Incumbent mayor Thomas Francis Gilroy, whose administration had been severely weakened by the Lexow Committee investigations, was not a candidate for a second term.

This was the final mayoral election held prior to the consolidation of Greater New York (including Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island) by a public referendum in December 1894.

The Lexow Committee ultimately published over 10,000 pages of testimony, uncovering an institutional system of "extortion, bribery, counterfeiting, voter intimidation, election fraud, brutality, and scams" with direct involvement and leadership by high-ranking Tammany Hall members.

[1][2] In response, Mayor Gilroy appointed a bipartisan board of police directors, but his popularity had sunk, and he did not stand for election to a second term.

[1] In addition to the Tammany and police corruption scandals, the national fiscal depression dampened support for the incumbent Democratic Party in cities across the country.