Saunders Trades High School opened in 1936 to help find jobs for the unemployed
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Member of the Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board, and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, July 17th
July 17, 1939: Yonkers Comptroller James Hushion released the 1938 annual Saunders Trades School Fund financial report. Although its net income was $3,310 from bonds, mortgage interest and rents, Yonkers drew an additional $15,000 for previous years’ expenses. The fund, set up by the late Ervin Saunders to maintain and improve the Trades School, had assets of $434,126.68. Its assets were: real estate valued at $234,399; City of Yonkers and Home Owners Loan bonds; mortgages totaling $142,950; and cash.
July 17, 1939: Ninth Ward Alderman William Slater issued an ultimatum to City Engineer Chris Sheridan: release information on Yonkers’ WPA road projects or Slater would demand a state investigation. This was the culmination of a running dispute between the two men; Slater felt his ward was neglected when it came to road repair and wanted a lot more work done in his ward.
Tuesday, July 18th
July 18, 1921: Yonkers police were called to Sandy Beach at the end of Valentine Lane when residents phoned to complain young women attired in “one-piece bathing suits” were “dancing while wearing wet bathing suits,” doing the “new-fangled numbers, the Chicago and Shimmy.” Police investigated and left without chasing the girls off.
July 18, 1928: The new Alexander Street City Jail had it first “prisoner” locked up. DPW employee Raymond Reynolds was in the process of cleaning when the door slammed, instantly locking him in a cell. None of the employees had the key, including Deputy DPW Commissioner Arthur Miller. Police Headquarters didn’t have one, so they had to get the key from Commissioner of Public Safety Frank Devlin. Miller rushed to City Hall, burst into the Commissioner’s office, and stated it was a case of life or death! He got the key.
July 18, 1939: The City Manager League announced it would present its own line of political candidates for Yonkers’ first City Manager Council, but they had not selected their candidates yet. The announcement dashed the hopes of Democrats and Republicans, who had hoped to get League endorsement of their candidates.
Wednesday, July 19th
July 19, 1939: Disbarred lawyer J. Richard “Dixie” Davis, “Kid Mouthpiece” of Dutch Schultz’s gang, appeared in Supreme Court, brought there under guard. He was called to testify in the Frances Flegenheimer lawsuit for compensation for her husband’s hidden ownership of Yonkers Brewery; her late husband was known as “Dutch Schultz!”
Davis stated Yonkers political leader Thomas Brogan was the “front man” who got the permit for the Yonkers Brewery. According to Davis, Brogan was paid $200 per week to cover up the Brewery’s true owner, Arthur Flegenheimer (Dutch Schultz), and pretend he was “owner” of the Yonkers plant.
Thursday, July 20th
July 20, 1939: Real Estate agent Alfred O. Hudson claimed Alderman William Slater, who ran the Suburban Bus Company, deliberately created a Suburban Bus Company bus stop in front of the new Kimball Avenue home he was selling. Slater and Hudson had a long-term feud; Slater had attempted to create a “limited parking” area in front of Hudson’s office on McLean Avenue a few months earlier.
Hudson’s partner Evan Gold went to City Hall to complain and met with YPD Captain Dennis Cooper; he learned Public Safety Commissioner Morrissey opened the new stop for the “convenience” of the bus company’s Tibbetts line. Gold informed the Captain a Suburban bus had parked in the offending bus stop for several hours the day before, preventing people from attending its open house because they were unable to park.
July 20, 1939: After cutting salaries 7% in September, management of Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Factory offered to restore 5% of the cut. Officers of Local 122, Textile Workers Union, requested the company restore the full 7% since the emergency necessitating the reduction had passed.
The company replied they really hadn’t cut 7%, but “only” cut salaries 6.2%.
Friday, July 21st
July 21, 1937: Otis Elevator Company, the second biggest industry in Yonkers, announced it would start a five day forty-hour week for the 1,600+ employees of its Yonkers plant.
July 21, 1939: Fifteen-year-old Adriane Richards, daughter of former national tennis champion and Yonkers native Vincent Richards and living on Adele Lane in Cedar Knolls, was presented as the “Sweetheart of the Future” by artist Russell Patterson. Adriane inspired a new character Patterson was creating for the national magazine series he was launching in the Fall. Vincent Richards still holds the record as the youngest male to win a major championship; he was 15!
Saturday, July 22nd
July 22, 1937: The Board of Alderman voted into law Alderman Slater’s ordinance banning “bathing suits, shorts, halters or any other costume which indecently exposes any part of the wearer’s person” from Yonkers roadways and sidewalks as they were improper “wearing apparel.” The passage was aimed at New Yorkers walking to Tibbetts on the Aqueduct in “scanty attire.”
July 22, 1939: Although attempts were made to reach Alderman William Slater to discuss his bus company’s stop in front of rival Alfred Hudson’s house up for sale, Slater remained “out of reach on vacation.”
Sunday, July 23rd
July 23, 1926: Former Mayor Wiesendanger and Charles Lowa had to appear before City Judge Broderick to answer summonses for violating the 30-minute parking ordinance on South Broadway. Both men stated they were parked in front of their businesses and “no one was injured by such an action.” Broderick told them the law was valid… they needed to get special permits for the “special privilege.”
July 23, 1936: Saunders Trades School was home to the Summer Session of Yonkers College; it opened with 40 students enrolled.
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