The Brief and Frightening Reign of Wade

Despite the fact that it happened only just 15 years ago, many people have forgotten Wade Boggs’ overthrow, by force, of the New York government and his brief and frightening reign over that same city.

The photo you see here captures Boggs in 1996, just moments after having wrested — along with a small but loyal faction of the city’s police — wrested control of the city from then-mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Known for his eccentric ways — which include addictions to sex and chicken, respectively — Boggs insisted on wearing full Yankee regalia during his triumphal march through the city’s avenues. While never verified, scholars believe this was an attempt to out-do Giuliani, who was known for often wearing a Yankee hat in public.

Equally eccentric were Boggs’s initial pronouncements. His first order of business, for example, involved requiring the entire populace — including women and children — to grow perfect red mustaches. Anyone who was unable to do so would, in Boggs’ words, “suffer death… or worse!” Boggs also announced that he would like to create Quadruple-X sex shops, instead of just the Triple-X ones that you were always finding in town.

Unfortunately for Boggs, his fall from power was even swifter than his rise. On the morning after his takeover, he was found in a pile of beer cans and Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogs in the mayor’s office. After high-fiving everyone gleefully and noting that he’d been a “fucking awesome despot,” Boggs was removed from power and Guiliani restored.

Photo courtesy Andy Gray and the SI Vault.