Central Park In Bronze

Location: 90th Street at Fifth Ave

Artist/Designer: Adolph Alexander Weinman, sculptor; Thomas Hastings and Don Barber, architects           

Materials: North Jay Granite, bronze, slate

Installation: 1928

Funding: Mitchel Memorial Committee

 

John Purroy Mitchel (1879-1918) was known as the “Boy Mayor of New York City.” Elected mayor at the age of 34, he was a reformist candidate of the Fusion Party, a coalition of Protestants, Jews, and Republicans against the powerful and politically corrupt Tammany Hall, which controlled the Democratic Party. Despite widespread reforms, a powerful alliance with the corruption-fighting police commissioner, and creation of the city’s first comprehensive budget, Mitchel failed to get reelected for a second term. A staunch supporter of America’s role in World War I, Mitchel then joined the Army as a pilot. He suffered a fatal accident when he fell out of his plane near the end of his training.