History of New York City (1665–1783) port British ships evacuated in 1783. The English had renamed the colony the Province of New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665, appointed Thomas Willett the first of the Mayors of New York. The city grew northward and remained the largest and most important city in the Province of New York, becoming the third largest in the British Empire after London and Philadelphia. The Dutch regained the colony briefly in 1673, then finally lost it permanently to the English in 1674 after the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Leisler's Rebellion, an uprising in which
Thomas Gallagher (mayor) Mt. Washington on Pittsburgh's southside is named for Mayor Gallagher. Thomas Gallagher (mayor) Thomas Gallagher (November 20, 1883 – March 14, 1967) served as Mayor of Pittsburgh during the transition year of 1959. Gallagher was born in Pittsburgh and started his career as a glassblower in the industrial plants of the region. He ran successfully as a Union representative during his blue collar days. He started his public political career in the Commonwealth Assembly representing Pittsburgh neighborhoods in Harrisburg. In 1933 he came back to the city and was elected City Councilmember. He served in that city legislative post for