Located in City Hall Park, New York’s City Hall is an impressive edifice.  Built between 1803 and 1812, it is one of the oldest continually used City Halls in the nation that is still used for its original governmental function.  Although it makes virtually no appearance in the movie, in reality its three-story marble façade would have overshadowed Newsies Square, where our newsboys were pelvic-thrusting their way to victory.  One can imagine Les entreating the Mayor to “Buy me last pape, Mister?”  

While visiting City Hall, you may be tempted to protest Mayor Robert Van Wyck’s treatment of the newsies’ strike.  Van Wyck was not up for reelection in 1899, despite Pulitzer using that as a bargaining chip in the movie, but his term was beset by political scandal.  A state legislature investigation in 1899 concluded that the Mayor was a “dictator” who “abdicated” his powers to Tammany Hall bosses.  

Van Wyck probably would have felt betrayed by Pulitzer when, a year later, the New York World revealed his involvement in the “Ice Trust” scandal.  Van Wyck and other politicians provided political protection for the American Ice Company’s monopoly over ice distribution in the city and their plans to double the price of ice—a dangerous decision in a time when the populace depended on ice to keep their perishable food from spoiling.  Perhaps it made a good headline for our newsies—although as we all know, a crooked politician, “ain’t news no more.”

Sadly, City Hall is currently under renovation and tours into its truly impressive interior have been postponed until further notice. Be sure to check out the back of the building, though.  When City Hall was built, it was so clearly at the City’s northern edge that the rear of the building was faced with brownstone, cheaper than the marble used on the rest of the building.  No one would see it, right?  But by the time Jack and the gang were singing and dancing, the city had extended well past City Hall.