Plot
John Pappas is the mayor of New York City and has far more grand ambitions, including the governor's office and the White House. His loyal deputy mayor is Kevin Calhoun, a young man from Louisiana who grew up loving politics.
One day, an off-duty police detective named Eddie Santos is ambushed by Tino Zapatti, a criminal with mob ties. They kill each other in a shootout with a stray bullet also causing the death of an innocent small boy named James Bone.
An investigation leads to a question as to why Judge Walter Stern, an old friend of the mayor's, had set Zapatti free on probation for a recent crime rather than send him to jail. Legal aid Marybeth Cogan, meanwhile, attempts to see that Santos' widow receives his full benefits, but there seems to be a conspiracy to paint the slain detective as less than honest.
While the mayor speaks at the child's funeral, Calhoun digs for answers. He is leery of Frank Anselmo, a Brooklyn politician who has connections to organized crime boss Paul Zapatti, the uncle of the cop-killer. Anselmo plants money at Zapatti's behest to smear the detective's good name.
The deputy mayor and Cogan continue to seek the truth from a number of sources, including Santos' partner and another Zapatti relative. After the murder of probation officer Larry Schwartz, they ultimately come to the conclusion that Judge Stern had to be on the take.
Pappas agrees that Stern must resign. The scandal snowballs to the point that Anselmo is instructed by Paul Zapatti to "take the pressure off" himself, by which he means commit suicide rather than become an informer or go to jail. To protect his family, Anselmo shoots himself.
The scandal is nearly at an end, but Calhoun knows one more thing -- his idol, the mayor, is also involved. He is the one who put Stern together with Anselmo to receive a bribe and leave the young Zapatti on the street. Calhoun soon tells Pappas there is only one choice -- to quit as mayor and leave politics for good. ("You're gonna take yourself out, John. You're gonna take yourself out.")
Read more about this topic: City Hall (film)
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