The mayor of New York City is the chief executive of the Government of New York City, as stipulated by New York City's charter. The current officeholder, the 110th in the sequence of regular mayors, is Eric Adams, a member of the Democratic Party. During the Dutch colonial period from 1624 to 1664, New Amsterdam was governed by the Director of New Netherland. Following the 1664 creation of the British Province of New York, newly renamed New York City was run by the British military governor, Richard Nicolls. The office of Mayor of New York City was established in 1665. Holders were appointed by colonial governors, beginning with Thomas Willett. The position remained appointed until 1777. That year, during the American Revolution, a Council of Appointment was formed by the State of New York. In 1821 the New York City Council – then known as the Common Council – began appointing mayors. Since 1834, mayors have been elected by direct popular vote. The city included little beyond the island of Manhattan before 1874, when it annexed the western part of the Bronx, to be followed in 1895 by the rest of the Bronx. The 1898 consolidation created the city as it is today with five boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. The first mayor of the expanded city was Robert Anderson Van Wyck. The longest-serving mayors have been Fiorello H. La Guardia (1934–1945), Robert F. Wagner Jr. (1954–1965), Ed Koch (1978–1989) and Michael Bloomberg (2002–2013), each of whom was in office for twelve years (three successive four-year terms). The shortest terms in office since 1834 have been those of acting mayors: William T. Collins served a single day on December 31, 1925, Samuel B. H. Vance served one month (from November 30 to December 31, 1874), and Thomas Coman served five weeks (from Monday, November 30, 1868, to Monday, January 4, 1869).

Colonial mayors (1665–1783)

Before 1680, mayors served one-year terms. From 1680, they served two-year terms. Exceptions are noted thus (*). A dagger (†) indicates mayoralties cut short by death in office. (When the same man served more than one continuous term, his name is lightly shaded purely for clarity, but the tints have no other significance.) Note † died in office

Pre-consolidation mayors (1784–1897)

The mayor continued to be selected by the Government of New York's Council of Appointment until 1821, when Stephen Allen became the first mayor appointed by a local Common Council. Under the Charter of 1834, mayors were elected annually by direct popular vote. Starting in 1849, mayors were elected to serve two-year terms. Notes † died in office

Post-consolidation mayors (since 1897)

The 1898–1901 term was for four years. The City Charter was changed to make the mayor's term a two-year one beginning in 1902, but after two such terms was changed back to resume four-year terms in 1906. George B. McClellan Jr. thus served one two-year term from 1904 to 1905, during which he was elected to a four-year term from 1906 to 1909. The party of the mayor reflects party registration, as opposed to the party lines run under during the general election. Notes † died in office

Appendices

Mayoral terms and term limits in New York City since 1834

Direct elections to the mayoralty of the unconsolidated City of New York began in 1834 for a term of one year, extended to two years after 1849. The 1897 Charter of the consolidated City stipulated that the mayor was to be elected for a single four-year term. In 1901, the term halved to two years, with no restrictions on reelection. In 1905, the term was extended to four years once again. (Mayors Fiorello La Guardia, Robert F. Wagner Jr. and Ed Koch were later able to serve for twelve years each.) In 1993, the voters approved a two-term (eight-year) limit, and reconfirmed this limit when the issue was submitted to referendum in 1996. In 2008, the New York City Council voted to change the two-term limit to three terms (without submitting the issue to the voters). Legal challenges to the Council's action were rejected by Federal courts in January and April 2009. However, in 2010, yet another referendum, reverting the limit to two terms, passed overwhelmingly. Principal source: The Encyclopedia of New York City especially the entries for "charter" and "mayoralty".

Interrupted terms

Mayors John T. Hoffman (1866–1868, elected Governor 1868), William Havemeyer (1845–1846, 1848–1849, and 1873–1874), William Jay Gaynor (1910–1913), John Francis Hylan (1918–1925), Jimmy Walker (1926–1932), and William O'Dwyer (1946–1950) failed to complete the final terms to which they were elected. The uncompleted mayoral terms of Hoffman, Walker, and O'Dwyer were added to the other offices elected in (respectively) 1868, 1932, and 1950 [those three elections are listed as "special" in the table below because they occurred before the next regularly scheduled mayoral election; the "regular" mayoral elections of 1874 and 1913, on the other hand, were held on the same day that they would have happened had the mayoralty not become vacant.] † Became acting mayor as the president of the board of aldermen or (in 1950) city council. (D) = (Democratic) (R) = (Republican)

Mayors of the City of Brooklyn, 1834–1897

Brooklyn elected a mayor from 1834 until consolidation in 1898 into the City of Greater New York, whose own second mayor (1902–1903), Seth Low, had been Mayor of Brooklyn from 1882 to 1885. Since 1898, Brooklyn has, in place of a separate mayor, elected a Borough President.

Mayors of Long Island City, 1870–1897

Long Island City, now within the Borough of Queens, was incorporated as a city in its own right on May 4, 1870 and (like the City of Brooklyn) consolidated into the present Greater New York City on January 1, 1898.