From the archives: Abe Beame Dies at 94

This story was originally published in Newsday on February 11, 2001.

 Abraham Beame, New York City's first Jewish mayor, who will be remembered for better or for worse as its leader during the slide into near-bankruptcy during the mid-1970s, died yesterday at age 94 of heart problems.

 Beame's four-year tenure, from the start of 1974 to the end of 1977, was defined by the fiscal crisis and has forced the mayors who followed him to make balancing the budget their first priority to avoid the criticism that rained down on him.

 He was reticent in public and polite to a fault. He passed up pomp and was sworn in privately as mayor at his home in Belle Harbor, Queens, and had his son, Buddy, as his campaign manager.

 He was never the mayor-about-town that so many of his predecessors and successors were. While some other administrations were marked by high style, Beame aides were noticeable for leaving their City Hall offices at the end of day with bowling bags instead of briefcases.

 Beame's death came little more than a month after the death of his predecessor, John V. Lindsay. David N. Dinkins and Edward I. Koch now are the only surviving former mayors.

 The historical record is far from definitive on Beame's responsibility for the fiscal mess. He had been the city's comptroller before he became mayor, and as such should have sounded a fiscal warning sooner, according to some critics.

 "I think he gets a bum rap from those who only remember the fiscal crisis," Dinkins said in an interview yesterday. "They tend to forget that he was there when it was cleared up, and that he helped to clear it up."

 Steven Berger, the head of the state-run Financial Control Board, which effectively took veto power over the city's finances in the late 1970s, agreed. "No single person was responsible for the fiscal crisis, and certainly not Abe Beame," Berger said. "I think he was angered that the [city's budgetary] rules changed on his watch. The rules should have changed 20 years before."

 But the Daily News also defined his mayoralty with a headline about President Gerald Ford's decision not to extend federal aid to the beleaguered city. The headline read: "Ford to City: Drop Dead."

 In the end, the fiscal crisis did define Beame in the public mind, more so than the Son of Sam shootings or the 1977 blackout, which resulted in widespread looting in some areas of the city-or anything else during his tenure.

 "He was the mayor of the city of New York during one of its most difficult periods," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said yesterday. "And the city got through it, and the city got stronger as a result of it. And he never lost confidence or faith in the city of New York."

 Beame, New York's 104th mayor, ran the nation's largest city for a single term after serving 10 years as its budget director and two four-year terms as city comptroller.

 A fiscal expert who campaigned under the banner "He Knows the Buck," Beame was quickly put to the test when he took over City Hall.

 He found himself with a $ 1.3-billion deficit from Lindsay, and the city teetered at the edge of bankruptcy for much of his term.

 "In my memory, no mayor has ever inherited a more serious and overwhelming condition in both financial and social problems," Beame once recalled.

 He immediately had to grapple with such problems as a sanitation strike and a teachers' walkout. By 1975, the city was in a financial crisis that centered on its inability to make payments to its municipal bondholders. New York finally managed to escape bankruptcy, but Beame's financial stewardship failed to win him re-election.

 A quiet, unassuming man, the 5-foot-2 Beame often used a platform to address rallies. He said he never thought of his height as a political handicap. "I don't have to dodge the brickbats; they go right over my head," he said.

 Beame, who later went into banking, insisted that he had no regrets about his administration. He preferred to talk about the good times. He pointed to the United States' bicentennial celebration in 1976 and, also that year, the Democratic National Convention that chose Jimmy Carter as its candidate.

 Beame's work for the Democratic Party over the years had led to a number of appointive offices. In 1946, he was appointed assistant director of the city's Bureau of the Budget. He served as the city's budget director from 1952 to 1961. He was elected city comptroller in 1961.

 Admitting that "it might sound corny," Beame told writer Richard Montague in 1965 that he was inspired as a boy by the Horatio Alger books, which "preached honesty and good citizenship."

 After winning a hard-fought Democratic primary for mayor in 1965, Beame was defeated in the general election by Lindsay. Beame won a second term as city comptroller in 1969.

 In 1973, after a free-for-all election that at one point saw 10 Democratic contenders, Beame won a landslide victory over Republican State Sen. John Marchi, Liberal Assemb. Albert Blumenthal and Conservative U.S. Rep. Mario Biaggi.

 Beame was noted for his long workday, whether at City Hall or later in business. "My wife always said that she married me for better or worse, but not for lunch," he once said. "So that means I've got to be out of the house."

 Koch, who defeated Beame in the 1977 Democratic primary, said yesterday, "He probably was not particularly fond of me for a number of years because I supported John Lindsay in 1965.

 "On the other hand, we did have a rapprochement because he did support me in 1977," Koch said. "He certainly had a forgiving heart, because his support was very important."

 Beame is survived by his brother, Jack; his son, Bernard-known as Buddy in political circles-and five grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for Tuesday at Riverside Chapel in Manhattan.

 Staff writers Carleste Hughes, Joshua Robin and Curtis L. Taylor contributed to this story.

BEAME:A LIFE OF CIVIL SERVICE

Born: March 20, 1906, in London.

Parents: Philip and Esther Goldfarb Beame emigrated from Poland and spent a year in Great Britain before traveling to the United States.

Education: Degree in accounting, City College of New York,  1928.

Professional: After graduating from college, he opened an accounting firm with a friend. Also taught classes in city high schools and at Rutgers University in New Jersey to make ends meet during the Depression.

In 1932, was appointed to an unpaid position on state tax commission, his first governmental post.

In 1946, under Mayor William O'Dwyer, became assistant director of the city's Budget Bureau.

In 1952, appointed budget director by Mayor Vincent Impellitteri.

Elected city comptroller in 1961. Four years later, won four-way primary for the Democratic nomination for mayor but lost election to Republican John Lindsay.

In 1969, ran again for comptroller and won.

In 1973, won the race for mayor with more votes than his three foes combined, becoming the first Jew to lead the city.

Defeated in the 1977 Democratic primary by Ed Koch. Later became a commentator for WNBC-TV and a senior adviser at Sterling National Bank.

Personal: Married in 1928 to the former Mary Ingerman, who died in 1995. Two sons, Edmond, a college professor, and Bernard, a film producer. Edmond Beame died in 1999. Had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.