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One hundred years ago today, August 9, New York City’s Mayor William J. Gaynor was about to embark on a well-earned vacation cruise when he was shot by a New York City watchman who recently had been fired from his job. Here’s the dramatic photograph of Gaynor’s wounding, taken just seconds after a shot had … Read more
August 9: New York City’s mayor, William Gaynor, was severely wounded in an assassination attempt on this date in 1910.
September 12: New York City Mayor William Jay Gaynor, the victim of an assassination attempt in 1910, died of complications from his wound on this date in 1913.
One hundred years ago, in July of 1911, reform Mayor William J. Gaynor ended tolls on New York City’s East River bridges. As the mayor said back then, “the tolls are oppressive to many people, and inconvenient and irksome to everyone.” As Sam Roberts notes in his recent New York Times report, Gaynor thought tolls were … Read more