Socialist Party of New York
The Arm and Torch, first designed byJoseph A. Weil, as it appeared in a 1908 publication
Senate leader	None
House leader	None
Founded	c. 1899(SDP affiliate) c. 1901(SPA affiliate) 1973(SPUSA affiliate)
Headquarters	339 Lafayette St., New York City, New York
Ideology	Democratic socialism
Political position	Left-wing[1]
National affiliation	Socialist Party USA
Colors	Red
Website
Wayback Machine
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TheSocialist Party of New York is the name of two distinct, but historically relatedstate affiliates of the American socialist movement located inNew York state. Emerging from a July 1899 split in theSocialist Labor Party of America, the organization existed first as the Social Democratic Party of New York, retaining that name even after the founding of theSocialist Party of America (SPA) in the summer of 1901. A presence was maintained in the state as the Socialist Party of New York for the next seven decades.

The SPNY is currently the state chapter of theSocialist Party USA (SPUSA), an organization which emerged from the ashes of the old SPA in 1973.

TheSocialist Labor Party of America (SLP) throughout its first fifteen years was primarily an organization of German immigrants. Organized in 1876, the party included sections fromNew York City and its environs from its date of origin.

By the decade of the 1890s the National Executive Committee of the SLP was based in New York, which was also the place of publication of the organization's official organs, including the English-language weekly, The People, and the German-language Vorwärts (Forward).

A bitter dispute over trade union policy led to a split of the SLP in July 1899, with a dissident faction (disparagingly known as the “Kangaroos”) headed by lawyersHenry L. Slobodin andMorris Hillquit. Fighting for control of the National Executive Committee and losing, a majority of the party's membership departed to launch a new organization — also confusingly known as the Socialist Labor Party and issuing an English-language weekly which made use of the same front page nameplate as that of its orthodox rivals.

On Saturday, June 16, 1900, a joint convention was held in New York City bringing together delegates from the dissident SLP and the Chicago SDP. A nine-member State Committee was elected that included, among others, German editorHerman Schlueter,Leonard D. Abbott, and future National Secretary of the Springfield SDPWilliam Butscher.^[2]

For a number of years after the formation of theSocialist Party of America in the summer of 1901, the New York state affiliate of that organization retained its prior name, the Social Democratic Party of New York, owing to provisions of New York election law that made a renaming of the party without loss of its ballot line problematic.^[3] The party also retained the former ballot logo of the Social Democratic Party with headquarters in Springfield, an upraised arm bearing a torch.^[4]

During its height in the 1910s, the party fielded candidates for the office of Mayor,^[5] seats in theNew York State Assembly and theHouse of Representatives.^[6] In 1917, several anti-war organizations along with SPNY gathered to discuss theWar in Europe.^[7] When they nominatedMorris Hillquit for Mayor, the party was afraid he along with other members faced imprisonment because of the party'santi-conscriptionist platform. During thenational convention for the SPNY of 1917, the party decided to create a party bureau which would support socialist agitators who faced jail time or were sent behind bars.^[8] During thenational convention in 1918, they discussed thecrisis in Russia and theelection strategy for the gubernatorial election which was held later in 1918.^[9]

In 1920,Samuel Orr,Louis Waldman,Charles Solomon,Samuel DeWitt, andAugust Claessens were called before the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. The five were charged with being unfit for membership in the Assembly through their membership in theSocialist Party of America and its state affiliate, and were suspended from their seats by a vote of 140 supporting to 6 against suspension.^[10][11] A protracted political trial followed as to the fitness of the five Socialists to assume their seats, which ran throughout the winter and spring. The trial began on January 20, 1920 and ended on March 11,^[12] ending with the Assembly voting overwhelmingly for expulsion on April 1, 1920.

The party is affiliated with theSocialist Party USA. It has a close relationship with theGreen Party; as such, the Socialist Party almost never seeks ballot access, instead endorsing Green Party candidates (notablyHowie Hawkins).

At the SPA's 1972 National Convention, which was held in Manhattan,^[13] the SPA changed its name to "Social Democrats, USA" by a vote of 73 to 34.^[14] During the convention, the majority won every vote, by a ratio of two to one. The Convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the majority caucus, 8 seats for the coalition caucus ofMichael Harrington, 2 for the Debs caucus, and one for the "independent"Samuel H. Friedman.^[15] Many former members of the Debs caucus joinedDavid McReynolds in founding theSocialist Party of the United States of America in 1973.^{[citation needed]}

After failing to renew their charter, the Socialist Party of New York City was revived in February 2017.^[16] As of April 2017, there are 3 locals of the Socialist Party in New York State; the Capital Region, Central New York and New York City.^[17]

In 1956,Darlington Hoopes ran as the final nominee of the Socialist Party of America but was not on the New York ballot. In 1976, following a split in the Socialist Party,Socialist Party USA began running independent candidates with the Socialist Party label. However, no SPUSA presidential nominee appeared on the ballot in New York until 2020, when Howie Hawkins was nominated by both SPUSA and the Green Party. He will appear on the ballot as a Green.

• Meyer London, U.S. Representative (1915–19, 1921–23)
• George R. Lunn, U.S. Representative (1917–19) (elected as a Democrat), Lieutenant Governor of New York (1923–24) (elected as a Democrat), Mayor of Schenectady (1912–13, 1916–17, 1919–23)

• Robert Wark,"Historical Sketch ofThe New Age, Founded, June 1912: 10 Years of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Masses,"The New Age, vol. 11, whole no. 516 (July 13, 1922), pp. 1, 10.—History of the Socialist movement in the city of Buffalo.

• Media related toSocialist Party of New York at Wikimedia Commons
• Socialist Party USA
• Socialist Party of Central New York
• The City for the People! : Municipal Platform of the Socialist Party, Mayoralty Election, 1932: For Mayor, Morris Hillquit

• Socialist Party of America by state
• Socialist Party USA by state
• Political parties in New York (state)
• State and local socialist parties in the United States
• Socialism in New York (state)

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from July 2011
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