Postmaster of New York City

A post office may have operated in New York City as early as 1687. The United States Postal Service has no information on New York's postmasters prior to the year 1775. The New York City Post Office is first mentioned in Hugh Finlay's journal dated 1773 which lists Alexander Colden as the postmaster of New York City. Other sources indicate that Colden may have served as postmaster as early as 1753.^[1] Postmasters are appointed by the President of the United States.

Name	Title	Date appointed	Notes and references
Alexander Colden	Postmaster		The date of appointment is not known.
John Holt	Postmaster		The date of appointment is not known. He is listed as postmaster in a document written by Mary Katherine Goddard.[1]
Ebenezer Hazard	Postmaster	October 5, 1775	He was appointed on October 5, 1775 according to his letter to Congress on November 14, 1776.[1][2] He was later appointed as the United States Postmaster General.
William Bedlow	Postmaster	April 5, 1784	The date of appointment is not known. He submitted financial accounts for the post office from April 5, 1784 through October 1789.[1]
Sebastian Bauman	Postmaster	February 16, 1790	The date is for his first financial accounts to Congress. His appointment date is not known.[1]
Josias Ten Eyck	Postmaster	January 1, 1804	The date is for his first financial accounts to Congress. His appointment date is not known.[1]
Theodorus Bailey	Postmaster	January 2, 1804	He died in office.
Samuel Laurence Gouverneur	Postmaster	11/19/1828	[3]
Jonathan J. Coddington	Postmaster	07/05/1836	[4]
John Lorimer Graham	Postmaster	03/14/1842	[4]
Robert Hunter Morris	Postmaster	05/03/1845	He was later the Mayor of New York City
William Vermilye Brady	Postmaster	05/14/1849	He was later the Mayor of New York City
Isaac Vanderbeck Fowler	Postmaster	04/01/1853
John Adams Dix	Postmaster	05/17/1860	[5]
William B. Taylor	Postmaster	01/16/1861
Abram Wakeman	Postmaster	03/21/1862
James Kelly	Postmaster	09/19/1864
Patrick Henry Jones	Postmaster	04/27/1869
Thomas Lemuel James	Postmaster	03/17/1873	He was later appointed as the United States Postmaster General.
Henry G. Pearson	Postmaster	03/22/1881
Cornelius Van Cott	Postmaster	04/05/1889	[6]
Charles W. Dayton	Postmaster	06/05/1893
Cornelius Van Cott	Postmaster	05/12/1897	This was his second non-consecutive term. He died in office.[6]
William Russell Willcox	Postmaster	12/07/1904	He resigned office to become the head of the Public Service Board.[7]
Edward M. Morgan	Postmaster	August 14, 1907	[7] He was postmaster for the first airmail delivery.
Thomas Gedney Patten	Postmaster	03/16/1917
Edward M. Morgan	Postmaster	06/23/1921
John J. Kiely	Acting Postmaster	01/10/1925	[8]
John J. Kiely	Postmaster	01/22/1925	He was promoted from Acting Postmaster to Postmaster.[8]
Albert Goldman	Acting Postmaster	08/31/1934	[9]
Albert Goldman	Postmaster	01/16/1935	He was promoted from Acting Postmaster to Postmaster. Albert Goldman was the first Jewish postmaster of New York City.[9][10]
George M. Bragalini	Acting Postmaster	04/30/1952
James B. Tunny	Acting Postmaster	03/31/1953
Colonel Harold Riegelman	Acting Postmaster	05/04/1953
John H. Sheehan	Acting Postmaster	08/04/1953
Robert H. Schaffer	Acting Postmaster	08/16/1954
Robert H. Schaffer	Postmaster	08/02/1955	He was promoted from Acting Postmaster to Postmaster.
Howard Coonen	Acting Postmaster	05/31/1957
Robert K. Christenberry	Acting Postmaster	06/03/1958
Robert K. Christenberry	Postmaster	09/21/1959	He was promoted from Acting Postmaster to Postmaster.
Eugene Pinson	Acting Postmaster	07/01/1966
John R. Strachan	Acting Postmaster	11/04/1966
John R. Strachan	Postmaster	06/26/1967	He was promoted from Acting Postmaster to Postmaster.
George J. Hass	Officer-In-Charge	07/16/1971
Thomas V. Flanagan	Officer-In-Charge	07/01/1972
John R. Strachan	Postmaster	12/09/1972	This was his second non-consecutive term.
George F. Shuman	Officer-In-Charge	01/13/1979
Paul E. Donovan	Officer-In-Charge	02/16/1979
George F. Shuman	Postmaster	05/19/1979	He was promoted from Officer-In-Charge to Postmaster following the intervening appointment of Paul E. Donovan.[11]
John M. Nolan	Postmaster	01/05/1985
William J. Dowling	Officer-In-Charge	03/03/1989
John F. Kelly	Postmaster	11/04/1989
Sylvester Black	Postmaster	01/09/1993
Vinnie Malloy	Postmaster	12/19/1998
Robert A. Daruk, Sr.	Officer-In-Charge	02/28/2007
Robert A. Daruk, Sr.	Postmaster	03/17/2007	He was promoted from Officer-In-Charge to Postmaster.
William J. Schnaars	Postmaster	January 31, 2009
Lorraine G. Castellano	Postmaster	October 24, 2009
Aracelis M. Osorio	Officer-In-Charge	July 3, 2010
Robert J. Brown	Postmaster	October 23, 2010
Elvin Mercado	Officer-In-Charge	December 13, 2013
Elvin Mercado	Postmaster	March 8, 2014	He was promoted from Officer-In-Charge to Postmaster.

