Known as “The Boy Mayor” as the youngest NYC chief executive to date, John Purroy Mitchel was elected in 1913 at the age of 34. After losing his bid for reelection in 1917, he was killed while training for the air corps in World War I after a freak accident, falling out of his plane after apparently not sufficiently tightening a seat belt. During Mitchel’s tenure in City Hall, a young man began working for NYC civil service who would leave a substantial mark over the next five decades…his name was Robert Moses.
A gilded bust sculpted by Adolph Weinman and augmented with exquisitely formed lettering was placed here in his honor in 1926.
From FNY’s Central Park Statues page
2/5/13