Editing Abraham Beame

{{Short description|Mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = A beame in 1974.jpg
| imagesize           =
| caption             = Beame in 1974
| order               = 104th [[Mayor of New York City]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Mayors of the City of New York (The Green Book) |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dcas/about/green-book-mayors-of-the-city-of-new-york.page |website=nyc.gov}}</ref>
| term_start          = January 1, 1974
| term_end            = December 31, 1977
| predecessor         = [[John Lindsay]]
| successor           = [[Ed Koch]]
| order2              = 36th and 38th [[New York City Comptroller]]
| term_start2         = January 1, 1970
| term_end2           = December 31, 1973
| 1blankname2         = {{nowrap|Mayor}}
| 1namedata2          = [[John Lindsay]]
| preceded2           = [[Mario Procaccino]]
| succeeded2          = [[Harrison J. Goldin]]
| term_start3         = January 1, 1962
| term_end3           = December 31, 1965
| 1blankname3         = {{nowrap|Mayor}}
| 1namedata3          = [[Robert F. Wagner, Jr.]]
| preceded3           = [[Lawrence E. Gerosa]]
| succeeded3          = [[Mario Procaccino]]
| birth_name          = Abraham David Birnbaum
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1906|3|20|mf=y}}
| birth_place         = London, England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2001|2|10|1906|3|20|mf=y}}
| death_place         = New York City, U.S.
| constituency        =
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{Marriage|Mary Ingerman|1928|1995|end=died}}
| children            = 2
| relatives           = [[Marty Ingels]] (nephew)
| alma_mater          = [[Baruch College]] (degree originally conferred by the [[City College of New York]])
| profession          = Accountant
| signature           =
| footnotes           =
}}

'''Abraham David Beame''' (''[[Birth name|né]]'' '''Birnbaum'''; March 20, 1906{{spaced ndash}}February 10, 2001)<ref name=NYTobit/> was an American accountant, investor, and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] politician who served from 1974 to 1977 as the 104th [[mayor of New York City]].<ref name=parks>{{cite journal |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/daily-plant?id=8582 |title=Parks Remembers Mayor Beame |journal=Daily Plant |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |date=February 16, 2001 |volume=XVI |number=3304 |access-date=March 23, 2016}}</ref> Beame presided over the city during the [[1975 New York City fiscal crisis]], when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.

==Early life==
Beame was born Abraham David Birnbaum in [[London]].<ref name=remarks>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyc.gov/html/rwg/html/2001a/beame.html|title=Remarks at the Funeral Service for Mayor Abraham Beame|first=Rudolph W.|last=Giuliani|website=nyc.gov}}</ref> His parents were Esther (née Goldfarb) and Philip Birnbaum, Jewish immigrants from Poland who fled [[Warsaw]].<ref name=baruch>{{cite web |work=History of Baruch College |title=12 Who Made It Big: Abraham D. Beame '28 |url=https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/library/alumni/online_exhibits/digital/2001/history/exhibit/chap_09/who_made_big/made_big.htm |first=Jason |last=Marks |publisher=Baruch College, City University of New York |access-date=March 23, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412145021/https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/library/alumni/online_exhibits/digital/2001/history/exhibit/chap_09/who_made_big/made_big.htm |archive-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name=rhill>{{cite web |url=http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/abeame.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010803145113/http://richmondhillhistory.org/abeame.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2001 |title=New York City's first Jewish mayor |website=Richmond Hill Historical Society |access-date=March 23, 2016}}</ref> Beame and his family left England when he was three months old.<ref name=baruch /> He was raised on New York City's [[Lower East Side]].

Beame graduated from P.S. 160 and the High School of Commerce before enrolling at the [[City College of New York]]'s School of Business and Civic Administration (spun off as [[Baruch College]] in 1968), where he received his undergraduate degree in business with honors in 1928.<ref name=remarks /><ref name=baruch /><ref name=rhill />

==Career==

===Career before politics===
While in college, Beame co-founded an accounting firm, Beame & Greidinger.<ref name=baruch /> He was an accounting teacher at [[Richmond Hill High School (Queens, New York)|Richmond Hill High School]] in [[Queens]] from 1929 to 1946<ref name=rhill /> and also taught accounting and commercial law at [[Rutgers University]] from 1944 to 1945.

