An election for Mayor of New York City was held in November 1897. This election was held in connection with the consolidation of the City of Greater New York, which passed a public referendum on December 14, 1894, and was to be effective January 1, 1898. Thus, the winner of this election would serve as the first mayor of the consolidated city.
Incumbent mayor William L. Strong was not a candidate for re-election to a second term in office. The multipolar race featured chief justice of the City Court Robert A. Van Wyck, Columbia University president Seth Low, former U.S. secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy, and tax reformer Henry George. On October 29, just a few days before the election, George died. Van Wyck won the race with a plurality of the vote, followed by Low and Tracy.
On December 14, 1894, the voters in the towns of New York County (then coterminous with New York City and consisting of two boroughs, Manhattan and the Bronx), Kings County (consisting entirely of the consolidated city of Brooklyn), Richmond County, and Queens County voted to consolidate into one city with a unified municipal government. The city also annexed parts of southern Westchester County. The enlarged city would contain the majority of the state of New York's population.
To allow for the consolidation to take effect on January 1, 1898, the term of mayor William Lafayette Strong was extended by a year, and the next mayoral election was moved from 1896 to 1897.
Carmer, Carl (1948). "From Van Wyck to O'Dwyer". In Nevins, Allan; Krout, John A. (eds.). The Greater City: New York, 1898-1948. New York: Columbia University Press. LCCN48008678.
