| John F. Hylan |
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Hylan was born in Hunter, New York a Catskill Mountains community where his family owned a Farm . Hylan married young, became dissatisfied with farm life and moved to Brooklyn with his bride. He found work on the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad and rose through the ranks to become a Locomotive engineer. Ambitious, he studied law even as he worked on the railroad. He was fired after allegedly taking a curve too fast, endangering a supervisor who had been preparing to cross a track. Hylan always contended that he was wrongfully discharged. Despite his industriousness, he was described, even by his friends, as a mediocre intellect. Nevertheless, he became a judge in the Kings County (Brooklyn) county court and was in that position when he was tapped by Tammany Hall as a Dark-horse candidate for Mayor, running as a Democrat, through the promotion of Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst , who shared with him a desire for municipal ownership of utilities. Hylan defeated the reformer John Purroy Mitchel in the 1917 mayoral election, restoring the power of Tammany at City Hall. He easily won re-election in 1921 but was defeated for re-nomination in 1925 by State Senator Jimmy Walker . Walker later appointed Hylan to the municipal judiciary. As mayor, Hylan railed against "the interests" and put in motion the building of a publicly-owned and operated subway system, which became the IND division of the New York City Subway . Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island was named for him. Hylan died of a heart attack at the age of 67 on January 12 , 1936 . CULTURAL REFERENCES In the first issue of '' The New Yorker '' (Feb. 21, 1925), a humor piece on the history of New York refers to John F. Hylan as "Jonef Hylan":
He is then characterized as a "Champion of the People versus the Interests," which are "not people." Satan , it says, was behind the Interests, but William Randolph Hearst was behind Hylan, "and that evened things up." |
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