The former title for the chief executive officer of the New York Fed was governor and was renamed to president due to the Banking Act of 1935.[3] Akin to all other reserve bank presidents, the president of the New York Fed is nominated by the Board of Directors of the New York Fed and is approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.[2] The Federal Reserve Act states that the president of a Federal Reserve Bank is the chief executive officer of the bank in question and has a term that ends the last day in February in years ending in 1 or 6. Reserve Bank presidents must retire when they reach the age of 65, nevertheless, if the Board of Governors allows, a president who assumed his position after age 55 may serve until they have served 10 years or reached age 70, whichever is attained first.[4] The areas of the bank involved in business report to both the president and first vice president of the New York Fed. They in turn report to the Board of Directors of the New York Fed.[5] The president of the New York Fed is a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which is responsible for open market operations.[6]
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has had ten presidents since its inception, of which some have gone on to hold positions in government. Benjamin Strong, Jr., who had been the president of Bankers Trust Company, became the first president of the New York Fed on October 5, 1914.[7] He said the bank at that point "consisted of little more than a copy of the Federal Reserve Act", but it consumed 100 million U.S. dollars from 211 member banks during the course of that day.[8]