Yonkers Olympic gold medalists Steve Lysak and Steve Macknowski
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Municipal Historian, 1977 recipient of the Key to the City of Yonkers, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Founder of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, August 24th
August 24, 1901: William Shrive, one of Yonkers’ first auto merchants, proudly announced not only was his Warburton Avenue company the sole Yonkers Agency for the Locomobile, it had—direct from the company in Bridgeport—one of their latest machines! The steam Locomobile, alleged to be the ideal carriage for physicians, sold for $600.
August 24, 1948: Jimmy Dale of Kimball Terrace was selected from the 35,000 members of Local 802, American Federation of Musicians, to help with a musical therapy experiment at Kings County Hospital! A former President of the Kimball Crest Taxpayers and Civic Association, Dale selected five musicians to perform a variety of music styles from “boogie-woogie” to classical to jazz to opera. Doctors observed patients’ reactions to each of the various types of music and instruments!
Tuesday, August 25th
August 25, 1942: Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation, parent company of Habirshaw Cable and Wire Company, vigorously denied charges in a Federal Grand Jury indictment claiming they, with eight other firms, conspired to defraud the government of $50 million, claiming the companies submitted identical bids to sell insulated cable to the US Navy.
Their defense? Rockbestos Products Corporation invented the cable and held its patent; Phelps entered an agreement with Rockbestos to manufacture it, agreeing not to sell the cable at a lower price. The Navy knew the agreement Habirshaw honored when bidding to supply the cable. The nine companies pointed out the government had not investigated the manufacturing costs or profit margins.
Wednesday, August 26th
August 26, 1936: Dr. William Hicks, St. Andrew’s Memorial Episcopal Church Rector, strongly stated all School Trustees critical of School Superintendent Lamont Hodges should resign. He believed they were injecting “religious issues” into Board of Education affairs and wanted them to quit “in the interests of the youth of Yonkers.” Hodge claimed he was pressured by YPS Board President Maurice Blinken to resign since the Board wanted to replace him with a Catholic; he later withdrew the claim.
While he was Superintendent, our Aldermen claimed he rarely hired teachers from Yonkers; instead, he hired upstate NY teachers from the college where he had taught. When he hired Yonkers teachers, they were from his church.
More than once, he refused to tell Aldermen and Board of Education trustees where newly hired teachers were from, claiming he didn’t have their addresses.
Thursday, August 27th
August 27, 1948: Yonkers Olympic gold medalists Steve Lysak and Steve Macknowski arrived back home on the SS Washington! City Manager Thomas Kennedy placed his car “at the disposal” of Mrs. Lysak and Mrs. Macknowski, accompanied by Sylvester Barker, Chair of the Yonkers Welcome Home Committee for the Olympians. The women were the first to reach their husbands!
Extreme heat canceled New York City’s parade, so the trio whisked the Olympians to a luncheon at Yonkers City Club.
Yonkers later welcomed gold medalists Steve Macknowski and Steve Lysak home, the first American team to win an Olympic canoe race. The “Welcome Home” parade featured the handmade canoe the two built to win their championship. The two Steves, in their official US Olympic uniforms, traveled South Broadway lined with thousands of cheering people; a large spotlight shone from the Proctor Building to highlight the partners. Former Yonkers Olympians— Harry Babcock, Alan Helfrich, Thomas Morrissey, Jim O’Rourke, Michael Spring, and Al Tripoli– served as honor guard for the medal winners. Pianist Jimmy Dale of Kimball Terrace accompanied Lucy Monroe singing “The Star Spangled Banner”
Lysak thanked the crowd, saying, “… no one could ask for more than the way we’ve been welcomed!”
Mayor Frank welcomed the pair home with scrolls at Larkin Plaza ceremonies. He told them Yonkers was proud, adding “Membership on the Olympic team means our Steves are the best in the United States and the best in the world!”
Friday, August 28th
August 28, 1942: Seventy-nine Yonkers secondary teachers started legal action against the Board of Education, contending the Board had “no right to reduce” salaries of tenured teachers or those with stellar reports. They wanted the 12½% salary reduction imposed the year before rescinded.
Saturday, August 29th
August 29, 1944: Yonkers War Salvage Committee Chairman Joseph Ringwalt enlisted Rose Englander of Warburton Avenue to promote salvage in the schools. Rose’s plan was so successful, Ringwalt shared it with Washington’s salvage leaders, who asked her to provide materials for use throughout the country!
According to Salvage School Program head Emery Balduf, it would “…inspire thousands of school children to redouble their salvage activities.”
Sunday, August 30th
August 30, 1913: The dispute over the Democratic nomination for Alderman in the Sixth Ward came to a climax; Thomas Brogan, secretary to Mayor Lennon, was designated instead of incumbent William Corbalis. In the interest of insuring ward harmony, Brogan announced he declined the nomination.
August 30, 1944: The Herald Statesman editor received a letter from overseas. Corporal Meyer Goldman had written to praise Staff Sergeant Samuel Martirano of Cowles Avenue, one of Yonkers’ men in arms!
Goldman wrote Martirano had no idea he was contacting the paper; he was a not man to brag about his heroism. Goldman said the Office of War Information wouldn’t allow him to share details, but he felt the people of Yonkers should know about the soldier’s achievements, bravery, fidelity and just plain hard work. Martirano had only been in the South Pacific for a few months, yet his actions quickly earned him another stripe, the Good Conduct medal and the Southwest Pacific campaign ribbon with a bronze star!
Any questions on this column, email yonkershistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, the Sherwood House Museum on Tuckahoe Road or their upcoming events, please call 914-961-8940, visit their website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.