NYC Undercover

This week, For the Record highlights two exceptional opportunities to experience innovative interpretations of archival material. Both make use of historical New York Police Department (NYPD) surveillance films from the Municipal Archives collection.

The first is the annual Photoville festival where the Municipal Archives has debuted “NYC Undercover: Post-War Sound and Vision from NYPD Surveillance and WNYC Radio” a film exhibit combining historic NYPD silent surveillance films from the 1960s and 70s, with vintage WNYC radio broadcasts.

Spring Mobilization Committee March, April 15, 1967. NYPD Special Investigations Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (later called the National Mobilization Committee) organized some of the first large-scale protests of the war in 1967.

DORIS archivist Chris Nicols created NYC Undercover using video from various events and WNYC radio broadcasts. The end results include ticker-tape parades for the Gemini III and Apollo 11 astronauts paired with an interview with legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who expressed his view that the astronauts were heroes, as well as an NAACP and Congress for Racial Equality protest in Southeast Queens matched with audio from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech to the City Council after winning the Nobel Prize, and more.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (third from right), Andrew Young (1), Bernard Scott Lee (2) and other supporters in the Spring Mobilization march near the Hotel St. Moritz, Central Park South and 6th Avenue, April 15, 1967. NYPD Special Investigations Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The NYPD surveillance films had been originally created by the Bureau of Special Services and Investigations (BOSSI) between 1960 and 1980. During their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, BOSSI gathered information on individuals and groups arrayed along the political spectrum, but particularly civil rights, anti-war and feminist activists.

Nicols selected the audio from the Archives’ collection of broadcasts recorded by the municipal radio station, WNYC. Launched in 1924, reporters from the city-owned station turned up at events for more than seven decades, recording everyone from news announcers, musicians, and celebrities, athletes, poets and politicians. In 1996 the radio station was sold by the City to the nonprofit WNYC Foundation and it will celebrate its centennial next year.

Earth Day, Union Square, April 22, 1970. NYPD Special Investigations Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Earth Day celebrations in Union Square Park included cleanup crews composed of school children and community members. Con Edison, often criticized for their environmental policies, donated brooms, mops, and other supplies for the cause. Other events in the park included Frisbee games and a massive plastic bubble filled with “fresh air.”

NYC Undercover will be on display through Sunday, June 18 at the Emily Warren Roebling Plaza in Brooklyn Bridge Park, from 12-6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 12-8 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information, visit https://photoville.nyc.

The second opportunity also makes use of historic NYPD surveillance films. On June 16, 2023, Department of Records and Information Services’ Public Artist in Residence, Kameron Neal, will debut Down the Barrel (Of A Lens). The screening will take place at the Brooklyn Army Terminal’s Annex Building. The program is free and will run from June 16, through June 18, 2023. More information and RSVP is available here.

During Neal’s residency at DORIS he examined the digitized NYPD surveillance footage from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. As noted above, the films capture a turbulent time in the City’s history. Mostly shot by plainclothes officers from 1960-1980, Neal’s interpretation focuses on a constellation of moments in the film collection when people stopped to look back directly into the camera lens; acknowledging they were being surveilled. 

Columbia students climb a barricade during protest, May 21, 1968. NYPD Photo Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. In the Spring of 1968, student protests broke out at Columbia over links with the Department of Defense and plans to build a gymnasium in Morningside Park. Students occupied several buildings.

Designed as a two-channel film installation, one channel contains footage of civilians looking directly into the camera, while the other creates an abstracted portrait of the NYPD through jittery shots of their shadows, trench coats, and shoes. The two channels face one another as a symbolic reimagining of these police encounters.

The Public Artist in Residence (PAIR) program is a municipal residency run by the Department of Cultural Affairs that embeds artists in city government to propose and implement creative solutions to pressing civic challenges. 

While both exhibits use some of the same film, the resulting projects are vastly different and illustrate how these rich collections can be used in creative pursuits. 

