page_title: City of Greater New York
section_title: Consolidation
hierarchical_section_title: City of Greater New York / Consolidation
caption_attribution_description: English: Sheet music for "Up With the Flag! (of Brooklyn)"
context_page_description: The City of Greater New York was the term used by many politicians and scholars for the expanded City of New York created on January 1, 1898, by consolidating the existing City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island. The section of the Bronx west of the Bronx River had been annexed to the City and County of New York in 1874 and was known as the Annexed District. The section of the Bronx east of the Bronx River had been annexed to New York City, and New York County, in 1895.
  In the years leading up to consolidation, the City of Brooklyn had expanded by annexing all of the other towns and cities in Kings County. Only the western part of Queens County was part of the consolidation plan. In 1899, its three eastern towns separated to form the new Nassau County.
context_section_description: The consolidation movement was the work of politicians both local, city, and state, most prominently the president of the "Greater New-York Commission" and "The Father of Greater New York" Andrew Haswell Green. He was a member of the Board of Commissioners of Central Park, which provided him a platform to push his views.
  The next challenge to the independence of the boroughs was a self-promoted and government-appointed commission. The commission led the “Vote for Greater New York" movement and was the force behind it coming to fruition. Some opponents derided the effort as "Andy Green's hobby," but eventually they were proven wrong. The center of the plan was the consolidation of the twin cities of New York and Brooklyn, whose fire departments had been merged into a Metropolitan Fire District in 1865. The addition of Long Island City and various rural areas anticipated future development of those areas. With Republicans historically more powerful in Brooklyn and Democrats elsewhere, partisan politics played a role, each major political party hoping to dominate the consolidated city.
  The plan required a referendum in all affected areas, though the organizers of the referendum clearly had a bias towards the consolidation. They even released a full page advertisement in The New York Times before the vote took place, urging them to vote "For Consolidation". An argument for consolidation was that the unconsolidated city would soon be surpassed by Chicago as the most populous city in the United States.
  Opposition, concentrated in Brooklyn and other outlying districts, focused on loss of local control and fears of ethnic and racial minorities. Independence-minded Brooklynites did not want their regional identity to be overtaken by New York. Some newspapers such as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle argued that consolidation would destroy the mostly homogenous, Protestant character of the city. Opposing newspapers were accused of seeking to retain the revenues of official advertising, while opposing politicians were accused of graft. Concerns over how Brooklyn's water supply would be maintained and how future financial backing would be possible were legitimate. Considerations of finance and water supply prevailed, and the people of Brooklyn voted by a narrow margin to consolidate.
  The term City of Greater New York was never a legal or official designation as both the original charter of 1898 and the newer one of 1938 use the name of City of New York. It is still used in modern-day books relating or including the time period when the consolidation took place.
  While remaining a county in relation to the state, each county became a borough within the city, with the Bronx reunited to form a fifth borough that shared New York County with Manhattan. A separate Bronx County was established in 1914, making the present New York County co-extensive with the Borough (but not the island) of Manhattan.
caption: "Up With the Flag! (of Brooklyn)", an 1895 anti-consolidation song.
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