It was triggered by the resignation of incumbent Democratic Mayor Jimmy Walker on September 1, after his administration had become embroiled in scandal.

Democratic nominee John P. O'Brien easily defeated Republican Lewis H. Pounds and Socialist Morris Hillquit.

Mayor Jimmy Walker, who was supported by Tammany Hall, resigned on September 1, 1932, following investigations into corruption by the Hofstadter Committee under the leadership of Samuel Seabury.

[1] Acting mayor Joseph V. McKee did not seek the office,[2] but a movement led by Roy W. Howard and the New York World-Telegram called for voters to write him in.

O'Brien also received a smaller percentage of the vote than Walker had in the 1929 election while Morris Hillquit had received a record high result for the Socialist Party of America in New York City's mayoral elections.