The City Cemetery on Hart Island

On February 26, 1875, Mary Halpine, age two months, was buried in trench no. seven at the City Cemetery on Hart Island. According to the cemetery burial ledger, Mary was born in New York City and died from Atelectasis (collapsed lung) at Bellevue Hospital on February 25.   

Hart Island Bulk Head, January 13, 1972. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The entry recording the death and burial of Mary Halpine is the first one in a ledger recently donated to the Municipal Archives collection of City Cemetery burial records.

The City of New York purchased Hart Island in 1868 and designated it for the burial of indigent and unclaimed persons. The Department of Public Charities and Corrections was given responsibility for the burials and record-keeping.

In 1988, City archivists transferred all extant burial records dated prior to 1975 that had been stored on the Island, to the Municipal Archives. The earliest ledger in the series recorded burials beginning in May 1881. There are significant gaps in the collection during the 1950s and 1960s due to water damage. In 2018, the Archives accessioned a ledger, with entries dating from May 1872 through February 1875, from the Department of Corrections Historical Society. The latest addition to the Archives collection of City Cemetery ledgers lists burials beginning in February 1875, through 1877.    

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City archivists transferred City Cemetery burial ledgers to the Municipal Archives from Hart Island on a Department of Corrections vessel, 1988. NYC Municipal Archives.

The City Cemetery burial records provide significant data for both family history research and investigation into broader topics such as immigration, public health, and social services. The ledgers list the name of the deceased person (if known), age, birthplace, how long in the country, date, cause and place of death, and date of burial. The ledger also indicates religion, although this information appears to have been inconsistently recorded, likely due to a lack of knowledge about the decedent’s affiliation. There is also a remarks column.    

At the conclusion of each month the clerk maintaining the ledger carefully tallied the total number of burials, and where the deaths occurred. The greatest number of deaths are recorded as “outdoor poor” which means they occurred somewhere other than an institution—at home, on the street, aboard a ship etc. Bellevue, Almshouse, Charity Hospital, Foundling Asylum, Riverside Hospital, Small Pox Hospital and Lunatic Asylum, account for the majority who died in institutions.    

City Cemetery Burial Ledger, February 1875 – January 1878. NYC Municipal Archives

The birthplaces of the deceased reflect early-to-mid-nineteenth century immigration patterns in New York City. Most decedents are native born, or from northern European countries. For example, between June 5 and June 9th, the decedents’ birthplaces included Germany, Ireland, France, Scotland, Austria and New York.    

Cause of death information also reflects the reality of New York City life at that time. Although the clerk did not tabulate causes, reviewing the list shows a world without good health care and modern medicine. Small pox, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and diptheria are just a few of the diseases that took the life of many city residents. Which is probably why “old age” is  rarely recorded as a cause of death. Some of those who died of advanced years are Alice Crosby, age 68, born in Ireland, died on July 2, 1876; Ann Kiernan passed away on July 7, 1876, age 69, and Philip Mitchell, on March 25, 1876 age 70. 

Also notable is the frequency of “drowning” as a cause of death. But based on the place of death, it appears that most were probably not related to recreational activities. During the first week of June1875 three unrelated persons drowned: an unknown man, age 40, found at Pier 9, in the East River; John Maurer, age 50, in the Harlem River, and another unknown man, no age, found at Pier 42, North River.  

Most persons listed in the cemetery ledger died of “natural” causes. However, German-born Fritz Reichardt, age 54, died on May 29, 1877, of a “pistol shot wound of head” on 7th Street between 8th and 9th avenues.    

City Cemetery Burial Ledger, February 1875 – January 1878. Recapitulation, May 1876. NYC Municipal Archives

The remarks column is mostly blank except for notations regarding disinterment and reburial. In one instance, in August 1876, an “unknown man” was apparently later “recognized as William Bement,” age 60. He died in the “woods on 128th Street near 10th Avenue.” His body was disinterred and delivered to Taylor & Co., at 16 Bowery, for removal to Elmira, N.Y.  Most “unknown” burials did not have such a conclusive ending.

