Paul R. Screvane (August 11, 1914 – November 4, 2001) was an American politician. He served as the commissioner of the

New York City Department of Sanitation The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal. The DSNY motto "New York's Strongest" was coined ...

from 1957 to 1961 and president of the New York City Council from 1962 to 1966. He also ran as a Democratic candidate in the

1965 New York City mayoral election The 1965 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 2, 1965, with Republican Congressman John Lindsay winning a close plurality victory over the Democratic candidate, New York City Comptroller Abraham Beame. Lindsay receive ...

Early life

Paul Rogers Screvane was born on August 11, 1914, in Woodcliffe, New Jersey. Three weeks after his birth, his family moved back into their

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

home, where he grew up. He played football at James Monroe High School at the halfback position. Due to his skill, he earned an athletic scholarship to Mississippi State College. However, his mother became ill and he left college after one year.

Career

Screvane's service to New York City started when he turned 22, when he took a job as a garbage truck driver. His uncle, a former employee of the

, encouraged him to pursue the position. Screvane rose quickly within the sanitation department. In 1957, Mayor

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and '' Hart to Hart'' (1979� ...

appointed him as the Commissioner of Sanitation at just 42 years old. In his term, Screvane ordered that during winters, snow be pushed into the middle of the streets, where it was churned into slush by passing cars, thus ending the previous practice that snow be removed from streets by hiring extra trucks to cart mounds of snow away and dump it in the river. In consequence, though the cost of hiring trucks was significantly reduced, after each snowfall, the cleaning and dyeing bills increased substantially, as bystanders' clothes would be splattered by passing cars. Wagner convinced Screvane to run for Council President in 1961. On September 7, 1961, he defeated State Senator Thomas J. Mackell in the Democratic primary for the position. In the general election, he defeated Paul A. Fino, a United States congressman. During the summer of 1962, he served as acting mayor when Mayor Wagner was on vacation with his family. In 1965, Screvane ran for the office of Mayor. During the Democratic primary, he came in second to

Abe Beame Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy. ...

, who eventually lost the election to

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

Later life and death

After leaving public office, he entered the private sector. In a brief stint from 1974 to 1978, he served as the head of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation. He retired from business in 1994. He died on November 4, 2001, from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at his home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

Personal life

Ten months before the

Pearl Harbor attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ...

, Screvane joined the military. By the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he had earned the rank of colonel. He was married to Bridey McKessy Screvane. She died in 1989. They had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Screvane, Paul R. 1914 births 2001 deaths New York (state) Democrats James Monroe High School (New York City) alumni New York City Council members Commissioners in New York City 20th-century American politicians

Early life

Career

Later life and death

Personal life

See also

References