Tammany Hall

Scandal

In April 1870 Tweed secured the passage of a city charter putting the control of the city into the hands of mayor (A. Oakey Hall), the comptroller, and the commissioners of parks and public works. He then set about plundering the city. The total amount of money stolen was never known, but has been estimated from $75 million to $200 million. Over a period of two years and eight months, while he had over 1,000 workers at his command, New York City's debts increased from $36 million in 1868 to about $136 million by 1870, with few costs or expenditures to show for the debt.

Tweed was accused of defrauding the city by having contractors present excessive bills for work performed -- typically ranging from 15 to 65 percent more than the project actually cost. The extra charges were said to have been divided among Tweed, his subordinates and his cronies. The most excessive overcharging came in the form of the famous Tweed Courthouse, which cost the city $13 million to construct (the actual cost for the courthouse was about $3 million), leaving about $10 million for the pockets of Tweed and his gang. The city was also billed $3 million for city printing and stationery over a two-year period.

Tweed's downfall came when one of the plunderers, dissatisfied with his share, gave The New York Times evidence of embezzlement. The newspaper was reportedly offered $5 million to not publish the evidence. In a subsequent interview, Tweed's only reply was,"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Accounts in The New York Times and political cartoons drawn by Thomas Nast and published in Harper's Weekly resulted in the election of numerous opposition candidates in 1871. Regarding Nast's cartoons, Tweed said, "Stop them damned pictures. I don't care so much what the papers say about me. My constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures!"