Scanning the names recorded in the ledger, one is immediately struck by the number of children buried in the cemetery. Indeed, the second page of the ledger is almost entirely children: Bridget Daily, age one month, from smallpox; Thomas Dowers, twenty-days, of marasmus (mal-nourished); six still births—boy of Anne Purvis, girl of N. Sullivan, girl of Catherine Beaufort, and an unnamed male and female. Mary Ann (no last name), a two-year old founding, died of Scarlatina on 68th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues.   

Some clerks appear to have been more diligent in recording information about deceased children; or perhaps they simply had access to more specific data. Listings during the last week of July 1877, for example, include several premature and stillborn children. On this page, the clerk carefully wrote “female child of George and Carol Briner (stillborn); female child of John and Mary Ray (stillborn).”

New York City continues to bury its indigent and unclaimed deceased persons on Hart Island. In 2021, the City transferred jurisdiction over the Island from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Parks and Recreation. During Covid, the Department of Corrections had been overwhelmed by the quantity of burials and this function was transferred to contractors. Subsequently, the Human Resources Administration has assumed responsibility for the burials and record-keeping.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

On Memorial Day, May 30, 2022, New York City Council Member Gale Brewer spoke before a gathering at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, in Riverside Park, Manhattan, near 89th Street. The monument, erected in memory of the New York regiments that fought in the Civil War, served as the terminus for Memorial Day parades for decades after its dedication in 1902. In recent years it suffered extensive deterioration and in 2017 was fenced off to protect people from the cracked and crumbling stone. At the 2022 ceremony, Brewer rallied support for a long-overdue restoration of the landmark and urged the audience to sign a petition urging the City to fund desperately-needed repairs. “Our servicemen and women, our citizens, and our City deserve better,” Brewer said.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Riverside Park, New York, ca. 1936. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Six months later, Council Member Brewer’s efforts were rewarded with a $62.3 million allocation in the City’s capital budget for the restoration.

The monument is located on a promontory along Riverside Drive at West 89th Street. The Stoughton brothers, engineer Charles W. (1860–1944), and architect Arthur A. Stoughton (1867–1955), won a public competition for their design inspired by Greek antiquity. An example of the City Beautiful movement, the monument is in a cylindrical form with 12 Corinthian columns of white marble. The monument is capped with a richly carved ornament of eagles and cartouches sculpted by Paul E. Duboy (better known for his work on the Ansonia Hotel). 

Commissioned by the City of New York and the Memorial Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1893, the competition was held in 1897. New York State Governor Theodore Roosevelt officiated at the cornerstone laying ceremony in January 1900. On Memorial Day 1902, with then- President Roosevelt presiding, the completed monument was unveiled following a parade of Civil War veterans up Riverside Drive. For many years the project was delayed because the City could not agree on a site for the monument. The Municipal Art Society vetoed the initial location at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. Eventually it was sited along the axis of Riverside Drive, looking south and out toward the Hudson River, a companion structure to the Grant National Memorial located two miles north.  

Aerial view, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Riverside Park, January 1934. Department of Parks & Recreation Photograph Collection.

In the early 1960s, the City spent over $1 million in extensive repairs to the monument, including a new roof. It was designated a municipal landmark in 1976. 

The Landmark Designation Report for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Department of Parks and Recreation 2017 Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Memorial: Conditions Survey & Restoration Treatment Study can be accessed in the Municipal Library’s Government Publication Portal.

“History and dignity restored,” read the New York Daily News article on January 15, 2023, reporting on funding for the restoration in Mayor Eric Adam’s budget. Following the announcement, Council Member Brewer thanked the Mayor and remarked, “The 120-year-old monument was built to honor Union Army soldiers who fought against slavery in the Civil War and brings together veterans and civilians to remember all those who have died serving this country. The future of this memorial is bright. Restored to its former glory, it will again speak of our memory of war and the dream of peace.”   

