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Meade Esposito

Meade Esposito
Photo of Meade Esposito by Ken Regan
Personal details
Born
Amadeo Henry Esposito

1907 (1907)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died (aged 86)
Manhasset, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children1
ProfessionBrooklyn Democratic leader

Amadeo Henry "Meade" Esposito (1907 – September 3, 1993) was an American politician who was a Brooklyn Democratic leader and political boss. Esposito served as chairman of the Kings County Democratic Committee from 1969 to 1984. As a leader, he was known as a political fixer, and honored loyalty, running a citywide patronage system involving gratuity exchanges that ultimately resulted in multiple municipal corruption scandals.

Following the election of Ed Koch to the mayoralty in 1977 (an outcome facilitated by Esposito's support, which was obscured by mutual agreement due to Koch's political origins in the postwar, Manhattan-based "Reform Democrat" movement), Esposito emerged as New York City's paramount political leader and de facto shadow mayor, with a multiracial sphere of influence that encompassed such disparate figures as Bronx political leaders Stanley M. Friedman, Stanley Simon and Ramon S. Velez; Brooklyn Assemblymen Stanley Fink (who also served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly at the peak of Esposito's influence) and Anthony J. Genovesi; Queens Borough President Donald Manes; Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden; Brooklyn Representatives Shirley Chisholm, Leo C. Zeferetti and Fred Richmond; conservative fixer Roy Cohn; real estate developers Fred and Donald Trump (the latter would ultimately serve as the 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021); and American Mafia leaders Anthony Scotto and Paul Vario. Critics called him a "medieval king holding court with his barons by sections of the press".[1]

Although he ensconced himself in the tradition of urban "Regular Democrat" machine politics, Esposito personally identified as a political liberal in marked contrast to many of his successors, frequently speaking of his admiration for George McGovern (whom he supported at great political risk in the 1972 United States presidential election) and Eleanor Roosevelt.[2] He also was a vociferous supporter of New York City's first (and ultimately unsuccessful) LGBT rights bill.[3][4] As the apex of his power coincided with historic population declines in New York stemming from decades-long white flight, Esposito moved beyond his white ethnic base in southeastern Brooklyn to collaborate with leaders of nascent African American and Hispanic and Latino American communities throughout the borough, such as City Councilman Samuel D. Wright[5] and his successor, Enoch H. Williams.[6]

By the early 1980s, several Brooklyn-based elected officials with national ambitions—most notably Kings County District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman, liberal internationalist Representative Steve Solarz and future Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—had either directly repudiated or distanced themselves from Esposito's influence, although Jack Newfield and Wayne Barrett reported that Schumer met publicly with Esposito for lunch on at least one occasion.[7][8]

In 1983, investigations into his activities mounted; this, along with a thwarted leadership challenge from erstwhile protege Genovesi (who Esposito believed had been "openly salivating" for his departure[9]) would prompt his retirement in January 1984. Three years later, he was convicted of giving an illegal gratuity in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, having given Bronx Representative Mario Biaggi a spa vacation in Florida.[10] As a result of this and related scandals (including Manes' suicide and Friedman's conviction on federal corruption charges) amid the political emergence of reform-minded rivals David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani, the Esposito machine effectively collapsed. During this period, several fledgling African American politicians also withdrew their support, precipitating the 1990 election of Clarence Norman Jr. as county chairman of what had momentarily descended into a "largely vestigial structure".[11]

Esposito was respected and feared for his street-style management, intimidation tactics and criminal connections. He became known for running politics similar to a junket.[12]

  1. ^ Ross Wilson (July 14, 2016). The Language of the Past. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 141–. ISBN 978-1-4742-4678-1.
  2. ^ Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City. Columbia University Press. October 14, 2010. ISBN 9780231520904.
  3. ^ "LGBTQ Rights in Brooklyn, Back then – Gay City News". August 30, 2018.
  4. ^ Smothers, Ronald (September 12, 1975). "Bill on Homosexuals is Defeated". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto. University of Chicago Press. February 15, 2002. ISBN 9780226684468.
  6. ^ "Owens' Unhappy Last Hurrah". September 8, 2004.
  7. ^ City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York. Harper & Row. 1988. ISBN 9780060160609.
  8. ^ "Steve Solarz (1940-2010) and the making of Senator Schumer". Politico.
  9. ^ ""You Never Get Too Big and You Sure Don't Get Too Heavy, That You Don't Have to Stop and Pay Some Dues Sometimes": Brooklyn Democratic Leaders in the Modern Era, by Howard Graubard". February 16, 2021.
  10. ^ Lyons, Richard D. (September 4, 1993). "Meade Esposito, 86, Former Power in Politics, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  11. ^ Roberts, Sam; Hicks, Jonathan P. (October 2, 2005). "Democratic Leader's Demise Followed His Organization's Slide". The New York Times.
  12. ^ New York Media, LLC (February 20, 1984). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. pp. 36–. 00287369.

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