Abraham Oakey Hall: New York's Most Elegant and Controversial Mayor

Ask a New Yorker on the street today what he or she thinks of Abraham Oakey Hall, and you'll be met with a puzzled glance. But if you had asked that same question of a citizen on that same sidewalk in 1871, you would have received an earful. Some thought he was brilliant. Some thought he was crazy. Dubbed Elegant Oakey by the citizens of New York City in the 1870s, Hall lived his life and governed the city in full color, by far the most flamboyant and interesting mayors the city has ever ha...