Monument 89th Street, Soldiers and Sailors, showing scaffolding, September 15, 1927. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection.

For the Record readers are invited to visit the Monument this Memorial Day, May 29, at 10 a.m. to enjoy a ceremony planned in conjunction with Fleet Week, dedicated to honoring our nation’s military personnel who died serving in the United States Armed Forces. The event will commence with a musical prelude by the U.S. Marine Corps Band, followed by a processional featuring the Piper New York Caledonian Club, Sons of United Veterans of the Civil War and Veteran Corps of Artillery at 10:30 a.m. Retired Commander Peter Galasinao of the United States Navy and President of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Association will deliver welcoming remarks. Guest speakers will include City Council Member Brewer, Commissioner of NYC Department of Parks & Recreation Sue Donoghue and other City officials.   

Silent Toasts and Solo Flights: Mayor LaGuardia’s Forgotten Fraternity

In a letter dated November 2, 1934, an unnamed writer remarked, “Glad to see La Guardia in again at last Monday’s dinner. His job does not give him many evenings off.” The letter was signed “Cordially Yours, HOUSE COMMITTEE,” and found its way into Mayor LaGuardia’s subject files, now at the Municipal Archives. At first glance, the letter seems ordinary. At the end of 1934, Fiorello H. LaGuardia was finishing up his first year as New York City’s mayor, following a notable two-term stint in Congress. He certainly would have been invited to many dinners, and indeed, did not have many evenings off. Yet the letter becomes more interesting in context. It follows up on an earlier one sent to Mayor LaGuardia’s assistant, Lester B. Stone, which requests:

Some Monday evening, when the Major is not too much crowded and would like to slip away for an hour or two where he will not be under restraint, observation, and can feel free to do what he likes, route him up to the Quiet Birdmen. Better not send him up on the first Monday night of the month because it is pretty well crowded that night. Other nights...would, I think, probably be more agreeable to him; he sees enough of crowds.

Please express our kindest regards and best wishes to the Mayor, and tell him that we all think he is doing a swell job.[1]

The letter was signed by Guy Kelcey, Chairman of the House Committee, and was carefully typed on letterhead of the Anciente and Secret Order of the Quiet Birdmen. These missives are just two among a total of twenty-seven letters Mayor LaGuardia received from the Quiet Birdmen. Yet the Order is not mentioned in biographies of the Mayor.

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Letter from the Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen inviting the mayor to attend, May 29, 1934, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Collection. NYC Municipal Archives

That LaGuardia was a member of fraternal organizations is no secret. Fraternalism was hugely popular among American men in the early twentieth century, and many prominent individuals were members of fraternal societies. LaGuardia himself was a Freemason for most of his adult life, having joined Garibaldi Lodge No. 542 in New York City.[2] The Freemasons are well known, and have included many noteworthy figures, yet the Quiet Birdmen are almost unheard of. From the letters of 1934, it seems the Birdmen were either courting the Mayor as a prospective member, or already included him among their ranks. A look at the history of the fraternity and LaGuardia’s earlier life reveals why.

The Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen was, according to its own letterhead, founded in 1921, and headquartered at 220 West 42nd Street. Newsletters received by the mayor over the course of two years shed light on the nature of the group. A two-page description of the order received in December 1935 states, “QB is a wholly social fraternity composed of men who have soloed at least one type of powered aircraft and who have demonstrated exceptional qualities of good sportsmanship and fellowship.” The order was organized into local “Hangars” and claimed to be “without constitution, by laws [sic], officers, dues, or other formal organization.” One of the main customs of the group, mentioned in almost every newsletter, was the Silent Toast to honor those members who had “gone West,” i.e. died.

