Harbor of Deceit: City Leaders Exposed in Squalid Scandal

January 31, 1874, marked a dark day for New York City as the Grand Jury in the Court of General Sessions issued a scathing presentment to the Mayor and the Departments of Public Works, Docks, Health, and Utilities. The jury’s 12-man panel had spent weeks investigating the scourge of harbor obstructions and street encumbrances plaguing the city’s waters and roads.