropolitans attempted to stop the fighting but were severely beaten, the Municipals said the battle looked like a Metropolitan problem and was none of their business
5.
James O'Brien (U.S. Congressman)
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James OBrien of New York City, born in Ireland, was a U. S. Representative from New York from 1879 to 1881, OBrien was born in Ireland in County Kings. He attended the schools, then immigrated to the United States in 1861. OBrien served as alderman of New York City in 1864 and 1866, then became Sheriff of New York County and he served in the New York State Senate in 1872 and 1873, during which time he founded the Apollo Hall Democracy. He was a candidate for mayor of New York City in 1873. OBrien was then elected as an Independent Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress and he then worked as a stock broker until his death. He died in Manhattan, New York City on March 5,1907 at the age of 65 and he was buried in Calvary Cemetery on Long Island. James OBrien at Find a Grave This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
6.
Democratic National Committee
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The Democratic National Committee is the formal governing body for the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state and it organizes the Democratic National Convention held every four years to nominate and confirm a candidate for president, and to formulate the party platform. While it provides support for party candidates, it not have direct authority over elected officials. The DNC is composed of the chairs and vice-chairs of each state Democratic Party committee and over 200 members elected by Democrats in all 50 states and its chairperson is elected by the committee. It conducts fundraising to support its activities, the DNC was established at the 1848 Democratic National Convention. The DNCs main counterpart is the Republican National Committee, the DNC is responsible for articulating and promoting the Democratic platform and coordinating party organizational activity. When the president is a Democrat, the party generally works closely with the president, there are state committees in every state, as well as local committees in most cities, wards, and towns. The chairperson of the DNC is elected by vote of members of the Democratic National Committee, primary elections, in particular, are invariably conducted by state governments according to their own laws. Outside of the process of nominating a candidate, the DNCs role in actually selecting candidates to run on the party ticket is minimal. All DNC members are superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention whose role can influence a close primary race, sitting Democratic governors and members of Congress. Distinguished party leaders, consisting of current and former presidents, vice presidents, congressional leaders, in the 2002 election cycle, the DNC and its affiliated committees raised a total of US $162,062,084, 42% of which was hard money. The largest contributor, with US $7,297,937 was the Saban Capital Group, fred Eychaner, the owner of Newsweb Corporation, gave the second highest amount of money to the DNC and its affiliates, US $5,175,000. The third largest contributor was Steve Bing of Shangri-La Entertainment, who gave US $4,758,000, in the 2006 election cycle, the DNC raised a total of US $37,939,887. The three largest contributors were investment bank Goldman Sachs, university of California and Pond North LLP. The DNC introduced a fund raising campaign, the Democracy Bonds program. There were only 31,000 Democracy Bond donors by May 2006, the program no longer is in place. In the 2016 election cycle, the DNC raised a total of US $75,945,536 as of July 21,2016, the three largest contributors were hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, Newsweb Corp and Total Wine. In July 2015, during the 2016 election cycle, the DNC, led by Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Chair, Tom Perez, former U. S. Secretary of Labor under Barack Obama Deputy Chair, Keith Ellison, U. S. S
7.
Augustus Schell
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Augustus Schell was a New York politician and lawyer. He was Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1872 to 1876, Schell was born on August 1,1812 in Rhinebeck, New York and was educated at Rhinebeck Academy and Wesleyan Seminary. He was graduated in 1830 from Union College with Phi Beta Kappa honors and membership in the Kappa Alpha Society and he was admitted to the bar and started a practice in New York City. He started out as an expert in the then new field of corporate law. A friend of Cornelius Vanderbilt, he expanded his railroad connections through investments as well as legal counsel. An active Democrat, he joined Tammany Hall where, after William M. Tweeds fall, he succeeded August Belmont and he was head of the Democratic state committee 1853-1856. During the administration of President James Buchanan he was collector of the Port of New York and he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee that supported John C. Breckinridge for the presidency in 1860 and also 1872-1876, after the trial of William M. Tweed and his associates, Schell labored for the purification and rehabilitation of the Tammany society, and in 1878 was its unsuccessful candidate for mayor. He was a director in many railroad and financial corporations, and was active in the management of philanthropic institutions, several of Schells brothers were well-known business men of New York City. He died on March 27,1884 from Brights disease and he was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx. Augustus Schell is the namesake of Schell City, Missouri, of which he was one of the original proprietors, bio from PictureHistory Wilson, James Grant, Fiske, John, eds. Memoir of the Hon. Augustus Schell
8.
William H. Barnum
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William Henry Barnum was an American politician, serving as a state representative, U. S. Representative, U. S. Senator, and finally as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was also known as Seven Mule Barnum, though born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Barnum moved to Lime Rock, Connecticut and served in the state house of representatives from 1851 to 1852. He was chairman of the DNC from 1877 to 1889 and he died in Lime Rock on April 30,1889 and is buried in Lime Rock Cemetery. Barnum Richardson Company was also the preeminent manufacturer of car wheels at a time when the railroad industry held a place in the economy analogous to the computer industry today. In 1872 he partnered with Collis P. Huntington to finance Ensign Manufacturing Company, among Ensigns products were the largest wooden hopper cars built for Central Pacific Railroad as well as a large number of high-capacity wood boxcars for Southern Pacific Railroad. Ensign was one of the 13 companies that merged in 1899 to form American Car, william H. Barnum was a founder of the Barnum & Richardson Company of Lime Rock, Connecticut, and Chicago, Illinois. The corporation grew to profitability and industrial volume, and became one of the foremost metal products manufacturers in the world. Richardson, who also was a leader in the development and management of New England railroads, served as President of the Barnum & Richardson Company of Lime Rock, Connecticut, william H. Barnum was also a pioneer in religious tolerance. Although an Episcopalian he did not discriminate against Roman Catholics as so many in that area of New England did at the time. Importantly, when the local community responded to the raising of a crucifix by the local Catholic priest by demanding that Barnum fire all his Catholic workmen. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
9.
