Rudolph Halley

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Rudolph Halley (June 19, 1913 – November 19, 1956) was an attorney and politician from New York City.

Early life and career

Born in

In the summer of 1951, Halley announced his candidacy for President of the New York City Council, a position that would later be replaced by that of New York City Public Advocate, in a special election held to replace Vincent R. Impellitteri, who had ascended to the mayor's office after the resignation of William O'Dwyer. He ran on an anti-corruption, anti-crime, anti-Tammany Hall platform and promised to "teach the political bosses a lesson." Although a lifelong Democrat, he did not seek the party's nomination, instead running as the nominee of the Liberal Party. He also appeared on the ballot as the nominee of the Fusion Party and the Independent Citizens Party. On Election Day, Halley unexpectedly triumphed, tallying 657,871 votes (39%).

As President of the City Council, Halley was best known for feuding with both Mayor Impellitteri and Governor Thomas E. Dewey over state funding for the City, which was necessary to balance the municipal budget. While Dewey demanded increases in property taxes and the subway fare in return for state aid, Halley favored leaving both taxes and fares alone and instead cutting government waste. Impellitterri opposed both plans. Things turned ugly when Halley accused Dewey of "ruthlessly playing politics" with the budget, and Dewey publicly called Halley "as stupid and ignorant as he is shallow and venomous."

Candidacy for Mayor

In 1953, Halley declined to run for re-election and instead declared his candidacy for Mayor of New York. Running once again on the Liberal and Independent Citizens lines,

After the election, Halley retired from politics, becoming a name partner in the law firm of Fulton, Walter & Halley, headquartered at Rockefeller Center. Although there was speculation that he might run for Attorney General of New York in 1954, he never sought office again. On November 19, 1956, Halley died in Manhattan of natural causes at age 43. His death has been attributed to both pneumonia and pancreatitis. He was survived by his wife and four children (Marian, Henry, Peter and Michael).

External links

• Gill, Brendan, The Talk of the Town, "Romantic," The New Yorker, February 27, 1954
• Moritz, Owen, "Rudolph Halley: Streak of Light," New York Daily News, June 24, 1999
• Paid notice,
  New York Times
  , November 19, 2006