You may have strong opinions about Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, David Dinkins and Ed Koch, but they are nothing compared to Fernando Wood, a Democrat who was elected to be Mayor of New York City in 1854. Under Mayor Wood, the Municipal Police (formed in 1845) became incredibly corrupt and the Republican-controlled State Legislature abolished it in 1857 and created the competing Metropolitan Police. Wood refused to remove the Municipals, which meant NYC had two different police organizations, one controlled by the mayor, the other by Albany, operating at the same time. 

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