Commissioner of Public Markets

Edwin Joseph O'Malley (1883-1955) c. 1905

The Commissioner of Public Markets, Weights, and Measures of the City of New York was a cabinet-level post appointed by the mayor of New York City during World War I, when foodstuffs were in short supply and people began hoarding. The goal was to "set fair prices for meat and fish." ^[1] The commissioner had jurisdiction over all public markets, market places, and all auctioneers.^[2] The office started after World War I and in 1968, the Department of Markets (as it was by then known) was merged with the Department of Licenses by (Markets) Commissioner Gerard M. Weisberg to become the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Commissioners

• Henry Moskowitz, c. 1917.^[3]
• Jonathan C. Day, c. 1918.^[4] fired by mayor John F. Hylan ^[1][5][6]
• William P. Mulry, 1919 as Acting Commissioner under mayor John F. Hylan.
• Edwin Joseph O'Malley, c. 1919-1927 for 7 years under mayor John F. Hylan and survived a graft investigation.^[7][8]
• Thomas F. Dwyer, c. 1930 to 1932. He concluded that direct rail delivery of food to the Bronx Terminal Market could have saved consumers millions of dollars^[9]
• J. Bonynge, c. 1934 ^[10]
• William Fellowes Morgan, Jr., c. 1935 to 1939 ^[11][12]
• Daniel P. Wooley, c. 1943-1944.^[13]
• Eugene G. Schulz, c. 1949.^[14]
• Albert S. Pacetta, c. 1965.^[15]
• Samuel J. Kearing, Jr., 1966.
• Gerard Maxwell Weisberg, 1966 to 1968.

Deputy commissioners

• William P. Mulry, 1919
• Edwin Joseph O'Malley, 1919
• Samuel Buchler, November 1919 ^[16]
• Mrs. John Marshall Gallagher, c. 1922
• Mrs. Louis R. Welzmiller, c. 1922 ^[17]
• John Joseph Delaney, 1924 through 1931 ^[18]
• Alex Pisciotta, 1937 ^[19]

References

1. "To Set Fair Prices For Meat And Fish In Food Campaign". New York Times. August 24, 1919.
2. A New Survey of Universal Knowledge. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1951. The commissioner has jurisdiction over all public markets, market places and lands, and all auctioneers.
3. Middletown Times-Press; Monday, December 10, 1917
4. Bridgeport Telegram, November 27, 1918
5. New Outlook. 1952. Jonathan P. Day, who succeeds Henry Moskowitz as commissioner of public markets, is pastor of the Labor Temple and well known in labor circles. ...
6. "Dr. Day, Removed By Mayor, Makes Graft Charges.". New York Times. December 3, 1919. Commissioner Of Public Markets Accuses Two Deputies He Dismissed. Says They Proposed Plot. Writes Mayor Of Alleged Offer to Divide Surplus Of Army Food Sales. Both Men Deny Charges Ousted Commissioner Says He Will Ask Special Grand Jury To Make Inquiry. Day's Letter To Mayor Says He Had An Enemy. Dr. Day, Removed, Alleges Grafting Will Go To Grand Jury. Charges Against Deputies. The Rev. Jonathan C. Day, Commissioner of Public Markets, was summarily removed from office yesterday by Mayor Hylan, who appointed Deputy Commissioner William P. Mulry, Acting Commissioner.
7. "E.J. O'Malley Dies; Led City Markets.". New York Times. April 11, 1953. Commissioner Under Hylan Advocated Large Centers for Food Distribution. Edwin J. O'Malley, Commissioner of Markets under Mayor John F. Hylan, died of a heart attack Friday night at his home, 425 East Seventy-second Street. He was 69 years old.
8. "Walter O'Malley". SABR. Retrieved 2007-08-26. He spent a stormy seven years as Commissioner of Public Markets, a cabinet-level job under the mayor of New York City. While Commissioner, Edwin's Department was investigated several times by Republican state legislators, and accusations flew thick and fast, although no charges were ever proven.
9. http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/libraries_and_culture/v036/36.2seaver.html
10. Tannenbaum v. Department of Public Markets, May 16, 1934
11. 20th CENTURY BRONX
12. "Also Fight Against Fear". Time. February 1, 1937. Last week City Commissioner of Markets William Fellowes Morgan, Jr. publicly asserted that potential witnesses to food racketeering were withholding ...
13. Supreme Court, Special Term, New York County, May 5, 1943
14. Court decision, January 6, 1949
15. Supreme Court, Special Term, New York County, October 1, 1965
16. "Dr. Buchler Resigns. Law Practice Claims Deputy Commissioner of Public Markets.". New York Times. May 13, 1922.
17. http://idcs0100.lib.iup.edu/Theresa/Narrative.htm
18. DELANEY, John Joseph - Biographical Information
19. "Alex Pisciotta, Deputy Commissioner of Public Markets, Weights and Measures, issued a warning to the public yesterday to beware of short-weight deliveries by dishonest and irresponsible coal dealers.". New York Times. July 20, 1937.

Further reading

• Columbia Law Review, volume 34, number 7; November 1934, pp. 1369–1370. "The Commissioner of Public Markets, Weights, and Measures of the City of New York refused to issue a license to the petitioner to vend ice on the ground ..."