City of Greater New York

The City of Greater New York, was a term commonly used originally to refer to the expanded city created on January 1, 1898 by the incorporation into the city of Richmond County, Kings County, the western part of Queens County and the eastern part of what is now called The Bronx, east of the Bronx River. (The west Bronx, west of the Bronx River, had been annexed in 1874 and was known as the Annexed District).

The phrase City of Greater New York was never a legal or official designation as both the original charter of 1898 and the newer one of 1938 use the name of City of New York (link).

The consolidation movement was the work of several progressive politicians, most prominently Andrew Haswell Green, hence some opponents derided the effort as "Andy Green's hobby". The center of the plan was the consolidation of the twin cities of New York and Brooklyn, whose fire departments had already been consolidated. The addition of Long Island City and various rural areas anticipated the spread of urban sprawl to those areas. Partisan politics played a role, each major political party hoping to dominate the consolidated city.

The plan required a referendum in each of the three cities. Opposition was concentrated in Brooklyn, based largely on municipal pride. Opposing newspapers were accused of seeking to retain the revenues of official advertising, while opposing politicians were accused of graft. Considerations of finance and water supply prevailed, and the people of Brooklyn voted by a narrow margin to consolidate.

New York's commuter zone had only reached into the middle of Kings County, the Annexed District, and western Queens, so for decades the consolidated municipal government was in charge of mile upon mile of farmland and dusty country roads.

Home rule

Since the enlarged city at the time contained the majority of New York State's entire population (currently approximately 40%) and the enlargement increased the city's already enormous power within the state, the state legislature established certain oversight powers within the city. For example, some issues of taxation and changes in governmental procedures require state approval or granting of specific home rule powers.

Conversely, the State Constitution was amended to provide that no city could elect the majority of the State Assembly, a provision later struck down by the US Supreme Court as violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The provision of the 1897 amalgamation Charter for equal repesentation of the five separate Boroughs on the New York City Board of Estimate suffered a similar fate.

The "Greater City" exists as a result of actions of the New York State Legislature, and, as such, could be reduced in size by the same mechanism. A non-binding referendum in the borough of Staten Island was held in 1993 to consider whether that borough should be allowed to secede from the City. The New York City government and then-Mayor David Dinkins opposed the vote, contending that the referendum should not be permitted by New York State unless the city issued a home rule message supporting it, which the city would not. Then-State Governor Mario Cuomo disagreed, and the vote went forward. The vote was in favor of secession through the approval of a new city charter making Staten Island an independent city.

The Staten Island secession movement was defused, or at least deferred, by the election on the same ballot of Rudolph Giuliani as New York City mayor, who had campaigned on the promise that Staten Island's grievances would be addressed. Giuliani's plurality in his narrow victory over Dinkins was aided by overwhelming support from Staten Island. Two of the borough's biggest demands were closing the Fresh Kills Landfill and making the Staten Island Ferry free, both of which have since been fulfilled.

External links

• Article about Staten Island Secession at the City Journal web site

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