Ruth Messinger

Ruth Messinger, Presidents of Manhattan Borough, NYC


Home » New York City Politicians » Info

Ruth Messinger

Getting Started

Index

NYC Neighborhoods

Manhattan
Brooklyn
Queens
Bronx
Staten Island

NYC Icons

Chrysler Building
Flatiron Building
Empire State Building

Safe NYC

NYPD
FDNY

NYC Weather

NYC Climate
NYC Weather Forecast
Winter Season
Spring Season
Summer Season
Fall Season

NYC History & Politics

New York City History
Tammany Hall and Politics
New York City Politicians
New York City Personalities

Culture of Gotham City

Culture of the city
Cultural diversity
City in popular culture

Ruth Wyler Messinger (born 1940) is a former political leader in New York City and a member of the Democratic Party. She was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1997, losing to incumbent mayor Rudy Giuliani. She is married to Andrew Lachman, her second husband, and has three children. She is currently the CEO of American Jewish World Service, an international development agency.

Born and raised in New York, Messinger graduated from Radcliffe College in 1962 and received a Master of Social Work from the University of Oklahoma in 1964. Messinger was a delegate to the 1980 Democratic National Convention and served on the New York City Council from 1978 to 1990, representing the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In the City Council, she proposed extending rent control from individuals to businesses. From 1990 to 1998, she served as Manhattan borough president, an office she gave up to run for mayor in the 1997 election.

A political liberal, Messinger was known for her aggressive media work and frequent press conferences. According to her 1997 website, she is pro-choice and opposes the death penalty. During her 1997 campaign, she was nearly forced into a Democratic primary runoff with Reverend Al Sharpton, but avoided it by receiving 40% of the vote during a recount.

In 2005, Messinger endorsed Fernando Ferrer for mayor in the 2005 mayoral election. Ferrer had briefly run against her for mayor in 1997, before dropping out to run for reelection as Bronx borough president.

Since the late 1990s she has been CEO of American Jewish World Service. In late 2005, following a high-profile year that included the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, The Forward, the American Jewish newspaper of record, named her to the top of its annual "Forward Fifty" list of the most influential American Jews. Messinger is also a board member of Hazon.





This is NYC

New York City Neighborhoods

NYC has a rich history in diversity and the city as a whole is nothing more than many small neighborhoods. Explore it with us..

NYC Neighborhoods
Manhattan Island

NYC Waterfronts & Beaches

NYC's waterfront is roughly 600 miles long and the overall form of the Harbor has remained unchanged from the time of Giovanni da Verrazzano. Learn more about the harbor, its shores and its waterways.

NYC Waterfronts
New York City Beaches

History and Politics of NYC

Did you know that New York City was briefly the U.S. capital during 1789-90 and was state capital until 1797?

New York City History
Tammany Hall and Politics
New York City Politicians

Culture of Gotham City

The culture of NYC is shaped by centuries of immigration, the city's size and variety, and its status as the cultural capital of the United States.

Culture of the city
Cultural diversity
City in popular culture




Travel & Transportation

The dominant mode of transportation in New York City is mass transit - Subways and Buses. However, it is the Taxicabs that are real New York icons!

Safety & Security

How safe is New York City? Contrary to popular belief, the City consistantly ranks in the top ten safest large cities in the United States. The NYPD is the largest municipal police force in the world and has it's own Movie/TV Unit.

New York Climate

New York has a humid continental climate resulting from prevailing wind patterns that bring cool air from the interior of the North American continent. New York winters are typically cold with moderate snowfall.
New York Weather Forecast

Demographics

New York's two key demographic features are its density and diversity. The New York City metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel. It is also home to nearly a quarter of the nation's South Asians, and the largest African American community of any city in the country.
Ethnic composition



New York Newspapers

Niagara Falls Express: Overnight Tour from New York Romance Over Manhattan Private Helicopter Flight

home | get listed | privacy policy | site map back to top

Quick Links to Neighborhoods » Manhattan | Bronx | Brooklyn | Queens | Staten Island

Website: © 2004-08 NYCTouristGuide.com All Rights Reserved. Permission must be secured prior to duplication of any content, including images.
All Photos: © 2000-2007 Nishanth Gopinathan | StockPhotographs.org, unless otherwise credited. All International Rights Reserved.

Hosting: PixvieweRTM Web Hosting | Web Design: Live EyesTM (LiveEyes.org)