Radicals, Plutocrats, and the Mayor in 1914: A Historical Snapshot of New York City a Century Ago

The year was 1914 and the mayor was John Purroy Mitchel. A dashing reformer, voted in to office with the greatest plurality in the city’s history, Mitchel was also the youngest chief executive to ever preside in City Hall.

For four years, as the labor movement escalated and the Great War raged in Europe, the “Boy Mayor” and his administration attempted to bring scientific principles to the task of subduing Gotham.

Author and historian Thai Jones brings this forgotten story back to vivid life, describing how things have changed—and stayed the same—and why Mitchel’s attempt to govern the ungovernable metropolis ended in tragedy and disaster.