Vincent R. Impellitteri

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Vincent R. Impellitteri
Robert F. Wagner, Jr.
President of the New York City Council
In office
January 1, 1946 – August 31, 1950
Preceded byNewbold Morris
Succeeded byJoseph T. Sharkey (acting)
Personal details
Born
Vincenzo Impellitteri

(1900-02-04)February 4, 1900
Isnello, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy
DiedJanuary 29, 1987(1987-01-29) (aged 86)
Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Resting placeMount Saint Peter Catholic Cemetery, Derby, Connecticut
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Elizabeth Agnes McLaughlin
​
​
(m. 1926; died 1967)​
Education
LL.B.)
ProfessionAttorney
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1917–1919 (active)
RankPetty officer third class
UnitUSS Stockton
Battles/warsWorld War I

Vincent Richard Impellitteri (born Vincenzo Impellitteri; February 4, 1900 – January 29, 1987) was an Italian-American politician and judge who served as the 101st Mayor of New York City from 1950 to 1953. He was elected as a Democrat and president of the City Council in 1945 and reelected in 1949. When Mayor William O'Dwyer resigned in 1950, he became acting mayor. He lost the Democratic primary for the nomination for the rest of the term but was subsequently elected mayor on a new ticket, the "Experience Party". He lost the Democratic primary when he ran for a full term in 1953 and became a judge in 1954.[1]

Early life

Born Vincenzo Impellitteri

LL.B.
in 1924) while working successively as a night bellboy and manager at a Broadway hotel. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Agnes McLaughlin in 1926.

Start of career

Following his admission to the bar, he worked in private practice alongside influential Democratic attorney

Assistant District Attorney from 1929 to 1938. After returning to private practice for three years as a specialist in criminal law, he served as legal secretary to New York Supreme Court Justice Peter Schmuck, later moving to the chambers of Joseph A. Gavagan in an analogous role. He was reportedly a close associate of gangster Tommy Lucchese, who helped Impellitteri's rise in politics.[4] On the other hand, a report in the New York World-Telegram indicated that Impelliteri opposed organized crime and corruption and had failed to rise through the city Democratic Party's ranks because he had "the injudicious good taste to snub Frank Costello", the gambler and racketeer who was said to control the Tammany Hall
organization behind the scenes.

In 1945, Mayor William O'Dwyer picked Impellitteri to run for President of the City Council on the Tammany Hall slate. He ran on the Democratic and American Labor Party lines in 1945, but when he was up for reelection in 1949, he ran on the Democratic Party line alone.

According to historian

Italian American Manhattan resident to bring balance to the citywide ticket and thought an employee in his position would be easy to persuade on political matters.[5]

Mayor of New York City

On August 31, 1950, O'Dwyer, pursued by both federal and state investigators, was suddenly appointed by President

New York State Supreme Court Judge Ferdinand Pecora, who was also given the Liberal Party line, ran as the nominee. Impellitteri ignored the machine and ran independently under the new "Experience Party" banner. He also popularized the slogan "unbought and unbossed" during his 1950 campaign.[6]

Impellitteri was the first mayor since the consolidation of greater New York in 1898 who was elected without a major party's ballot line, and his election was a populist uprising against the political system.[citation needed] The results were:

  • Vincent Impellitteri (Experience Party) 1,161,175 votes
  • Ferdinand Pecora (Democratic/Liberal) 935,351
  • Edward Corsi (Republican) 382,372
  • Paul L. Ross (American Labor) 147,578
Further information: New York City mayoral elections § 1950

Impellitteri's inauguration, held on November 14, 1950, absent either a band or a platform, was swift and straightforward. Outside City Hall, he pledged to "do my level best to justify the confidence you have reposed in me."[citation needed]

Shortly after Impellitteri's succession, the

Kings County District Attorney arrested bookmaker Harry Gross in September 1950 as part of a corruption investigation that caused nearly 500 police officers of all ranks to resign, retire, or be fired. Impellitteri opposed the corruption, vigorously supporting the Brooklyn District Attorney, Miles McDonald, and firing anyone in his administration associated with former Mayor William O'Dwyer.[7]

Impellitteri on visit to car factory, Haifa 1952

Impellitteri is credited with trying to rein in the budget, raising the bus and subway fare to fifteen cents, establishing parking meters on city streets for enhanced revenue, and increasing the sales tax. He aspired to be a new light in city politics, but his administration met with some resistance from the established order. At the time, Robert Moses wielded significant influence; according to Robert Caro (in his Moses biography The Power Broker), Impellitteri deferred to Moses on all matters of appointments and policy and is described as a puppet on Robert Moses' strings.[8] The Italian author Carlo Levi documented the mayor's 1950 visit to his birthplace in Sicily. [9][10]

Impellitteri ran for a full term in 1953. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by then

Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Although New York City Comptroller Lazarus Joseph usually sided in the New York City Board of Estimate with Impellitteri during the latter's term in office, Joseph supported Wagner for the Democratic nomination.[11]

Later career and retirement

After becoming mayor, Wagner appointed Impelliteri a

Central Park South. After he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1983, he maintained his Athletic Club residence but primarily resided in convalescent homes, most notably the Carolton Convalescent Hospital in Fairfield, Connecticut
.

Philanthropy

Impelliteri became a patron of The Lambs Club[12]: 192  in 1949.[13]

Death and burial

He died of Parkinson's disease on January 29, 1987, at Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut.[14] Impellitteri was buried at Mount Saint Peter Catholic Cemetery in Derby, Connecticut.

See also

References

  1. ^ Kenneth T. Jackson, Encyclopedia of New York City (2010) p 644
  2. ^ Birth record of Vincenzo Impellitteri
  3. ^ Current Biography Yearbook. Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson Company. 1952. p. 293.
  4. ISBN 978-0-231-15032-3
    .
  5. OCLC 834874
    .
  6. TimesMachine
    .
  7. ProQuest 1767788718
    . Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  8. OCLC 834874
    .
  9. ISBN 9781843914044
    . (Translation by Angus Davidson of Le Parole Sono Pietre: Tre Giornate in Sicilia, 1955.)
  10. ^ Scambray, Ken (August 31, 2017). "Words are Stone: Impressions of Sicily by Carlo Levi". L'Italo-Americano. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  11. TimesMachine
    .
  12. Diamond Jubilee gambol at the Hotel Astor Ballroom
    . Mayor Vincent Impelliteri was honorary collie.
  13. ^ "The Lambs". the-lambs.org. The Lambs, Inc. 6 November 2015. (Member Roster 'I'). Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  14. New York Times
    . Retrieved 2010-03-17.

Further reading

  • Levi, Carlo. Words are Stones (1958), essay, Part One.
  • Lagumina, Salvator. New York at Mid-Century: The Impellitteri Years (1992), scholarly biography; highly favorable
  • Moscow, Warren. The last of the big-time bosses: The life and times of Carmine De Sapio and the rise and fall of Tammany Hall (1971), highly negative

External links

Political offices
Preceded by President of the New York City Council
1946–1950 		Succeeded by
Joseph T. Sharkey
Preceded by
Mayor of New York City

1950—1953 		Succeeded by
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