By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History
Monday, November 21st:
November 21, 1946: Otis Elevator announced a quarterly dividend of fifty cents a share, an increase of 15 cents from the previous quarter. The dividend paid on December 27; Preferred stock holders got a dividend of $1.50.
November 21, 1949: Supreme Court Justice Frank Coyne awarded custody of little Joseph LoCascio to his mother, Mrs. Annette LoCascio. Coyne stated the father had made no allegations the mother was unfit, and he believed a child this young needed his mother. The father received reasonable visitation rights.
Tuesday November 22nd:
November 22, 1919: YPD Sergeant Jerome Linehan, with the help of Woodworth Avenue’s Isaiah Cunningham, subdued a man suspected of robbing a local hotel proprietor of $300; the hard-fought battle happened at South Broadway and Prospect Street.
November 22, 1924: According to the plans filed with the Building Department, the estimate to build Benjamin Franklin Junior High School was $620,000. The school was built at Poplar, Linden and Maple Streets.
November 22, 1929: The Yonkers Art Commission approved sculptor Isidore Konti’s design for the Spanish-American War Veterans Memorial; it would be erected in City Plaza, later known as Larkin Plaza.
Wednesday November 23rd:
November 23, 1923: The funeral for the late Mayor Walter Taussig was held at his home at 191 Park Avenue. Reverend J. I Blair Larned, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, officiated in a room filled with an overwhelming number of flowers sent by fraternal and civic organizations.
November 23, 1931: Because wailing of the Yonkers Ferry fog siren, Alderman Walter Jones received dozens of complaints from his constituents. Being proactive, Jones met with Leo Schwarzstein, Manager of the Westchester Ferry Corporation, and got a cool reception to his complaint. Schwartzstein explained sirens were necessary to guide ferries into the pier at the foot of Alexander Street during heavy fog. The noise was heard starting at 6 am two days in a row. Yonkers Police received more than 200 complaints about the sirens from Western Yonkers residents, from Ludlow to northwestern Yonkers. Getting no satisfaction from Schwartzstein, he went to Health Commissioner Clarence Buckmaster, who immediately sent an inspector to investigate.
Thursday, November 24th:
November 24, 1942: The Herald Statesman reviewed the “V for Victory” warning for speeders! Because speeding wasted gas needed for the war effort, Yonkers drivers’ began tapping out the signal, “beep—beep—beep—beeeeep” (three short, one long beeps, Morse Code for V) whenever they saw another driver exceeding the limit. In most cases, the driver immediately slowed down, not only because speeding is “dangerous, it is TREASON,” in the words of the paper.
November 24, 1956: Fourteen American Legion Posts held a testimonial dinner honoring the Yonkers Keys baseball team, Junior American Legion Baseball Westchester, State, and Eastern Division champions at the Bajart Post on McLean Avenue. Keynote speaker was NY Giants pitcher and Yonkers native Steve Ridzik; he presented the New York Giants trophy to the team. State Commander Lester Rosenbaum presented the NYS Legion trophy. John Armand, President of team sponsor Key Liquors, presented gifts to all team members.
Friday, November 25th:
November 25, 1905: The Board of Commissioners dismissed charges of neglect of duty against a Yonkers patrolman who fell asleep on duty after hearing his explanation. He said he opened a call box, put his head on his palm and elbow and the ledge… and promptly fell asleep. Apparently, he had been taking care of a sick friend for several days and had not slept in 48 hours.
November 25, 1913: In a daring battle of the sexes, eleven women, captained by Mrs. Owen Oliver, competed against eleven men lead by William J. Blackburn. The contest? Spelling! Held in the parish house of St. Andrew’s Memorial Church, the spelling match lasted for more than an hour, with the women emerging victorious.
Winning team members were Oliver, Mrs. George Lowerre, Emily Lithgow, Lillian Stevens,. Marian Boughton, Mrs. Isaac McGay, Mrs. Arthur J. B. Tait, Mrs. William Marter, Mrs. Wegman, Mrs. Arnett Lawrence and. Sarah Harrison.
Men’s team members were Blackburn, Charles Apgar, William Marsden, Victor Cromwell, James McIntyre, Percy Simpson, William Witte, Benjamin Cromwell, Wilson Burrows, W. B. Bottone and A. R. Lawrence. William Kellogg, C. Arthur Dunlavy and Arthur Land served as the judges.
Saturday, November 26th:
November 26, 1911: Alexander Smith Cochran offered to purchase a complete set of colonial furniture for the Manor Hall.
November 26, 1935: Less than a week after a Chamber of Commerce committee demanded better and stricter enforcement of parking regulations in Yonkers, three of the five committee members asked City Judge Boote for leniency for their friends.
Sunday November 27th:
November 27, 1945: Proving that the US Army values friendship, or at least that was what the Yonkers recruiters in the Yonkers Recruiting Station reported. Long time friends and schoolmates Frank Fornabaio and Nicholas Costello of Oak Street went to the office in the Post Office together to sign up and then reported to Army headquarters in New York to take their physicals together. Both men wanted to learn to drive large Army trucks and vehicles.
November 27, 1946: Former Mayor John Fogarty blasted the closing of the Yonkers Health Center Laboratory. Pointing out for many years, during the tenure of the late Health Commissioner Dr. Buckmaster, Yonkers had “an enviable health record under his long and intelligent administration, it being usually among the first ten healthiest cities in the country.” The Health Center and its “splendid equipment” were created to care for underprivileged children, using the guidance from local Academy of Medicine members. The lab had been taken over by Westchester County; local physicians were unhappy with the County’s services.
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.
