Stanley Hasrato. The Socking Syrian fought from 1935 to 1942. His career was ended by a wartime injury after service in the Battle of Attu
By Mary Hoar, 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, July 27th
July 27, 1956: City Judge Martin Fay levied a $250 fine on and a 10-day “stay-home jail sentence” on Yonkers’ first “cheesebox gambler.” The cheesebox, an electronic device used to reroute phone calls to a second number, sent calls to a Warburton Avenue apartment, rented in the name of Marcio. Westchester County Sheriff Hoy obtained a search warrant, then manned the office. While there, his deputies took calls from “thirty different bookies, including a woman.”
After he was sentenced, Marcio paid the fine. Fay immediately suspended Marcio’s house sentence. Why? No arrests were made at the office; the office was empty the entire time the deputies were “taking the bets.”
Tuesday, July 28th
July 28, 1939: Yonkers Chamber of Commerce President Clinton Hernandez removed his name from consideration as a Republican candidate for City Council!
July 28, 1945: Groshon Avenue’s Sergeant Stanley Hasrato’s story of the Battle of Attu was published in Collier’s magazine!
His group of thirty-six men were fighting for days before they received food. What was their “treat?” Four cans of beans! Each man was given 30 beans, and immediately gobbled them with bare, muddy hands. The next day, more food was dropped—dried prunes!
Hasrato wrote everyone was covered with mud, so it was sometimes difficult to tell one side from the other… the Japanese fought standing up!
Hasrato wrote the article during his rehabilitation at Letterman Hospital on the West Coast; he lost three toes from frostbite, ending his career as the professional boxer known as the “Socking Syrian!”
After discharge, he moved to Hollywood and worked on technicolor films.
Wednesday, July 29th
July 29, 1942: Marian Dill became the first Yonkers person to sign the V-Pledge to raise funds for Yonkers Community and War Chest! Thousands more men and women would sign the same pledge in the next few months. Mrs. Dill was involved in the Madrigal Society, Chaminade, St. John’s Hospital Auxiliary, YWCA, Bundles for Britain, and other local organizations. She just had earned her Masters at NYU.
July 29, 1959: Joseph Dermocy, Yonkers Health Department’s Head of Environmental Sanitation, announced Yonkers would be part of NY State’s Division of Environmental Sanitation pollen program!
Our Yonkers pollen counting station went into operation early August, mounted on top of the Nepperhan Avenue Health Center. A glass slide coated with mineral oil was exposed for 24-hours; the pollen caught on it was counted.
Fifteen other stations were set up in the state, from Niagara Falls to Long Island.
Thursday, July 30th
July 30, 1943: Alfred Ashcroft, Alexander Smith Carpet Factory Project Engineer, announced their “Junior Specialist Corps” not only would continue, but it would also be part of Smith’s “long range training program.” The nine boys and seven girls in the first group were specially chosen by their schools to work on Smith’s war production program. These students spent twenty hours a week for a year working on Smith’s Research and Development projects and war production materials. When the program ended, four boys entered the service, one boy went to Yale; one girl went to Cornell, and another entered nurses’ training.
July 30, 1948: Dreams of 30 men, men who invested in a high power speedboat to “dethroning” Orchestra Leader Guy Lombardo as the king of speedboat racing, were dashed! Their $20,000 boat exploded a few hundred feet away from the Ludlow Marine Basin. The explosion threw the pilot and copilot off the boat; they were saved by the Basin’s manager Gordon Miller and his assistant Charles Zweirlein. The burned up hulk of the boat later grounded off Sandy Beach.
Friday, July 31st
July 31, 1919: Two Lincoln Park men, Julian Hall and Edgar Musgrove, purchased a $3,000 trainload of surplus food supplies from the War Department. They offered Yonkers residents the opportunity to buy canned meat, vegetables and other items at prices 30% to 50% less than retail.
July 31, 1939: Four days after being released from jail, “Dixie” Davis, attorney for the Dutch Schultz gang, was interrogated by the FBI about income tax returns! Davis also was questioned by the Federal Grand Jury about an investigation, specifically the fallout from the conviction of Martin Manon, former Senior Judge of the US Court of Appeals, for “selling justice.”
Saturday, August 1st
August 1, 1939: Yonkers’ Youth Inter-Club Council created a bulletin outlining Yonkers Teens’ job qualifications; they sent it to our 100 largest employers as part of their “Get a Youth a Job” campaign.
The Inter-Club Council was comprised of representatives from 32 youth clubs, and teenage sports, high school, ethnic, athletic, church and temple clubs.
Among the fifteen adult groups on the sponsoring committee supporting the teen efforts were the Social Planning Council, New York State Employment Service, Rotary, YMCA, JCC and the Herald Statesman.
Sunday, August 2nd
August 2, 1926: Because of the strong need for additional transit options in Westchester County, the Westchester Improvement League started a movement to amalgamate Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle with New York City.
August 2, 1939: Thanks to the efforts of five Yonkers service clubs– Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Exchange and BPW (Business and Professional Women) — the first of four signs welcoming visitors to Yonkers was unveiled!
Visitors on North Broadway were greeted by a large sign, stating, “Welcome To Yonkers!” Colorful logos and meeting times of each of the five clubs were displayed under the greeting.
Other signs would be placed at the South Broadway City Line, the Yonkers Ferry and Central Park Avenue’s northern Yonkers border.
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 visit their website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.