Patrick Jerome "Paddy" "Battle-Axe" Gleason (April 25, 1844 – May 20, 1901) was an Irish-American politician born in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

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 ...

. He arrived in America with his brothers, fought in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and made a small fortune in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He got involved in local politics and was elected mayor of

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

three times, from 1887–89, 1890–92 and served as its last mayor from 1896–97, before it was incorporated into the

City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the term used by many politicians and scholars for the expanded City of New York created on January 1, 1898, by consolidating the existing City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Is ...

in 1898.

Political life

Gleason held "truly remarkable sway over Long Island City's affairs" for years when his power was in its prime "by his keen personal hold on the majority of the people he ruled. By nature and by political preference he was a Democrat, but he was voted for simply as 'Paddy,' he was obeyed as 'Paddy,' and the people whom he had once autocratically governed, and a respectable portion of whom had been hostile to him, remembered him as 'Paddy' to the day of his death.""Patrick J. Gleason Dead; Picturesque Political Character Succumbs to heart Disease. Ruled Long Island City Autocratically Until the Greater New York Charter Went into Force." ''New York Times'', May 21, 1901. The growth of industry in Long Island City in the 1890s was accompanied by a growth of graft, and Gleason acted in Long Island City as

Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...

had decades earlier in

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 ...

. As mayor, he owned trolley lines under city contract, leased personal property to the school district, and he formed the "Citizens Water Supply Co." and attempted to sell water to Long Island City from his wells. When the railroad installed a fence to block traffic on the ferry, he personally chopped it down, earning the nickname "Battle-Axe." Gleason's personality was legendary. Gleason's volatile temper got him arrested, and his relationship with the board of aldermen was tempestuous. The newspapers, which loathed him, refused to publish his photograph. When ''

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 ...

'' printed an article detailing how Gleason had used to office of mayor to enrich himself, Gleason bought almost every newspaper printed to reduce the impact. In 1890, Gleason drunkenly approached

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

reporter George B. Crowley in a hotel lobby and repeatedly insulted him, calling him a loafer and a thief.Assaulted by Mayor Gleason: George H. Crowley Badly Beaten at Long Island City
. ''The Baltimore Sun''. September 8, 1890. p. 1.Gleason May Go to Prison
. ''The New York Times''. September 12, 1890. p. 8. Crowley ignored Gleason at first and then replied that Crowley was not as much a loaf as Gleason. With that, Gleason punched Crowley in the face and kicked him repeatedly in the face. Bystanders took the bloodied Crowley into the hotel's restaurant. Crowley returned to the lobby to look for his eyeglasses, which had fallen off during the assault. Gleason grabbed him and threw him against a cigar stand, breaking the glass. Because Gleason was the mayor, police declined to arrest Gleason without a warrant from a judge.Gleason's Brutal Assault: He Shows Courage by Want Only Attacking a Smaller Man
. ''The New York Times''. September 8, 1890. p. 1. Gleason was eventually arrested and

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 an ...

for assault in the third degree. Gleason was convicted and sentenced to five days imprisonment in the county jail, with a fine of $250. The following year, Gleason dislocated the shoulder of a man at a meeting of the Board of Health. Gleason was arrested and charged with assault in the second degree.Mayor Gleason on Trial
. ''The New York Times''. March 25, 1892. p. 8. First Ward School jeh

Legacy

The school later called P.S. 1, the largest high school on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

when built, was Gleason's legacy to the community's children. When Gleason died bankrupt and discredited a few years out of office, hundreds lined the route to his interment in Calvary Cemetery. Gleasonville, a former neighborhood in

Woodside, Queens Woodside is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, J ...

, north of

Northern Boulevard New York State Route 25A (NY 25A) is a state highway on Long Island in New York, United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running for from Interstate 495 (I-495) at the ...

, was named after him.

Notes

References

"Rumors that Gleason’s Ramshackle Railway Has Been Transferred to the Steinway Syndicate."
Long Island Daily Star-Journal, January 11, 1895. *

External links

Brooklyn Daily Eagle OnlineGreater Astoria Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, Patrick 1844 births 1901 deaths Politicians from County Tipperary Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) People from Long Island City, Queens