1901 New York City mayoral election

← 1897 November 1901 1903 →

Nominee Seth Low Edward M. Shepard Party Republican Democratic Alliance Fusion Popular vote 296,813 265,177 Percentage 51.2% 45.8%

Borough results Low:     40–50%     50–60% Shepard:     40–50%

Mayor before election Robert A. Van Wyck Democratic Elected mayor Seth Low Republican

Elections in New York City
Mayoral elections Pre-consolidation: 1850 ... 1854 1856 1857 1859 1861 ... 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 Post-consolidation: 1897 1901 1903 1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1925 1929 1932 1933 1937 1941 1945 1950 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 (Dem primary) 2025 (Dem primary)
City Council elections Pre-consolidation: 1808 Post-consolidation: 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1909 1911 1913 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933 1935 1937 1939 1941 1943 1945 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2023 2025
Public Advocate elections 1897 1901 1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1925 1929 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2019(special) 2019 2021 2025
Comptroller elections 1897 1901 1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1925 1929 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Borough president elections 1897 1901 1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1925 1929 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island
v t e

An election forMayor of New York City was held in November 1901.

Incumbent mayorRobert A. Van Wyck was not a candidate for re-election to a second term in office. Republicans would not win a mayoral election in New York City again until1933.

In the 1897 mayoral election, held in connection with theconsolidation of the five boroughs of Greater New York,Robert Anderson Van Wyck was elected to a four-year term in office with the support ofTammany Hall. Van Wyck was initially quite popular as the result of his reversal of various reversals of reforms instituted by his reformist predecessor,William Lafayette Strong.

The Van Wyck administration was brought down in 1900 following a proposed doubling in the price of ice by the American Ice Company from 30 cents per hundred pounds to 60 cents. Before the invention of commercialrefrigeration, ice was the only preservative available for food, milk, and necessary medicines; therefore, the proposed increase had potentially fatal implications.

In response to public outcry, a public investigation revealed that American Ice had secured a monopoly over the product through Tammany Hall maneuvering and that Van Wyck had been gifted over $680,000 ($21,016,355 in 2024) in company stock. The scandal destroyed Van Wyck's reputation and dramatically worsened the public standing of Tammany Hall, although a state investigation initiated by GovernorTheodore Roosevelt later absolved Van Wyck of personal wrongdoing.

• Ben Hanford, printer (Social Democratic)
• Benjamin F. Keinard (Socialist Labor)
• Seth Low, president ofColumbia University, former mayor ofBrooklyn, and Citizens' Union nominee for mayor in 1897 (Republican-Fusion)
• Edward M. Shepard, attorney and political reformer (Democratic)
• Alfred L. Manierre (Prohibition)

• Carmer, Carl (1948). "From Van Wyck to O'Dwyer". In Nevins, Allan; Krout, John A. (eds.).The Greater City: New York, 1898-1948. New York: Columbia University Press.LCCN 48008678.

• Mayoral elections in New York City
• 1901 United States mayoral elections
• 1901 New York (state) elections
• 1901 in New York City
• November 1901 in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description
• Use American English from January 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from January 2025