He was elected New York City Comptroller in 1945, becoming the city's first Orthodox Jewish Comptroller, and served until 1954. "The New York Times" praised Joseph after his election on the Democratic-American Labor Party ticket, During his terms as Comptroller, Joseph tackled budgetary issues facing the city, facing many years in which the city prospered, and others in which the city did not fare as well. New York City had a series of bond issues during the latter years of Joseph's tenure, and he traveled to Albany to request the governor's assistance in funding the city's budgetary deficits. Some of the issues affecting Joseph that were widely reported included his support for keeping New York City transit fares limited to 10 cents (fares rose to 15 cents in 1953 ($ in current dollar terms)), and the attempted closing of WNYC to curtail budget constraints upon the city. He prodded the city to keep expenditures down, was against borrowing to meet expenses.