A GOOD
The
Democratic Party controlled many big cities during the years in which I grew
up. Among the more notable mayors were: Boston ’s
James Curley; Chicago ’s Richard
Daley; Kansas City ’s Tom “Boss”
Pendergast; and Jersey City ’s Frank
Hague. Not to be outdone, Hoboken ’s mayor
Bernard J. McFeely held office for seventeen years, from 1930 to 1947, during
which time he made those other professional politicians look like amateurs. His
name should be more reviled.
During his years as mayor, he never earned
more than $5,000 per annum. When he died, he left an estate said to be valued
at $5 million dollars. He never married, but had a large family. At one time,
the city employed sixty five of his relatives including one brother, the Superintendent
of Schools and another, the Chief of Police. Once I saw the Chief enter a candy
store, walk behind the counter, ring up the register, scoop out some bills, and
saunter out. Schoolboys called out, Cop's
Grab, while swiping some younger kid's marbles. We all understood its
meaning.
The mayor owned a sanitation company. Hoboken
awarded its municipal waste hauling services contract to his firm every year he
served in office. Even after WW II, his company continued to use horses to pull
its open-top garbage trucks. McFeely did not believe in replacing anything still
in working order.
Anyone who ran a political race for election
against the mayor had to endure rough treatment. One year, the Hoboken police
arrested the Republican candidate on the eve of the election based on some
trumped-up charge. He spent the day in jail while awaiting the outcome of the
election. He lost. Few Republicans wished to challenge his utter control of the
city.
The New York Post ran a special edition one
time, exposing the city’s political corruption. When their delivery trucks
arrived in Hoboken by
ferry, police commandeered them and accidentally destroyed the papers. McFeely
did not like bad press.
Of course, McFeely doled out city jobs to
people and provided financial aid to others during the Depression era. These
citizens rewarded his regime by continuing to reelect him. McFeely finally
tasted defeat in 1947 when the returning veterans demanded a change in city
government.
I recall the fervor that swept over me when
voters installed a new form of municipal governance that year. Five officials
were elected to a city council, and they voted one of their number as mayor. In
that first year, three Italians and two Irishmen were elected to serve. John
Grogan garnered the most general election votes. When the five council members
met, the three Italians voted Fred De Sapio to serve as mayor, setting the tone
for what turned out to be years of controversy. Now, instead of just one person
controlling the city and stealing it blind, we had five people trying to run
the place, and steal too.
Example:
The newly elected board members ordered nameplates for themselves from a friend
of the new mayor at a cost of $200 each. The number of players had changed, but
the game remained the same: Business as usual at City Hall.
Grogan persisted in running for office and
eventually became mayor. When my mother died in 1961, he came to her wake, and
shook hands with my father. Hoboken ’s
mayors made it a practice to attend wakes, an easy way to endear themselves
with the family of the deceased and secure votes. His appearance pleased my
father, not me. I doubt he knew either of my parents.
The
year 1948 marked my initial presidential voting opportunity. A registered
Republican, my vote went to Truman, the Democrat. Harry had sent me a nice form
letter upon my discharge from the Army Air Force a year earlier, thanking me
for my contribution to the nation. I felt duty bound to vote for a candidate who
expressed such sentiments. In addition, the looks of Dewey’s mustache turned me
off. You have to have a sound basis upon which to cast your ballot.
After moving to San Mateo, California in 1955, my desire
to immerse myself in political issues waned. The elected officials there were
all honest people. Who could be bothered taking an interest in a lily-white government?
Hell, the city even used motor-driven trucks to pick up garbage. It would have
pained McFeely to witness such unnecessary expense in the name of progress.
▀
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Hey Joe,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminisces.
As a current Hoboken resident they put our fight for 'boring' honest government into perspective. In recent years we may be winning, but the culture of corruption is far from dead.
-Dave
Dave,
DeleteThanks for your comment.
How did you happen upon my blog?
Have you read any other of my Hoboken-related yarns?
Joe
Joe,
ReplyDeleteYour website was highlighted on The Hudson Mile Square View at hobokenhorse.com so lots of folks visited this linked story.
MSV is the biggest website covering Hoboken government and politics with thousands of readers. Would like to republish this story with your permission and link to your website.
In doing research, I came across your website and highlighted it this week. Contact email is smartyjones@me.com.
Have perused the stories and there's some great insights into Hoboken and very enjoyable. Merry Christmas.
Best,
Da Horsey, SmartyJones
The Hudson Mile Square View
http://hobokenhorse.com
Hoboken's best site for government, politics and corruption.
Thank you for finally putting this up. I was so happy to find it enjoyed reading this. I am the great, great, great, grandaughter of James McFeely, Bernards older brother. My grandpa, who would be 98 yrs old now if he were still here, lived across the street from the his Uncle the Mayor his whole life. He never spoke of this side of the family probably because there was alot of money involved that split the family in two. I think it's a fascinating story and love learning as much as I can. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteWow. Your comment stunned and delighted me. I would love to talk with you about Hoboken history. Call me at 480-948-9972 or email me at
ReplyDeletefinnertyjj@aol.com.