From 1952 to 1961, Beame served as New York City's director of the budget, having also served as assistant director from 1946 to 1952.<ref name=baruch /> In this capacity, he "negotiated all city labor contracts without a strike and kept books on city spending and borrowing; he also set up management programs that saved the city $40 million."<ref name=NYTobit />

===Early political career===
Beame was a "clubhouse" or [[political machine|machine politician]], a product of the [[Brooklyn]] wing of the patronage-oriented "regular" [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] organization, the borough's equivalent of Manhattan's [[Tammany Hall]] and the locus of New York patronage politics following the ascent of [[Meade Esposito]], as opposed to the policy-oriented "reform" Democrats who entered New York City politics, most effectively in Manhattan and the Bronx in the 1950s.<ref name="Lichtenstein">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/08/archives/madison-democratic-club-brings-influence-to-brooklyn.html |title=Madison Democratic Club Brings Influence to Brooklyn |first=Grace |last=Lichtenstein |date=November 8, 1974 |work=New York Times}}</ref>

Before being elected to two nonconsecutive terms as city comptroller in 1961 and 1969, he was a longstanding member of [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]]'s influential Madison Democratic Club and served as [[political boss]] [[Irwin Steingut]]'s personal accountant. Members of the Madison Club, including attorney/fundraiser Abraham "Bunny" Lindenbaum and Steingut's son, [[Stanley Steingut|Stanley]], frequently liaised with real estate developer [[Fred Trump]]. The club also played a decisive role in the political ascent of [[Park Slope]]–based attorney [[Hugh Carey]], whose tenure as [[governor of New York]] coincided with Beame's administration, though Carey eventually broke with the organization by endorsing [[Mario Cuomo]]'s 1977 primary bid to unseat Beame.<ref name="Lichtenstein"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/nyregion/hugh-carey-who-led-fiscal-rescue-of-new-york-city-dead-at-92.html |title=Hugh Carey, Who Led Fiscal Rescue of New York City, Is Dead at 92 (Published 2011) |first=Richard |last=Pérez-Peña |date=August 7, 2011 |work=New York Times}}</ref>

In 1965, Beame was the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. [[Edward N. Costikyan]] was his campaign manager and [[James Farley]] his campaign chair.<ref name="RFKOH-ADB-01-TR">{{cite web |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/sites/default/files/archives/RFKOH/Beame,%20Abraham%20D/RFKOH-ADB-01/RFKOH-ADB-01-TR.pdf |title=Abraham D. Beame, Oral History Interview – RFK -- 6/27/1978|page=10}}</ref> Despite having Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]]'s strong support,<ref name="RFKOH-ADB-01-TR"/> Beame lost to the Republican nominee, [[John Lindsay]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Witkin|first1=Richard|title=Lindsay Beats Beame In A Close Race; O'Connor and Procaccino Both Win; State Senate Is G.O.P.; Hughes Victor - Seesaw Contest - Vote Is Tightest Here in Quarter Century - 13% for Buckley|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/11/03/95912986.html?pageNumber=1|access-date=18 August 2016|work=The New York Times|date=November 3, 1965|page=1}}</ref>

==Mayor of New York City==
[[File:Secretary of H.U.D. Patricia Harris, Jimmy Carter and New York Mayor Abraham Beame tour the South Bronx. - NARA - 176392.jpg|thumb|right|Beame tours the [[South Bronx]] with President [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|H.U.D. Secretary]] [[Patricia Roberts Harris]] in 1977]]

