Abraham Beame

Abraham David Beame (né Birnbaum; March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) 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. His parents were Esther (née Goldfarb) and Philip Birnbaum, Jewish immigrants from Poland who fled Warsaw (then part of the Russian Empire). Beame and his family left England when he was three months old.

Before being elected to two nonconsecutive terms as city comptroller in 1961 and 1969, he was a longstanding member of 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, 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.

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. Despite having Senator Robert F. Kennedy's strong support,

Mayor of New York City

thumb|right|Beame tours the [[South Bronx with President Jimmy Carter and HUD Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris in 1977]]

Beame won the 1973 Democratic mayoral primary with 34% of the vote, ahead of Herman Badillo (29%), Mario Biaggi (24%), and Albert H. Blumenthal (16%). He defeated State Senator John J. Marchi, Blumenthal, and Biaggi in the 1973 mayoral election, becoming the 105th mayor of New York City. Beame is usually considered the city's first Jewish mayor.

Fiscal crisis of 1975

Beame entered office facing the 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 Daily News headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead", but Ford later approved federal support for New York.

Blackout of 1977

On the evening of July 13, 1977, a 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 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.

After a chaotic four years as mayor, Beame ran for a second term in 1977, and finished third in the Democratic 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 general election on November 8, 1977.

Later career

Beame worked in investment advising after leaving office. Throughout his life, Beame summered in the Rockaway neighborhood of Belle Harbor.

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.

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