Frederick Bowley (politician)

Frederick Bowley
Borough President of Queens
In office
1898–1901
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJoseph Cassidy
Personal details
Born1851
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 15, 1916(1916-09-15) (aged 64–65)

Frederick Bowley (1851–1916) was an American politician, who served as the first executive of the Borough of Queens in New York City.

Bowley was born December 19, 1851, in New York City. He had training to be a butcher, and after buying land in Long Island City, New York (state) in 1887, he proceeded to operate butcher shops there and in the Queens County towns of Astoria and Flushing.[1]

Bowley was an alderman representing Long Island City from 1895 to 1897. In November 1897, with the creation of the boroughs of New York City) and the consolidation of the City of New York, the offices of the five borough presidents were created, and Bowley was elected as the inaugural Queens Borough President effective January 1, 1898.[1][2][3]

In 1901, he was succeeded by Joseph Cassidy. Bowley later served as county clerk of Queens.[1]

He participated prominently in the formation of "the Queens County Democracy" by Democrats in Queens, to oppose Cassidy's re-election campaign in 1903.[4]

From about 1911 until 1951, a small park in the Long Island City neighborhood was called Bowley Angle after him.[1]

He died on September 15, 1916.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Short Triangle"
  2. ^ "Democrats Take All — The Tammany Ticket Makes Almost a Clean Sweep of the Greater City — Only Two Republicans in the Council — Van Wyck's Plurality Is 80,316 — Seth Low Ran Nearly 40,000 Ahead of His Ticket — The Republicans Lose 21 Assemblymen and Elect Only 11 Candidates to the Board of Aldermen". New York Times. November 4, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  3. ^ "To Begin the New Year — How the Day Will Be Observed at the City Hall and in the New Municipality Generally — Mayor Van Wyck's Quiet Entry — Receptions and Entertainments to be Given by Political, Social, and Charitable Organizations in the Afternoon and Evening". New York Times. January 1, 1898. p. 1. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  4. ^ Fusion Democrats Organize in Queens, New York Times, October 26, 1903