Question

why did cartoonist thomas nast portray boss william tweed as a vulture feeding on the city of new york? because tweed controlled labor in the city, because tweed had cheated the city out of huge amounts of money, because tweed gave loans to the immigrants of the city but not others, because tweed managed to avoid jail despite his crimes

Answer 1

Because Tweed had cheated the city out of huge amounts of money.
Nast’s vulture image symbolized Tweed’s graft and plundering of New York’s public funds — preying on the city for personal gain.