Chamber of Board of Aldermen, New York City

Original title: Chamber of the Board of Aldermen, 1868. Lithograph by W.C. Rogers & Co. published in the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York by Joseph Shannon (Clerk of the Common Council).

The Board of Aldermen was the upper house of New York City's Common Council, from 1824 to 1875, and it was housed in the City Hall. Municipal legislators was known as aldermen since the 17th century. In 1824 an Act of the New York State Legislature made the Common Council bicameral, dividing it into a Board of Aldermen and a Board of Assistants. The Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen were chosen for one year and must be a resident of the ward for which they were chosen. In 1938 a new charter replaced the Board of Aldermen with the New York City Council.

The present New York City Hall is a National Historic Landmark, constructed from 1803 to 1812. In the 19th century, it housed the three wings of the government: legislative, executive and judicial.