References

1. "Postmasters of New York City". United States Postal Service. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
2. "Ebenezer Hazard to Dudley Woodbridge, 1781". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2011-05-10. In 1775 he was appointed deputy postmaster of New York City. Hazard advanced in his job and was named to the position of Surveyor General of the Constitutional Post Office in 1776, a role he still held when this letter was written. Shortly thereafter, in 1782, Hazard rose again, this time to the position of Postmaster General. ...
3. "Samuel L. Gouverneur correspondence". New York Public Library. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
4. Wayne Cutler (1993). Correspondence of James K. Polk: September-December 1844. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. p. 347. ISBN 0-87049-777-4.
5. "A Civil War Biography". Civil War Interactive. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
6. "Van Cott Dies. Worry Killed Him, Family Say. Apparently Rallied After Spending Night at Post Office. Temporary Successor, to be Named by Bondsmen, Likely to Stay Until After Election". New York Times. October 26, 1904. Retrieved 2011-05-10. Postmaster of the City of New York and Republican leader of the Fifth Assembly District, died suddenly of heart disease yesterday ...
7. "Edward M. Morgan made Postmaster. President Roosevelt Appoints Him to Succeed William R. Willcox. Was Once a Letter Carrier And Has Worked Up from the Bottom. His Selection Will Strengthen Taft Boom In This State.". New York Times. August 15, 1907. Retrieved 2008-12-23. Edward M. Morgan was appointed Postmaster of New York City by President Roosevelt yesterday, succeeding William R. Willcox, who resigned to become head of the Public Service Board. The announcement of the appointment was made at Oyster Bay in the afternoon after Mr. Morgan had taken luncheon with the President. At the luncheon he was formally apprised of his appointment.
8. "John J. Kiely Dies. Ex-Postmasters, 74. Head of the Department Here, 1925-1934. Second to Rise to Office From Ranks. In Service Half Century. Helped to Establish a Hospital Fund for Postal Employees. Goldman in Tribute". New York Times. August 24, 1940. Retrieved 2014-01-26. John J. Kiely, postmaster of New York from 1925 to 1934, died yesterday morning at the Presbyterian Medical Center after a brief illness.
9. "Goldman Retires as Head Mailman. City Postmaster for 18 Years, He Acts Ahead of Deadline, 70th Birthday Next July". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
10. "Goldman Believed First Jew to Head New York’s Post Office". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1934-08-16. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
11. "George F. Shuman". New York Times. July 22, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-26.