George U. Harvey (August 15, 1881 – April 6, 1946) was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician from

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 ...

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and served as its borough president for twelve years.

Biography

Harvey was born in

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

but emigrated with his family to the United States when he was five years old. His father was wealthy and published a

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

, ''International Trade Confectioner''. After studying at Coleraine College in Ireland, Harvey returned to the United States to work as a photojournalist for the journals of the Army and Navy, and then as publisher of his father's journal. Harvey was commissioned as a Captain in the US Army on May 12, 1917. He served in the first World War, commanding Company A, 308th Infantry, 77th Division. He was honored with the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

for the capture of a machine gun nest during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918. Following the war, Harvey returned to Queens and began his political career. In 1921 he was elected as a Republican to the Queens County Board of Aldermen and served there for four terms. In 1928, Harvey demanded an investigation into allegations of

graft Graft or grafting may refer to: *Graft (politics), a form of political corruption *Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp Science and technology *Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure *Grafting, the joining of plant ti ...

made against borough president

Maurice E. Connolly Maurice Edward Connolly (June 22, 1880 - November 24, 1935) was the borough president of Queens, New York City, from 1911 to 1928. Biography Born in Corona, Queens, New York, he was the son of Maurice Connolly and Mary Jane Connolly. He was of I ...

, an ally of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

. Connolly was forced to resign as a result of the investigation, and after the brief interim appointment of Bernard M. Patten, Harvey won election to the office of borough president later that year. Harvey was the first Republican to hold the office. Harvey oversaw many infrastructure improvements during his tenure, and played a critical role in bringing the 1939 Worlds Fair to

Flushing Meadows 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 ** Flushin ...

. He won three terms in office and twice considered running for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

. Harvey lost to Democrat James A. Burke in 1941. He died while fighting a fire near his home in

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is in western Connecticut, north of Danbury, on the banks of the Housatonic River, and it shares its border with the northeastern shore of Candlewood Lake. It is t ...

in 1946. Harvey Park in Whitestone is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, George U. 1881 births 1946 deaths Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Queens borough presidents Politicians from County Galway Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) New York (state) Republicans Connecticut Republicans