Alekseyev is credited with construction of the city's first sanitation system, the first pressurized water supply network reaching individual houses, a psychiatric hospital and 30 new public schools.

Alekseyev reorganized the city finances, significantly increasing the share of non-tax revenue from city-owned commercial ventures, and was known for unorthodox and successful fundraising campaigns for the municipal charities.

[2] Nikolay Alekseyev belonged to the fourth generation of an old and wealthy family of traders and industrialists that settled in Alekseyevskaya Street (no direct connection)[3] of Tagansky District after the Fire of 1812.

[7] Actor and theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky, also born Alekseyev, was Nikolay's cousin; he chose a different stage name to disassociate the family from his theatrical endeavours.

At the same time, Alekseyev in his twenties managed the textile assets of the family and was responsible for retooling the factories with modern machinery and technologies.

[14] In 1885, Alekseyev, then only 32 years old, succeeded in bringing the sleeper voters to the elections, thus reducing the weight of black hundred and easily winning the mayoral ballot in November.

He succeeded in shaping up a loyal majority coalition; balancing between a strongman administration and continuous mediation of the rivalling clans, Alekseyev managed to maintain support for his initiatives in the Duma and among the business circles.

In 1890 he launched construction of a new Duma building on the nearby Voskresenskaya Square; the project was criticized for its outward pseudo-Russian style and cost overruns.

[17] Key element of the system – two tower-like water reservoirs near present-day Rizhsky Rail Terminal – were partially financed with Alekseyev's personal funds.

[20] In seven and half years of Alekseyev's tenure Moscow acquired 30 new schools, its first asphalt pavement, first permanent electrical power plant (1888),[21] unified tram system (1891)[22] and the Tretyakov Gallery (1892).

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, appointed Governor of Moscow in February 1891, initiated a royal order for deportation of Jews from the city into the Pale of Settlement.

"[15] S. M. Dubnow, author of "History of Jews in Poland and Russia" (1918) even branded Alekseyev "an ignorant merchant with a shady reputation", and alleged that his efforts were motivated by rivalry with Jewish banker Lazar Polyakov (incorrectly described as the owner of a "rural bank").

This may be explained by long-standing ties between Moscow textile industry and the Central Asian cotton traders (including Bukharan Jews).

His immediate successor, Konstantin Rukavishnikov, completed the projects launched by Alekseyev and got rid of the budget deficit, but lost the 1897 reelection to the public opinion of "not matching his too splendid forerunner".

[7] The city remained divided into pro-Alekseyev and anti-Alekseyev factions; his memories were frequently invoked by politicians for support of their own and for denigration of their opponents' initiatives.