Word: sapio
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DIED. CARMINE DE SAPIO, 95, who ruled New York politics as the last boss of Tammany Hall; in New York City. He rose through the ranks as a messenger boy for political captains and ensured that the most politically deserving, needy families received their holiday food baskets. As head of the New York organization in the 1950s, he handpicked Robert F. Wagner Jr. as mayor and W. Averell Harriman as Governor and, some said, could have named the Democratic presidential nominee. But by the late 1960s he had been denounced as authoritarian, convicted of petty bribery and defeated in local...
...York City Democratic Congressman Mario Biaggi. The money was said to have come from a paving contractor who was seeking dumping privileges at a city landfill. Biaggi denied any such deal, saying: "It didn't happen." Similarly, Masselli is alleged to have sought the help of Carmine De Sapio, 73, a former New York City Democratic leader, in leasing a dump site from the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority. A man claiming to be an intermediary told Masselli that the help of De Sapio would cost about $20,000. De Sapio refused to comment on the matter...
When the law finally jailed Boss Tweed, the Tammany Hall czar gave his occupation as "statesman." His successor many times removed, Carmine De Sapio, was more modest when he testified recently in his own defense. Known as "The Bishop" in his glory days, De Sapio called himself an "ex-political leader...
...When De Sapio took over the Manhattan Democratic organization 21 years ago, he was a progressive innovator. He led in nominating good-government candidates like Robert Wagner for mayor and Averell Harriman for Governor. He broke the Irish monopoly that had previously ruled Tammany. The Bishop liberalized organization rules to such an extent that a new generation of rebels was able to oust him-ironically, with Wagner's help. The kind of scandal that often tars machine politicians never seriously stained him until after his retirement. Last year he was charged in a bribery conspiracy; last week...
...Enemy: Bureaucracy. True to its ideal of detachment, the Voice avoids the excesses of partisan politics. Though it supported the Democratic reform movement in its battle to overthrow Tammany Chieftain Carmine De Sapio, it has derided the reformers for their self-righteousness. It backed John Lindsay for mayor, but does not hesitate to criticize his "waspishness." And the paper that claims to have discovered the New Left has recently discovered a New Right, rebelling against the upper-class gentility of Bill Buckley. To the Voice, individuality of any shade of Village opinion is to be cherished. The major enemy...