Francis B. Spinola
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Francis Barretto Spinola was the first Italian American to be elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving as a representative from New York from 1887 to 1891. He also served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Spinola was born in Old Field, near Stony Brook, Brookhaven, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He attended Quaker Hill Academy in Dutchess County and then passed the bar exam before establishing a law practice in Brooklyn and he was elected alderman of the Second Ward in Brooklyn in 1846 and 1847, and was reelected in 1849 and served for four years. By 1854, when he joined a force known as Special Police to keep order in the streets of New York, he was already one of the most respected. Politically a Democrat, he was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1856 and he was a member of the New York State Senate from 1858 to 1861, sitting in the 81st, 82nd, 83rd and 84th New York State Legislatures. He was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention and he was commissioner of New York Harbor when the Civil War erupted. Spinola joined the army in a New York regiment and was commissioned as an officer. He was appointed general of Volunteers on October 2,1862. He commanded two relief efforts to lift the Confederate siege of Washington, North Carolina, in July/October 1862 he recruited and organized a brigade of four regiments, known as Spinolas Empire Brigade. Spinolas brigade led the Union troops on July 23 at the Battle of Wapping Heights near Warrenton, Virginia, suffering 18 men killed, Spinola was wounded in the fighting, along with dozens of his men. He was honorably discharged from the service in August 1865, following the war, Spinola was a banker and insurance agent, and became an influential figure among the rapidly growing Italian immigrant community in the New York City area. He was again a member of the State Assembly in 1877,1881 and 1883, representative from New Yorks 10th District from 1887 to 1891. He died in office in Washington, D. C. on April 14,1891 and his funeral was held at the Immaculate Conception Church on April 16,1891, and he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. His estate, valued at over $1,000,000 in 1897, was left to his wife, in 1897 his sister Annie Douglass contested his will. Spinola had his seat at Crane Neck, Long Island. It was menaced by a fire in 1887, joão Leandro Spinola married Eliza Phelan on Jun 18,1808, at Trinity Church parish, New York. The Spinolas, of noble Genoese origin, moved into Madeira Island in the late 15th, early 16th century, John Leander Spinola is recorded travelling between Funchal and New York on board of the brig Pomona in 1821. He is also recorded travelling to Havana and Rio Grande and he was buried in the Meadow Avenue of Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
10.
Mayor of New York City
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The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York Citys government. The mayors office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, the budget overseen by the mayors office is the largest municipal budget in the United States at $70 billion a year. The city employs 325,000 people, spends about $21 billion to more than 1.1 million students, levies $27 billion in taxes. The mayors office is located in New York City Hall, it has jurisdiction over all five boroughs of New York City, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the mayor appoints a large number of officials, including commissioners who head city departments, and his deputy mayors. The mayors regulations are compiled in title 43 of the New York City Rules, according to current law, the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms in office. It was changed two to three terms on October 23,2008, when the New York City Council voted 29–22 in favor of passing the term limit extension into law. However, in 2010, a referendum reverting the limit to two terms passed overwhelmingly, the current mayor is Democrat Bill de Blasio, who was elected on November 5,2013. In 1665, Governor Richard Nicolls appointed Thomas Willett as the first mayor of New York, for 156 years, the mayor was appointed and had limited power. Between 1783 and 1821 the mayor was appointed by the Council of Appointments in which the governor had the loudest voice. In 1821 the Common Council, which included elected members, gained the authority to choose the mayor, an amendment to the New York State Constitution in 1834 provided for the direct popular election of the mayor. Cornelius W. Lawrence, a Democrat, was elected that year, gracie Mansion has been the official residence of the mayor since Fiorello La Guardias administration in 1942. Its main floor is open to the public and serves as a small museum, the mayor is entitled to a salary of $225,000, but early 21st century mayor Michael Bloomberg, the 16th-richest man in the world, declined the salary and instead was paid $1 yearly. Bloomberg had a net worth of $33 billion as of 2014. In 2000 direct control of the public school system was transferred to the mayors office. In 2003 the reorganization established the New York City Department of Education, tammany Hall, which evolved from an organization of craftsmen into a Democratic political machine, gained control of Democratic Party nominations in the state and city in 1861. It played a role in New York City politics into the 1960s and was a dominant player from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 through the era of Robert Wagner. The mayor of New York City may appoint several deputy mayors to help oversee major offices within the branch of the city government. The powers and duties, and even the number of deputy mayors, are not defined by the City Charter, the post was created by Fiorello La Guardia to handle ceremonial events that the mayor was too busy to attend
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hewitt, Abram Stevens". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 417.
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