By Mary Hoar, President Emerita, Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, February 7th
February 7, 1908: Public Works Commissioner Ferguson announced a drive against property owners who did not clean snow from their sidewalks. Any sidewalks not cleared within 12 hours after a storm would be cleaned by the city, and the property owner charged.
February 7, 1931: Ben Grady of Yonkers High School won the National Interscholastic Diving Championship at the University of Pennsylvania swimming championships.
February 7. 1953: Eleanor Roosevelt met with Sarah Lawrence College students informally to discuss world problems and the UN before making her formal speech at the school’s Reisinger Auditorium.
Tuesday February 8th
February 8, 1943: To save newsprint and support the war effort, The Herald Statesman reduced the size of the five-column comics to four columns.
February 8, 1945: Thanks to the cooperation of Stauffer Chemical Company and Cleanart Laundry, Inc., Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company did not have to interrupt production of blankets for the US Army! Cleanart Laundry, Inc. on St. Casimir Avenue supplied rock salt; Stauffer Chemical in Chauncey supplied nitrate softeners, both needed to make the blankets. These necessities were delayed because of railroad tieups.
February 8, 1953: The New York Cardiac Home announced it would purchase part of the Untermyer Estate if Yonkers changed zoning to allow it to build a $900,00 building. We did. The building now is the Richmond Center on North Broadway.
Wednesday, February 9th
February 9, 1953: Because the Yonkers Community Chest did not reach its goal, all fourteen agencies supported by the Chest were told there would be a 21% cut in their annual funding.
February 9, 1982: The Yonkers City Council unanimously voted to give the Lincoln Letter to New York State as a “restricted gift.” The Lincoln Letter was written in 1864 to thank the Village of Yonkers for raising money at a Sanitary Fair, with the proceeds to be used to care for the soldiers wounded during the Civil war. Copies of the letter were sold, and the original was raffled. The winner of the raffle gave the letter to “the people of Yonkers,” and it was displayed at Village Hall, now Manor Hall. Our residents raised more than $14,000 for the care of our troops.
Thursday, February 10th
February 10, 1913: Fire damaged the upper part of the Park Hill Inn on South Broadway, with decorations and furnishings ruined by smoke and water damage. Destruction was estimated at $4000.
February 10, 1956: A few of the stars from the era of semi-professional basketball in Yonkers took to St. Peter’s basketball court to play an exhibition game against the church’s Holy Name Society’s “Young Bloods.” Playing for the “Old Timers” were former Yonkers sports notables Shots Bennett, Fred Browne, Joe Drohan, Chuck Geiger, Tommy Hoar, Brud Howard, Ed McMorris, George Rusnack and Pete Toneske. Playing for the younger team were Ray Bartko, Jim Corbett, Frank Glumb, Fred Sohr, Bill Siegel, Ray Stevens, and Perry Williams.
Friday, February 11th:
February 11, 1923: After a public hearing at which not one speaker appeared, the Common Council voted to change the name of Kellinger Street, the continuation of Park Hill Avenue running from Linden Street to South Broadway, to Park Hill Avenue.
February 11, 1945: Four Italian prisoners of war left Mount Carmel Church without anyone noticing! The four, part of a group of 150 Italian prisoners of war attending mass at the church, were supposed to have a meal in the basement room. The men stepped out of the church to look around the neighborhood; while in front of a Beech Street home, the owner asked them to join his family. The buses were supposed to head back to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn at 9 pm, so their host escorted the men back to the church at 7 pm. When they got there, all the buses were gone! The US Army had asked YPD to help search for the men, so the officers took custody and returned them to the Army.
Saturday, February 12th
February 12, 1931: While thousands of Yonkers residents were listening as Pope Pius XI inaugurated the Vatican’s new radio station, Reverend Joseph Pernicone, Assistant Pastor at Mount Carmel Church, translated the Pontiff’s speech from Latin to English for area papers.
February 12, 1945: By a strong majority, the 22 organizations in the Central Committee of War Veterans Organizations voted to protest entertainment of war prisoners by local organizations, and asked the City administration to investigate why 150 Italian prisoners were at Mount Carmel Church the previous day. Past Commander John McNicol of the Lowerre Post denounced the “coddling of enemy prisoners who may have killed some of our own Yonkers boys… While our boys are in foxholes, these foreigners are being wined and dined by Yonkers groups and walking arm in arm with our Yonkers girls.” Some of the attendees stated this was not the first time prisoners attended a service at Mount Carmel.
Sunday, February 13th
February 13, 1927:Excavation began in Lawrence Park West for the new Sarah Lawrence College.
February 13, 1945: Reverend Mario Ponsigione, Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, stated full responsibility for bringing 150 Italian men to Yonkers for mass lay with the US Army. Fr. Ponsigione explained the men the parish entertained were not prisoners of war; instead they were “cobelligerents, meaning they were in the fight on our side.” He continued, “The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has never at any time entertained a single war prisoner. Every one of the men answered the appeal of the United States and volunteered his services to work at home… by so doing, they alleviated our manpower shortages.” Msgr. Ponsigione also was Chaplain of the American Legion.
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
