Mayor Gaynor: The Mayor Who Survived a Bullet
New York
William Jay Gaynor was born in Oriskany, New York on February second, eighteen forty-nine, and built a reputation as a fierce defender of civil liberties before becoming Mayor of New York City in nineteen ten.
As a state Supreme Court justice, he had repeatedly checked police overreach and the abuse of power by Tammany Hall. As mayor, he continued that fight, reining in the police department and championing the rights of ordinary New Yorkers. His administration was defined by a commitment to what he called a government of laws, not of men.
On August ninth, nineteen ten, just months into his term, a disgruntled city worker shot Gaynor in the neck as he stood on the deck of a steamship docked in Hoboken. He survived, but the bullet lodged in his throat could not be safely removed. He governed in chronic pain for three more years, dying at sea on September tenth, nineteen thirteen. A photograph taken seconds after the shooting became one of the most striking images of the era.