Beame won the [[New York City mayoral elections#1973|1973 Democratic mayoral primary]] with 34% of the vote, ahead of [[Herman Badillo]] (29%), [[Mario Biaggi]] (24%), and [[Albert H. Blumenthal]] (16%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/24/archives/biaggi-still-holds-the-key-primary.html|title=Primary Biaggi Still Holds The Key|date=June 24, 1973|work=The New York Times}}</ref> He defeated State Senator [[John J. Marchi]], Blumenthal, and Biaggi in the [[1973 New York City mayoral election|1973 mayoral election]], becoming the 104th mayor of New York City.<ref name=remarks /><ref>{{cite web|title=New York City Mayoral Election 1973|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=79305|access-date=April 16, 2014|publisher=Our Campaigns}}</ref> Beame is usually considered the city's first Jewish mayor.<ref name="rhill2">{{cite web|title=New York City's first Jewish mayor|url=http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/abeame.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010803145113/http://richmondhillhistory.org/abeame.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 3, 2001|access-date=March 23, 2016|website=Richmond Hill Historical Society}}</ref>{{efn|Some consider [[Fiorello LaGuardia]] to be New York City's first Jewish mayor. LaGuardia practiced [[Episcopalianism]], but his mother was a non-practicing Jew, making him Jewish according to [[rabbinic Judaism]].<ref name="r086">{{cite web | title='The Great Mayor' | website=The New York Times | date=2003-06-29 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/29/books/chapters/the-great-mayor.html | access-date=2024-10-13}}</ref><ref name="u474">{{cite web | last=Green | first=David B. | title=1973: A Jewish Mayor for New York City | website=Haaretz.com | date=2012-11-06 | url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2012-11-06/ty-article/1973-new-york-gets-a-jewish-mayor/0000017f-e959-d639-af7f-e9df47260000 | access-date=2024-10-13}}</ref>}}

===Fiscal crisis of 1975===
{{Main|1975 New York City fiscal crisis}}
Beame entered office facing the [[1975 New York City fiscal crisis|worst fiscal crisis]] in the city's history and spent most of his term attempting to ward off bankruptcy. Soon after being sworn in as mayor, Beame slashed the city workforce, froze salaries, and reconfigured the budget, which proved unsatisfactory until reinforced by actions from newly created state-sponsored entities and the granting of federal funds.

In October 1975, the city of New York was in debt of $453 million. Beame made a statement on October 17 that the city had insufficient cash on hand to meet its debt obligations for that day. He added that New York City citizens needed to take immediate steps to protect the city's essential life support systems and to preserve their well-being. President [[Gerald Ford]] at first turned down New York's request for a loan, inspiring the legendary ''[[New York Daily News|Daily News]]'' headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead", but Ford later approved federal support for New York.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Nussbaum|first=Jeff|date=October 16, 2015|title=The Night New York Saved Itself From Bankruptcy|magazine=The New Yorker|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-night-new-york-saved-itself-from-bankruptcy|access-date=December 7, 2020}}</ref>
===Blackout of 1977===
{{Main|New York City blackout of 1977}}
On the evening of July 13, 1977, a [[New York City blackout of 1977|massive power failure]] hit the city. With temperatures in the mid-nineties Fahrenheit and the humidity high, New Yorkers sweltered. By the time power was restored at 10:39&nbsp;p.m. the next night, the city had been without power for 25 hours. Beame set up a Blackout Action Center at the New York City Police Department headquarters. The blackout resulted in raw sewage washing up on beaches and spoiled food in hundreds or thousands of restaurants around the city.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Imperato|first=Pascal|date=August 1, 2016|title=Public Health Concerns Associated with the New York City Blackout of 1977|journal=Journal of Community Health|volume=41|issue=4|pages=707–716|doi=10.1007/s10900-016-0206-6|pmid=27220853|s2cid=8004028}}</ref>

After a chaotic four years as mayor, Beame ran for a second term in 1977, and finished third in the Democratic [[Partisan primary|primary]], behind Representative [[Ed Koch]] and [[New York Secretary of State]] [[Mario Cuomo]], and ahead of former Representative [[Bella Abzug]], Representative [[Herman Badillo]] and Manhattan Borough President [[Percy Sutton]]. He was succeeded by Koch, who won the [[1977 New York City mayoral election|general election on November 8, 1977]].<ref name="baruch" />

When Beame left office on January 1, 1978, the city budget had a surplus of $200 million.<ref name=remarks /> There was a $1.5 billion deficit when Beame took office.<ref name="baruch" />

A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts by Melvin G. Holli of the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]] ranked Beame as the 14th-worst American big-city mayor to serve between 1820 and 1993.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Holli | first = Melvin G. | title = The American Mayor | publisher = PSU Press | year = 1999 | location = University Park | url = https://archive.org/details/americanmayorbes0000holl | isbn = 0-271-01876-3 }}</ref>