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Mayor LaGuardia, a pilot and war veteran, was just the kind of member the Quiet Birdman wanted. LaGuardia on Alaskan Highway tour with unidentified officers, 1943. Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

As LaGuardia well knew, aviation was in its infancy and deaths of pilots were common. In 1915, La Guardia had taken flying lessons on Long Island, and then enlisted the following year in the US Army Air Service. He served in Europe during World War I, surviving two plane crashes. He did all of this while serving as a US Congressman.[3] LaGuardia loved the danger of flying, even after retiring from the Air Service and becoming mayor. In a letter to Charles Burlingham while in office, LaGuardia wrote of wanting to fly to Floyd Bennett Field for a celebration but being warned of a storm by the Coast Guard. The mayor said he had replied “in my usual boastful manner... that I was willing to take the chance.” The Coast Guard admiral responded, “We don’t mind you taking a chance, Mr. Mayor, for mayors are plentiful, but... good planes are scarce and hard to get in the Coast Guard.”[4] The Mayor was well-qualified for membership in the Quiet Birdmen, who referred to him by his Air Service rank of Major.

However, the Quiet Birdmen were not simply a group of daring pilots toasting the memory of their fallen compatriots—and indeed, they were anything but quiet. Their newsletters abound with complaints about unruly members:

The night of August 10th at the Gotham—just another Great Big Headache for us sober (or at least fairly well behaved) fellows. A 2-½ foot Lion (not Bob) was taken from the Lobby of the Hotel.... We are fairly sure who did this rotten, lousy job, one a QB and one a guest (we don’t know whose). Your hard-working House Committee is on the spot for this. WE WANT THAT LION RETURNED—NUFF said.[5]

That their meetings were raucous affairs with copious libations is obvious in the letters. Prohibition had been repealed in 1933, and the QBs, like the rest of the nation, were thirsty. Multiple times, the cost of dinner and drinks is mentioned, and the members are reminded that the hotel would charge for broken items.  

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Hotel Gotham, where Mayor LaGuardia attended a meeting of the Quiet Birdmen in October 1934. 1940 Tax Photo Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In May 1934 the address of the QBs was 220 West 42nd Street, Suite 2007. By August, it was given as “Hotel Gotham, Fifth at Fifty Fifth.” Then in September 1936, the House Committee announced a move to the Hotel Algonquin at 59 West 44th Street, Suite 211, stating,

What with excellent facilities, a sympathetic and understanding management, very satisfactory arrangements, and an atmosphere much better adapted to gentlemen who are not yet on crutches, we will be much better off in our new quarters than we have been.

However, it became apparent in the next letter that the QBs had been kicked out of the Gotham for breaking furniture and discarding cigarette butts on the floor. Several members of the House Committee had to pack up the order’s belongings in one long night and had consumed a whole bottle of scotch and another of rye while they worked.[6] 

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Hotel Algonquin, the new home of the QBs after they were kicked out of the Gotham. 1940 Tax Photo Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The QBs may have had a particular interest in the Mayor given his history with alcohol. LaGuardia had been a vocal opponent of Prohibition while in Congress, even going so far as to mix alcoholic beverages openly as a publicity stunt in 1926. Much to LaGuardia’s disappointment, he could not get a passing police officer to arrest him for this act of civil disobedience.[7] Less than a decade later, he became the mayor of a happily post-Prohibition New York.[8]

Yet, LaGuardia’s relationship with alcohol was more nuanced than could be assumed. In a book published during LaGuardia’s term as Mayor, journalist J.F. Carter claimed that LaGuardia, distraught by the death of his first wife in 1921, had turned to heavy drinking. While LaGuardia’s grief over Thea’s death was well-attested by his friends, the drinking was mere rumor, and the books were recalled after the mayor threatened a lawsuit.[9] Further, even while calling for an end to prohibition, he acknowledged the need for some restrictions, particularly for hard liquor.[10] This attitude would continue into the 1940s. As World War II drew the United States into conflict, LaGuardia spoke at the International Association of Chiefs of Police and called for moderation of hard liquor. “There should be less consumption of liquor now than in peace time,” he declared, adding that “decent people will not tolerate debauchery and excess.” Letters poured into the Mayor’s office immediately afterward, with many citizens voicing support and expressing complaints about drunk soldiers and sailors in the city. A public challenge to these statements was written by the chairman of the liquor board and printed in the New York Times on September 22, 1942. The Chairman insisted that rules were being followed and liquor was not a problem. LaGuardia denounced him unequivocally in a letter to the editor the very next day, citing a specific instance of the board violating its own rules in reissuing a revoked liquor license.[11]

