On January 1, 1898, the Greater City of New York was consolidated, bringing the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond and Bronx under one jurisdiction. The first Commissioner of the Fire Department of the Greater City of New York, taking office that day, was John Jay Scannell.
A Tammany Hall politician who was the leader of the Eleventh Assembly District, Scannell shot and killed Thomas Donahue in revenge for the killing of his brother, Florence. He was arrested but acquitted on the grounds of emotional insanity. While he was imprisoned in The Tombs, he met Richard Croker, the future head of Tammany Hall, and they developed a friendship. Croker was at the time also imprisoned and charged with murder, for which he was found innocent.
In 1893 Scannelll was appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Fire Commissioners by Mayor Thomas F. Gilroy replacing S. Howland Robbins at a salary of $5,000 per year but resigned the post in 1895. After being appointed by Tammany Hall Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck to be the first Fire Commissioner for the consolidated City he served in that position until the end of Van Wyck's administration on December 31, 1901. In 1901 he was indicted for being involved in a kickback scheme for the purchasing of supplies by the FDNY.
Commissioner Scannell had a home in Freeport, Long Island but was visiting a friend in Jamaica, New York when he was stricken with pneumonia. He died on March 5, 1918 at St. Mary's Hospital in Queens. John Scannell had a substantial monument created for the brother, whose death he avenged, in Calvary Cemetery where he too was interred.
A Tammany Hall politician who was the leader of the Eleventh Assembly District, Scannell shot and killed Thomas Donahue in revenge for the killing of his brother, Florence. He was arrested but acquitted on the grounds of emotional insanity. While he was imprisoned in The Tombs, he met Richard Croker, the future head of Tammany Hall, and they developed a friendship. Croker was at the time also imprisoned and charged with murder, for which he was found innocent.
In 1893 Scannelll was appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Fire Commissioners by Mayor Thomas F. Gilroy replacing S. Howland Robbins at a salary of $5,000 per year but resigned the post in 1895. After being appointed by Tammany Hall Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck to be the first Fire Commissioner for the consolidated City he served in that position until the end of Van Wyck's administration on December 31, 1901. In 1901 he was indicted for being involved in a kickback scheme for the purchasing of supplies by the FDNY.
Commissioner Scannell had a home in Freeport, Long Island but was visiting a friend in Jamaica, New York when he was stricken with pneumonia. He died on March 5, 1918 at St. Mary's Hospital in Queens. John Scannell had a substantial monument created for the brother, whose death he avenged, in Calvary Cemetery where he too was interred.
On January 1, 1898, the Greater City of New York was consolidated, bringing the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond and Bronx under one jurisdiction. The first Commissioner of the Fire Department of the Greater City of New York, taking office that day, was John Jay Scannell.
A Tammany Hall politician who was the leader of the Eleventh Assembly District, Scannell shot and killed Thomas Donahue in revenge for the killing of his brother, Florence. He was arrested but acquitted on the grounds of emotional insanity. While he was imprisoned in The Tombs, he met Richard Croker, the future head of Tammany Hall, and they developed a friendship. Croker was at the time also imprisoned and charged with murder, for which he was found innocent.
In 1893 Scannelll was appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Fire Commissioners by Mayor Thomas F. Gilroy replacing S. Howland Robbins at a salary of $5,000 per year but resigned the post in 1895. After being appointed by Tammany Hall Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck to be the first Fire Commissioner for the consolidated City he served in that position until the end of Van Wyck's administration on December 31, 1901. In 1901 he was indicted for being involved in a kickback scheme for the purchasing of supplies by the FDNY.
Commissioner Scannell had a home in Freeport, Long Island but was visiting a friend in Jamaica, New York when he was stricken with pneumonia. He died on March 5, 1918 at St. Mary's Hospital in Queens. John Scannell had a substantial monument created for the brother, whose death he avenged, in Calvary Cemetery where he too was interred.
A Tammany Hall politician who was the leader of the Eleventh Assembly District, Scannell shot and killed Thomas Donahue in revenge for the killing of his brother, Florence. He was arrested but acquitted on the grounds of emotional insanity. While he was imprisoned in The Tombs, he met Richard Croker, the future head of Tammany Hall, and they developed a friendship. Croker was at the time also imprisoned and charged with murder, for which he was found innocent.
In 1893 Scannelll was appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Fire Commissioners by Mayor Thomas F. Gilroy replacing S. Howland Robbins at a salary of $5,000 per year but resigned the post in 1895. After being appointed by Tammany Hall Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck to be the first Fire Commissioner for the consolidated City he served in that position until the end of Van Wyck's administration on December 31, 1901. In 1901 he was indicted for being involved in a kickback scheme for the purchasing of supplies by the FDNY.
Commissioner Scannell had a home in Freeport, Long Island but was visiting a friend in Jamaica, New York when he was stricken with pneumonia. He died on March 5, 1918 at St. Mary's Hospital in Queens. John Scannell had a substantial monument created for the brother, whose death he avenged, in Calvary Cemetery where he too was interred.
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