Celebrity Deathwatch: Abraham Beame, New York's First Jewish Mayor, 94

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/02/10/beame.obit/index.html

Abraham Beame dies, first Jewish mayor of N.Y.

February 10, 2001
Web posted at: 3:41 p.m. EST (2041 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Abraham Beame, New York's first Jewish mayor, died
Saturday at age 94.

A spokeswoman for New York University Medical Center would not reveal the
cause of Beame's death.

"He was the last of the clubhouse mayors," said former Mayor Ed Koch, who
succeeded Beame in 1978. "He will be remembered for being the mayor when the
city was in the middle of a fiscal crisis," Koch told WINS radio.

Beame, who was born in London, England, in 1906, came to the United States a
year later. He graduated in 1928 from City College, where he received a
degree in accounting.

Beame then opened an accounting firm in Manhattan, taught in New York City
public schools, and held posts in city government, including those of
assistant budget director under Mayor William O'Dwyer, budget director under
Mayor Vincent Impellitteri, and city comptroller in 1962.

After an unsuccessful mayoral bid in 1965, Beame ran successfully as the
Democratic candidate for comptroller in 1969. He ran again for mayor on the
Democratic ticket in 1973, winning by almost 700,000 votes.

On December 31, 1973, Beame took the oath of office in a private ceremony at
his home at 131 Beach St. in Belle Harbor, Queens -- the same Queens street
where O'Dwyer had taken the oath three decades before.

The first Jewish mayor of New York City, Beame told the 1,500 people
gathered at the steps of City Hall the following day: "I hope to be a
matchmaker in the years of my administration, wedding our people to their
city, encouraging them to identify with this great metropolis that is their
home."

With New York City on the verge of bankruptcy, Beame brought about massive
cuts in the city's capital budget and slashed the municipal payroll by
65,000 people.

It was during Beame's term that President Gerald Ford refused to provide
federal aid to New York City, prompting the now famous New York Daily News
headline: "Ford to New York: Drop Dead." But Beame helped the city get
annual federal loans of $2.3 billion, starting in 1976, which helped stave
off bankruptcy.

Despite financial difficulties, New York City still hosted the bicentennial
celebration and the Democratic National Convention in 1976. Beame was
defeated in the Democratic primary in 1977 by Koch.

"His life led him to the greatest gift of all: being mayor of New York
City," Koch told CNN.


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