Thus, while he was no teetotaler, neither was Mayor LaGuardia a libertine. For example, during his first summer as Mayor, in 1934, he had banned large jazz dances in Central Park. When critics complained, he stated that he did enjoy jazz, as long as it was not too boisterous.[12] Those around him also noted that despite his loud, aggressive persona, he preferred to keep his social circle small, and associate only with people who had been his friends before his election. As it happened, summer of 1934 was the date of the earliest Quiet Birdmen newsletters in his records. It is quite likely that he was invited to join the group at that time. However, his involvement may have been minimal. A newsletter from April 1935 bemoans that “Some of our members are so constantly importuned for autographs that it becomes a very serious annoyance,” and states that it is “bad form” to ask another member for an autograph. It is reasonable to assume Mayor LaGuardia was one of the members who had expressed serious annoyance and was probably keeping his distance. 

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Letters to the mayor following his call for greater restrictions on hard liquor. Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In any case, the newsletters from the Quiet Birdmen ceased after December, 1936. Whether LaGuardia was a regular or a rarity at their meetings cannot be determined. What is certain, though, is that the Quiet Birdmen were proud to claim him among their ranks. In an undated membership handbook held at the National Air and Space Museum, Fiorello H. LaGuardia is listed as a member who had “gone West.”[13] His death was reported in the Times on Sunday, September 21, 1947, the day after it occurred. One can only assume that on Monday, the Quiet Birdmen drank a Silent Toast to him.

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[1] Letter dated May 29, 1934.

[2] https://www.garibaldilodge.com/garibaldi-lodge

[3] Heckscher, August and Robinson, Phyllis. (1978). When La Guardia was Mayor: New York’s Legendary Years. Norton. 21-22.

[4] Kessner, Thomas. (1989). Fiorello H. La Guardia. McGraw-Hill. 449.

[5] Letter dated September 1, 1936. Capitalization theirs.

[6] Letter dated September 30, 1936.

[7] Kessner, 112-113.

[8] Heckscher, 15.

[9] Kessner, 79.

[10] Kessner, 114.

[11] Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia Subject files, Box 95.

[12] Heckscher, 69.

[13] https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/booklet-quiet-birdmen/nasm_A19890646000

Find of the Week: Report of the Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission

In 1906, the City’s main decision-making body, the Board of Estimate, appointed a three-person commission to evaluate the conditions of Jamaica Bay and report on improvements to the Bay and the City’s waterfront. In 1907, the commission issued its report, and in 1909 and 1910 issued updates on the status of the Jamaica Bay estuary. A copy of the combined reports is housed in the Municipal Library, with slight water damage but otherwise in good condition. In addition to the analysis, the reports contain several maps of Jamaica Bay.  

Map of Jamaica Bay, Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission. Reports on the General Improvement and Development of Jamaica Bay in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, 1907-1909. Municipal Library.

The commission reviewed the capacity of the piers for the Port of New York and compared its operations to those of European port cities such as Rotterdam, Bremen, Hamburg and Marseille. The Port of New York received 38 per cent of all foreign shipping to the United States, or 18,942,380 tons in 1905. Nevertheless, the Commission concluded that the operations of Manhattan’s port including docking receiving and transferring goods from the docks to vehicles for delivery was costly and inefficient.

