Joseph Bermel

Who was Joseph Bermel?

Joseph Bermel was a Democratic politician from Queens, New York, USA. He is best known for resigning from the post of Borough President for his involvement in a corruption scandal, upon which he fled the country in 1908.

Bermel was born in Brooklyn, but by 1882 he had moved to Middle Village in Queens and established a stone cutting business, making cemetery monuments. He quickly became involved in politics, and in the 1890s was town supervisor in Newtown. When Queens consolidated with New York City in 1898, Bermel pursued appointments at the borough level. He became an ally of early machine politician Joseph Cassidy and served as his Commissioner of Public Works when Cassidy was elected Borough President.

In 1905, Cassidy was seeking a third term as Borough President, but Bermel had his own plans for the office. He announced his own candidacy, running on a fusion ticket under the Republican and Independence League parties. He beat his former boss and became Borough President in 1906, vowing to fight "graft in every form."

Bermel proved to be almost as effective as Cassidy in wielding political power, and was quickly suspected of corruption.