soON THIS DAY IN 1909, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The fight for the Fourth avenue subway has been won. By a unanimous vote the Board of Estimate at the meeting this morning authorized the appropriation of $2,850,000 to begin the construction work immediately. Then the board went farther, at the instigation of Controller [Herman] Metz, who has been instrumental in holding up the project for a year, and passed a resolution requesting the Public Service Commission to apply to the Board of Estimate for $13,036,381, which is the balance of the estimated cost of the entire six sections of the subway from the Manhattan Bridge to Forty-third street. ‘As long as we started the work, we should see that it won’t be held up by any future board,’ said Mr. Metz. ‘This board here should authorize the balance of the money covering the entire cost of construction so the work won’t be stopped after it has once been started.’”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1924, the Eagle reported, “The New York-New Jersey vehicular tunnel is ‘holed through.’ A man may walk from the shaft on the Manhattan side through to New Jersey by way of the north tube. Announcement that the two ends of the north tunnel had actually met, and that the road was opened, was made at the office of the New York-New Jersey Bridge and Tunnel Commission in Manhattan today. Plans had been laid for a big ceremonial to mark the ‘holing through.’ President [Calvin] Coolidge was to press a button that would shoot the little electrical current to the last blast, which was to demolish the thin rock wall between the ends of the tunnels which had been started at each side of the river and drilled toward each other. But the sudden death of the chief engineer, Clifford M. Holland, of Brooklyn, at Battle Creek, Mich., where he had been seeking recovery from a nervous breakdown, put an end to all thought of celebration. ‘Holing through’ became just a drab step in the job of digging a tunnel.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1933, the Eagle reported, “ALBANY, OCT. 28 (A.P.) — Legalized beer has brought with it an increase in the number of arrests for drunkenness of both men and women, according to a report issued today by Frank A. Leonard, statistician for the State Department of Correction. Since April 7 last, when beer was legalized, the average number of arrests each month for drunkenness was 3,859 as compared with 3,515 for 1932. In the case of women, the average each month has been 223 as compared with 183 for each of the first three months of the year. Arrests for driving while intoxicated averaged 242 a month after April 7, and 239 a month last year. A yearly comparison for arrests shows 42,176 in 1932, as compared with 23,155 from April 1 to Oct. 1 this year; 2,869 arrests in 1932 for driving while intoxicated as against 1,451 during the first six months of legalized beer.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1950, the Eagle reported, “There will be more foot patrolmen on duty after Wednesday in parks and outlying residential areas, Police Commissioner Thomas F. Murphy announced last night. The extra men will come from an experiment in the use of one-man radio cars, instead of two, in 22 precincts in the city, including four in Brooklyn. Demands for such action had been voiced by thousands of Brooklynites earlier this year when, while William P. O’Brien was police commissioner, the Brooklyn Eagle campaigned to ‘Put the Cops Back on the Beat.’ For several months, stories pointed up the rising tide of crime on the streets and the fears of residents to go outdoors at night. A few small increases in the number of foot patrolmen followed, but only in widely scattered precincts.”
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Melba Moore Peter Kramer/APDenis Potvin Kathy Willens/AP
NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Denny Laine (The Moody Blues), who was born in 1944; singer and actress Melba Moore, who was born in 1945; “Stakeout” star Richard Dreyfuss, who was born in Brooklyn in 1947; “Charlie’s Angels” star Kate Jackson, who was born in 1948; New York Islanders legend Dennis Potvin, who was born in 1953; “The Simpsons” voice actor Dan Castellaneta, who was born in 1957; Jackson 5 member Randy Jackson, who was born in 1961; “Heathers” star Winona Ryder, who was born in 1971; “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross, who was born in 1972; “Bring It On” star Gabrielle Union, who was born in 1972; and “Roswell” star Brendan Fehr, who was born in 1977.
Dan Castellaneta Matt Sayles/AP
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TOONS FOR THE TIMES: Bill Mauldin was born 100 years ago today. The New Mexico native won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorial cartoons about American soldiers during World War II. He won a second Pulitzer in 1959. One of his most famous cartoons shows President Abraham Lincoln’s statue at the Lincoln Memorial weeping after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Mauldin died in 2003.
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AGE OF WONDERS: John Glenn returned to space on this day in 1998. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, flying solo aboard Friendship 7 in February 1962. After his retirement from NASA, he served four terms as a Democratic senator from Ohio. Near the end of his fourth term, he joined the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery as a payload specialist, becoming, at age 77, the oldest person in space. He died in 2016 at age 95.
Quotable:
“Humor is really laughing off a hurt, grinning at misery.”
— cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who was born on this day in 1921
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