Their recommendation was that Jamaica Bay be developed as a major international shipping port and industrial center. Because much of the Bay was shallow, dredging to accommodate large cargo ships would be required. Additional improvements were required—piers, bulkheads, trainlines to transport cargo to the interior. The costs were to be borne by the City of New York and the federal War Department. New York State hedged its bets—it authorized the conveyance of the land under the Bay after the City had invested $1 million; and the City would need to purchase land for warehouses. 

West Portion of Jamaica Bay, New York, Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission. Reports on the General Improvement and Development of Jamaica Bay in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, 1907-1909. Municipal Library.

Substantial dredging was completed to deepen the channels. A pier was built on Barren Island for the garbage scows to dump street refuse from "the City". Some of that debris along with fill from dredging was deposited in marsh areas to create new land. However, the work was completed in starts and fits and the proposed international port never materialized.

Sketch Showing Main Channel to Jamaica Bay Through Rockaway Inlet in Different Years from 1841 to 1906, Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission. Reports on the General Improvement and Development of Jamaica Bay in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, 1907-1909. Municipal Library.

In recent years, many of the topographical changes made to the Bay to achieve the dreamed-of Port were reversed. As described in the report Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan Update, 2018, from the Department of Environmental Protection, wetlands have been reclaimed and habitats restored.  Today, Jamaica Bay is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area .    

The Congressional Records of Mayor Edward I. Koch

The records of New York City Mayors are one of the most-researched collections in the Municipal Archives. Dating from 1826 through 2021, the materials document the highs and lows of the City and its government. In addition, mayoral papers pre-dating 1826 may be found in the Common Council collection because the Office of the Mayor was part of the Council.

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Edward I. Koch, campaigning, n.d. Edward I. Koch Congressional Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Mayor Edward I. Koch collection totals more than 800 cubic feet and consist of correspondence, memos, briefing papers, photos, videos, scrapbooks and more. Much like Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Koch seemed to read every document, and several contain scrawled responses or comments. Serving as Mayor from 1978 through 1989, Koch presided over the city’s recovery from the fiscal crises. The voluminous collection offers insight into the strategies to bring the City back, including massive cuts to services, and the eventual financial stability that led to further investment in government operations.

In an interesting twist, the Municipal Archives also holds the records from Koch’s Congressional service which immediately predated his election to the mayoralty. The 373 boxes containing the records of Congressman Ed Koch were transferred to the Municipal Archives where they have remained, untouched and unprocessed since 1982. The records went directly from the National Records Center to the Municipal Archives at the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS), at that time headed by Mayor Koch’s close friend and supporter, Eugene Bockman.

Beginning with a January 24, 1968 media release titled, “KOCH TO RUN FOR CONGRESS FROM ‘SILK STOCKING’ DISTRICT” and concluding with images and notes documenting his successful run for Mayor in 1977, the records offer insight into the work of one of New York’s most unique and productive government officials.

A brief review of the Koch Congressional Collection by the Municipal Archives, conducted in August 2018, shows that the collection contains photographs, negatives and slides; audio and video tape, brochures and printed materials; correspondence files; subject files; campaign materials; issue mail; scrapbooks; press clippings and personal material.

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Press Release, 1968. Edward I. Koch Congressional Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Koch Congressional records document the actions of a very involved member of Congress during a critical period in our nation’s history and have direct relevance to issues being debated and legislated today. Highlights include correspondence related to war in Vietnam, the crises faced by urban areas, and the pending impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon.

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Constituent Correspondence, 1977. Edward I. Koch Congressional Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Congressional records complement the Mayoral collection, showing both the evolution and consistency of Congressman and Mayor Ed Koch’s views on such issues as housing, gun control, foreign aid, food insecurity and immigrant rights.

The New York Archival Society, a non-profit that supports the work of the Municipal Archives, has launched a project to raise funds to process and digitize this vital collection in order to make these records publicly available. New York Archival Society - Ed. Koch Congressional Project