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Donald R. Manes (, ; January 18, 1934 – March 13, 1986) was a
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
politician from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He served as borough president of the
New York City borough New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in mult ...
of
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
from 1971 until just before his
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
while under suspicion of corruption in 1986.Meislin, Richard J
"MANES'S DEATH: A FRANTIC CALL, A FATAL THRUST"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 15, 1986. Accessed December 11, 2007.


Career

Elected at age 37, the
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
-born Manes was the youngest borough president in Queens history. During his term, Manes turned his position from a merely ceremonial role into a more proactive political job. He was re-elected four more times, and was a delegate to the 1980 Democratic National Convention. Manes' popularity plummeted in late 1985, when he was criticized over two of his pet projects. He wanted to build a
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
auto racetrack in Queens's largest public park,
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushi ...
, where the
1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
and the
1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...
had been held. Community leaders denigrated the idea, and it became the first major project of his that was opposed. Also that year, Manes worked to build a domed football-baseball stadium in the park, but it was opposed by local businessmen in the
Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...
area. When Queens couldn't secure a football franchise, the plan died. One of his biggest controversies came in late 1985, when Manes wanted to wire the borough for cable television. Manes rejected a proposal by the Queens-based Orth-O-Vision company to place cable lines in the borough, and instead awarded contracts to mega-companies
Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
and Time-Life, as well as a cable firm owned by former
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
borough president
Percy Sutton Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the Civil Rights Movement and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was ...
. Local residents were outraged that he passed over a local firm for large national companies.


Downfall and suicide

Shortly after his inauguration for a fifth term, Manes attended a dinner party for the new
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i consul at Borough Hall in
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
on January 9, 1986. He left in his own car and was followed by his chauffeur up
Queens Boulevard Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Queens connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica. It is long and forms part of New York State Route 25. Queens Boulevard runs northwest to s ...
. He was later found in his car in the early morning hours of January 10; his wrists were slit and he was bleeding profusely. He initially claimed that two men had carjacked and attacked him, but later recanted the statement, saying he had attempted
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. In the following weeks, it was alleged that Manes had used political appointments and favors as the source of large kickback schemes involving personal bureaucratic
fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form o ...
s such as the New York City Parking Violations Bureau. In 1978, Manes installed a friend, Geoffrey Lindenauer, who later cooperated with prosecutors, as the deputy head of the Parking Violations Bureau. With Manes’ help, Lindenauer steered collections of parking fines to a company that paid the two bribes of up to $2,500 per month by 1982. Later in 1982, Manes, Lindenauer and Bronx Democratic Party President Stanley Friedman each received shares in a company called Citisource, which won a city contract to develop a handheld parking ticket computer. Manes also accepted bribes from SRS, a company also involved in parking ticket collections, whose owner also cooperated with authorities. Columnist
Jimmy Breslin James Earle Breslin (October 17, 1928 – March 19, 2017) was an American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York ''Daily News'' Sunday edition.''Current Biography 1942'', pp. 648–51: "Patterson, ...
on January 23, 1986, published a story in which the head of a third parking collections company confessed to paying $36,000 in bribes to Manes. Zoning and cable TV franchises were being investigated, and some of Manes' appointees and associates were
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...
or forced to resign. Manes' deputy
Claire Shulman Claire Shulman (née Kantoff; February 23, 1926August 16, 2020) was an American politician and registered nurse from New York City. She served as director of community boards and deputy president of Queens Borough, before becoming interim boro ...
was installed as acting Borough President on January 28 and he formally resigned on February 11. The scandal became nationwide news and a continuing top story in New York City. Manes, now facing the prospect of indictment on corruption charges, stayed in seclusion until March. On the night of March 13, he took a phone call from his psychiatrist, who discussed additional care with Manes (and his wife on an extension phone upstairs). Shortly before 10 p.m. the psychiatrist was called away from the phone and, while on hold, Manes reached into a kitchen drawer, pulled out a large kitchen knife and plunged the eight-inch blade into his heart. His daughter screamed for her mother, who came down to find Manes on the floor in a pool of blood. Marlene Manes pulled the knife from his heart as their daughter frantically called 911. Donald Manes was pronounced dead at the scene. Less than three years later, on November 17, 1988, Morton Manes, Donald Manes' twin brother, attempted suicide in the same manner. He died of a heart attack at the age of 70 in May 2004. Manes was buried at Mt. Ararat Cemetery in
Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. The population was 8,189 as of the 2010 Census. The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State Park and the rest of the ...
. Manes' successor,
Claire Shulman Claire Shulman (née Kantoff; February 23, 1926August 16, 2020) was an American politician and registered nurse from New York City. She served as director of community boards and deputy president of Queens Borough, before becoming interim boro ...
, served as Borough President until 2002.


Popular Culture

* A loosely fictionalized version of the scandal served as the basis for the film ''
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
'' (1996). * Also based on the true scandal is the
original Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...
pilot episode of the television series ''
Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
called "
Everybody's Favorite Bagman "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" is the sixth episode of the police procedural and legal drama '' Law & Order''. It originally aired on NBC on October 30, 1990. It was produced in 1988 and was the pilot episode of the series.Courrier and Green (199 ...
".'' ''Law & Order'' S01E06 "Everybody's Favorite Bagman"


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manes, Donald 1934 births Queens borough presidents New York City Council members American politicians who committed suicide Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States New York (state) Democrats Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Suicides in New York City 20th-century American politicians 1986 suicides 20th-century American Jews