Meet Mayor LaGuardia Of New York City

In 1936, New York City Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia founded the High School of Music & Art in order to provide a facility where the most gifted and talented public school students of New York City could pursue their talents in art or music, while also completing a full academic program of instruction. In 1948, the School of Performing Arts was created to provide training in performance skills to students who wished to prepare for professional careers in dance, music or drama.

The two schools became one organization in 1961, in anticipation of a move to a single building at Lincoln Center designed to meet the specialized needs of those gifted and talented youngsters chosen to attend.

In 1969, the Board of Education honored Mayor LaGuardia by naming the new building at Lincoln Center after him and in September 1984, after more than 20 years of waiting, Music & Art and Performing Arts came together in their new and magnificent facility, complete with a state-of-the-art concert hall and Theatre.

LaGuardia Arts is one of the original four specialized high schools in New York City, as established by the New York State Legislature in 1972. The Hecht Calandra Act provides for the "establishment and maintenance" of this specialized school of the arts, as well as Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Technical High School. This act also defines the admissions criteria for LaGuardia Arts. Students are admitted on the basis of potential and achievement, as demonstrated in a demanding and competitive audition, and a review of their academic records. Currently there are nine specialized high schools in New York City, and LaGuardia Arts remains the sole specialized school of the arts.

It is important to note that LaGuardia Arts was the first school in the nation to provide a free, publicly funded program for students with unique talents in the arts. This model has been replicated in most major cities throughout the country.

Over the years, the school has earned an international reputation for excellence, the accomplishments of our graduates serving as the most vivid proof of the value and worth of our specialized programs of instruction. Our alumni have distinguished themselves in virtually every field of endeavor, including the arts and sciences as well as public service and other professions.

It makes no difference if I burn my bridges behind me -I never retreat," he declared.
--Fiorello H. LaGuardia-

My generation has failed miserably.
We've failed because of lack of courage and vision.
It requires more courage to keep the peace than to go to war."

There is no Democratic or Republican way to clean the streets.
-Fiorello H. LaGuardia-

Mayor LaGuardia used his facility to speak 5 languages to help the immigrants at Ellis Island.

He worked there while attending Law School at night at New York University.

He graduated in 1910 and soon after joined a law firm where he was known for representing immigrants, the poor and workers.

Here's a story about Fiorello LaGuardia who was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of W.W.II. He was adored by many New Yorkers who took to calling him the "Little Flower," because he was so short and always wore a carnation in his lapel.
The Rest Of The Story

Photo

After listening to Hitler's Radio Speach on September 12, 1938, here is what LaGuardia thought of the man.

"Hitler has lost all sense of proportion and reason and should be locked up".
Too bad it wasn't done at that time, it would have saved milions of people lives.

This quote is from the book "Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Champion Of Freedom"by Conrad Black, Page 466.

Mayor LaGuardia was often called The Little Flower.

The statue of Fiorello LaGuardia at LaGuardia Place in Greenwich Village, NYC.

Unveiled in 1994, this dynamic sculpture of Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947) is by the well-known sculptor Neil Estern.

(photo taken by MSkyrider)

LaGuardia addressing the people of New York
during the Harlem Riots which lasted a few days and ended with 5 looters being shot and 495 civilians injured along with 40 policemen.