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, February 27th
February 27, 1924: Judge Charles Boote saw firsthand the effects of drinking liquor in his court! After a few drinks, John Prendergast believed he was a dog, so crawled into St. John’s Hospital on all fours, barking loudly at all the attendants. In court, Boote gave him three-months probation.
February 27, 1946: As John Dougherty, Director of Safety Services, Yonkers Chapter of the American Red Cross, was lecturing on the importance of speed in all medical emergencies in a First Aid and Safety Course at Fire YFD Headquarters, the alarm went off! The room emptied in less than 5 seconds and firefighters scrambled for the pole. By the time Dougherty got to the window, the first truck was on the street.
Tuesday, February 28th
February 28, 1942: Yonkers was buzzing with rumors Smith Carpet Company again was considering moving the Yonkers operation down South.
February 28, 1949: Yonkers’ Flight instructor Rene Koch landed his seaplane on the Hudson to save a fellow pilot! While giving a lesson to a student, he saw a plane stall and head into the Hudson. He landed and rescued the pilot who managed to free himself; Rene put injured pilot James Preater on his pontoon, administering first aid until a Yonkers Seaplane Base motor boat arrived to bring him to the base. Base operator Peter McCahill sent out the boat crew, and called for an ambulance. Firefighters from the Yonkers Rescue Company responded; Chief William Garvin performed first aid, then sent him to the hospital.
Wednesday, March 1st
March 1, 1913: Public Safety James Fleming Commissioner appointed fifty officers to the Yonkers Police Department!
March 1, 1919: Yonkers dedicated a huge banner to cheer returning servicemen, unfurling it over a Getty Square lit up like Christmas! The banner read, “Welcome Home! Yonkers Greets Her Returning Boys With Love and Pride!” A speech given by Judge Bleakley urged Yonkers to “Do something worthwhile for the boys who have tried to do something worthwhile for us… No sacrifice is too great for us to make for these boys.” Six thousand Yonkers men fought in the first World War.
Thursday, March 2nd
March 2, 1945: Lieutenant Paul Kovacs, husband of Joan Wickham Kovacs and a Midland Avenue resident, was back in the United States. Recuperating at Halloran Hospital on Staten Island, he was waiting for arm surgery for wounds caused when his plane was hit by German flak. The crew was able to bail out just before the plane exploded. Halloran was known for excellent orthopedic and reconstructive surgery and humanistic care.
March 2, 1954: Although President of the CIO Textile Union Emil Rieve ordered the 225 striking workers at Alexander Smith to return to work, the workers in the wide velvet weaving department did not. They had walked off their jobs five days earlier to protest firing of their Chief Steward and poor working conditions. Rieve’s “order” was in response to a telegram from the company asking him to end the “illegal walkout.”
Friday, March 3rd
March 3, 1927: President Calvin Coolidge appointed Orestes Caldwell of Chatfield Avenue a member of the Federal Board of Radio Control. Caldwell, editor of Electrical Merchandising and Radio Retailing, wrote numerous articles on radio regulations. He denounced the current bill, “giving commissioners a five year term with a $10,000 annual salary,” unacceptable. He believed the work could be done in a year, and occasional meetings could deal with issues as they arose. Caldwell was a member of 8 boards of trades and councils, leagues and societies.
March 3, 1939: Suburban Bus Company Council Maury Kotz announced Alderman William Slater, creator of the Yonkers anti-shorts law, would assume the Presidency of the company on March 15th. Slater stated, There is no reason to assume I am going to give up my political career.”
Saturday, March 4th
March 4, 1950: One hundred priests and seminarians from St. Joseph’s Seminary and College left by bus to dig graves at Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Working under the leadership of Francis Cardinal Spellman , they planned to dig graves until all coffins were interred. The grave diggers were on strike for almost two months, leaving more than one thousand bodies to be buried.
March 4, 1960: Although every other court in Westchester closed because of snow, Yonkers Court of Special Sessions was open! City Judge Albert Fiorello, instead called his local precinct for help; Fourth Precinct officers nobly obliged and sent a police car to bring him to work.
Sunday, March 5th
March 5, 1945: Angela Carozza, nine-year-old daughter of YPD Officer Raymond Carozza, was responsible for solving a series of burglaries! Angela, playing near home, saw three boys spread a blanket of stuff on a vacant lot, with Railroad tickets, a ticket punch and railroad flares on the blanket. Angela walked over and calmly chatted with them. Afterwards, the boys hid their“stuff,” and headed out. She ran home to tell her dad. He went there with Officer John Glus, and checked the loot, then brought it to the Precinct. Carozza arrested the boys; they confessed to robbing stores in Manhattan and vandalizing Lincoln Park and Dunwoodie train stations. According to Chief Kruppenbacker, Dunwoodie “looked as thought it had been struck by a bomb” as 43 windows were broken. They also broke into a shoe store, where they replaced their shoes with new footwear. Detectives booked the boys, then brought the teens to Children’s Village.
March 5, 1950: Model homes at Spain Lake Village attracted attention; on the first day 10,000 people inspected the ranch-type homes. Of the three hundred-fifty homes planned; more than two hundred were bought that day.
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