===Later career===
Beame worked in investment advising after leaving office.<ref name = NYTobit/>

==Personal life==
Beame was married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary (née Ingerman),<ref name=baruch /> for 67 years. They met when Beame was 15, playing checkers at the [[University Settlement Society of New York]].<ref name=remarks /> They raised two sons, Edmond and Bernard (Buddy),<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=baruch /> and lived in Brooklyn, first in Crown Heights and later in a "modest" apartment on Plaza Street West in Park Slope.<ref name=remarks /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/proteusgowanus/docs/2006_carroll_gardens_historical_notes_robert_furma|title=2006 – Historical notes on Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Flatbush, etc.|website=Issuu|date=July 9, 2010 }}</ref> Throughout his life, Beame summered in the [[Rockaway, Queens|Rockaway]] neighborhood of [[Belle Harbor, Queens|Belle Harbor]].<ref name=remarks />

Beame received the Townsend Harris medal in 1957, and awards from numerous charitable, religious and civic organizations.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=January 1, 2016|title=Beame, Abraham David former mayor|journal=Salem Press Encyclopedia}}</ref>

Beame experienced heart problems in his later years. He had heart attacks in 1991 and 2000. After the second, he was admitted to [[New York University Medical Center]], where he remained for the last months of his life. He underwent open-heart surgery in August and December 2000, and died from surgical complications on February 10, 2001, at the age of 94.<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news|author-link=Robert D. McFadden|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden|title=Abraham Beame Is Dead at 94; Mayor During 70's Fiscal Crisis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/11/nyregion/abraham-beame-is-dead-at-94-mayor-during-70-s-fiscal-crisis.html?pagewanted=1|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 11, 2001|page=1|access-date=March 18, 2010 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[La Guardia and Wagner Archives]]
* [[Timeline of New York City#1950s–1970s]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Shelton, Jon. "Dropping Dead: Teachers, the New York City Fiscal Crisis, and Austerity" in Shelton, ''Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order'' (U of Illinois Press, 2017) pp 114-142.

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.laguardiawagnerarchive.lagcc.cuny.edu/pages/COLLECTIONS.aspx?ViwType=1&ColID=7 |website=La Guardia and Wagner Archives|title=Abraham D. Beame Collection}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/oral/guides/beame.html |title=Oral history Guides: Abraham D. Beame Administration |website=Columbia University Libraries: Oral History Research Office|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625101303/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/oral/guides/beame.html |archive-date=June 25, 2010 }} (archived)<!-- Current Columbia websites do not mention the transcribed interview with Mayor Beame (403 p)... -->
* {{Find a Grave|151704275}}

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{{succession box|title=[[New York City Comptroller]]|before=[[Lawrence E. Gerosa]]|after=[[Mario Procaccino]]|years=1962–1965}}
{{succession box|title=[[New York City Comptroller]]|before=[[Mario Procaccino]]|after=[[Harrison J. Goldin]]|years=1970–1973}}
{{succession box|before=[[John Lindsay]]|title=[[Mayors of New York City|Mayor of New York City]]|years=1974–1977|after=[[Edward I. Koch]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box|title=[[Mayor of New York City|Democratic Nominee for Mayor of New York City]]|before=[[Robert F. Wagner, Jr.]]|after=[[Mario Procaccino]]|years=1965}}
{{succession box|title=[[Mayor of New York City|Democratic Nominee for Mayor of New York City]]|before=[[Mario Procaccino]]|after=[[Edward I. Koch]]|years=1973}}
{{s-end}}

{{Mayors of New York City}}
{{New York City Comptroller}}
{{Democratic NYC mayoral nominees}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beame, Abraham}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:American accountants]]
[[Category:American investors]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Baruch College alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at New Montefiore Cemetery]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from New York City]]
[[Category:English emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:English people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Jewish American people in New York City politics]]
[[Category:Jewish American mayors]]
[[Category:Mayors of New York City]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:New York City comptrollers]]
[[Category:People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn]]
[[Category:People from the Lower East Side]]
[[Category:People from the Upper East Side]]
[[Category:Rutgers University faculty]]