By Mary Hoar, President Emerita, Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday July 26th
July 26, 1933: After five days of complaints about strange tasting water in North Yonkers, with water becoming the drink of choice for some who never “touched the stuff.” Results from the Yonkers Health Department were confusing as something beyond their lab’s testing ability was in the water. New York City’s Prohibition headquarters sent Agent Walter Tobias to investigate. He took one swallow of the North Yonkers water, and commented, “This would go swell in a highball!”
Heading to the reservoir, he traced the source to the Sprain Brook; there the odor was so strong, he exclaimed, “Holy smokes, wild gin!” He followed the brook to Greenburgh, only to find an elaborate still operation, in production for just 5 days! Plumbers, instead of connecting the outlet for mash and byproducts to the local sewer line, instead cut into a drain emptying into the Sprain Brook. Releasing the high power mash directly into the babbling brook, sending it directly to Yonkers homes! Two 5000-gallon copper stills valued at $50,000 were disabled and seized and Claude Adam of Riverdale Avenue and Joseph Mazzo of Manhattan were arrested. Tobias charged both menwith possession and manufacture of intoxicating liquor, doing the honors at the Yonkers’ Wells Avenue Station.
July 26, 1955: Yonkers’ own Doug Ford became the new Professional Golfers Association champion after defeating Cary Middlecoff in Detroit. The Ford family lived on Hartman Place.
Tuesday, July 27th
July 27, 1935: J. Anthony Drexel Biddle of Yonkers, husband of William Boyce Thompson’s daughter Margaret Thompson Schulze Biddle, was delayed leaving for his new post as American Minister to Norway. A large riot at the NY dock for the SS Bremen pier prevented the ship from leaving; two thousand Communists rioted and tore down a German flag with a swastika hanging over the ship’s bow.
July 27, 1935: The Yonkers All-Stars Baseball Team was roundly defeated by visiting team who came with beards and “buffoonery.” The House of David team defeated Yonkers’ best by 8-2 in front of a record crowd of 4,000 at Pelton Field!
Wednesday, July 28th
July 28, 1924: Chairman Ben Kempler announced an interesting assortment of contestants for the Palisade Avenue Merchants Association Popularity Contest. Among the twelve entries were” well-known Yonkers pugilist Al Norton; Fireman Harry Clad of Engine One; Traffic Squad Patrolman William Parker; Fourth Precinct Police Officer Frank Mackay; and Homeopathic Hospital (Yonkers General) nurse Mary Sewick.
July 28, 1945: Yonkers resident Peter Raglan witnessed the crash of an Army bomber into the top of the Empire State Building! He described it as “the most terrifying sight I ever saw.” Raglan, Assistant State Veterans’ Employment Representative for the War Manpower Commission, was in his office on West 42nd Street; while looking out the window at the low flying plane, he saw the plane directly hit the top of the structure.
Thursday, July 29th
July 29, 1927: Yonkers members of the American Society for the Promotion of Aviation met with Public Works Commissioner William Goldsmith, a passionate supporter for establishment of an airfield in the Yonkers area.
July 29, 1936: Alderman Bill Slater, known nationally for his crusade against women’s shorts, was running a boat ride for local Democrats. He became quite upset hearing the orchestra leader announce, “shorts are being shown on the upper deck.” Slater rushed upstairs, only to find movie shorts being run.
Friday July 30th
July 28, 1925: YMCA Secretary Walter Haskett began showing outdoor movies in the most densely populated neighborhoods of Yonkers. The projector equipment was mounted on a small truck so it easily could travel around our city.
July 30, 1943: Detective Sergeant Patrick Christopher took a lot of kidding because of current events. Christopher took over the Detective Division when his boss Captain Herman Schall went on vacation. Just fifteen minutes after Christopher officially was in charge, Benito Mussolini resigned! The men ribbed him “on getting such speedy results” minutes after taking the reins. Not one to miss a beat, the good Sergeant informed those kidding him that he had just “sent a squad of detectives out to get Hitler!” His terms? Unconditional Surrender!
Saturday, July 31st
July 31, 1926: Police blamed a huge cross found burning on the Tuckahoe-Yonkers border, the second in just a few months, on “mischievous boys, stating it was “not the work of the Ku Klux Klan.”
July 31, 1931: Palisades Interstate Park officials, working with Yonkers, announced the best place for the Yonkers side of the proposed Hudson River pontoon bridge would be at the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue and Downing Street.
July 31, 1951: City Manager Donald Wagner announced his belief that 145 parcels of “unusable” property owned by Yonkers should be sold for 20% of its assessed value.
Sunday August 1st
August 1, 1903: The Common Council voted Washington Park to be the site of the new City Hall. The building would be built on the crest of the hill in the park, and command a striking view of Yonkers, the Palisades and the Hudson River.
August 1, 1936: Twenty thousand people gathered on the streets in Getty Square to watch a driverless “Magic Car” weave in and out of traffic; the safety demonstration was sponsored by The Herald Statesman. The car’s elaborate “robot electrical device” worked by telegraphic code; the “Magic Car” could stop and start, beep its horn, stop for lights, make left and right turns!
August 1, 1956: Seven-year-old Joey Alfidi of Aqueduct Place, Yonkers youngest orchestra conductor, led the 60-member New York Philharmonic Orchestra at a Long Beach, LI, concert!
Questions or comments? Email YonkersHistory1646@gmail.com. For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, please visit our website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email yhsociety@aol.com.
