charlesswhitman

"Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868 – March 29, 1947) served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1915 to December 1918."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_S._Whitman

The photo was most likely taken on the occasion of the handover of a flying boat to the NY Naval Militia. See comment under

Thanks B-59 for linking this image to the related ones about the NY Naval Militia ceremony. We will add more details when we update the description.

Governor of New York; his wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_S._Whitman

Wow, two phones, and look at all those newspapers. Obviously an important man.

This office is not the fancy paneled digs in Albany occupied by governors of New York State. When this photo was made (9/30/14), C. S. Whitman was still District Attorney of New York City. He was elected Governor in November, but did not take office as Governor of New York until January, 1915. Another Bain Agency photo of District Attorney Whitman:

One possible reason for the two phones is that in 1914 most of NYC was served by the Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company except for Staten Island, which was served by the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company and was not directly reachable by phone from Manhattan. The first transcontinental phone call wasn't made until 1915. In 1914 the long distance lines ended in Denver.

The Governor's daughter Olive Whitman named the Naval Militia's hydroaeroplane. See article in The New York Times, November 2, 1915 "NAMES FLYING BOAT FOR NAVAL MILITIA"

B-59: Thanks for the information about Olive Whitman who is seated in the front row here. We will add more information to the description.