December 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1941, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “New York City, and the entire Northeast Coast, today had its first air raid alarm. New Yorkers found themselves in the midst of what they had heard about in reports from Europe and Asia, more recently the Pacific Islands and the West Coast. Enemy planes were approaching Long Island — from New England and then from off the Virginia coast. Bombers, apparently, were heading for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, for Mitchel Field and other points. Reports were confusing, but the defense organizations, in view of what had happened in Hawaii, were taking no chances. Interceptor planes took to the air from Mitchel Field to seek out the enemy. Air raid sirens were sounded. Schools were closed. Employees were sent home. Police warned pedestrians to keep off crowded streets. At 1:45 p.m., the police sounded the all-clear signal and a minute later the Fire Department followed suit. But at 2 p.m. the air-raid alarm was renewed by both departments, a minute apart. Police announced the second all-clear at 2:41 p.m.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1946, the Eagle reported, “Rail service was rapidly approaching normal, lighting curbs were off, heat was on in the subways and it looked like a bright Christmas for the city today, but the effects of the 17-day coal strike on industrial life and the pocketbooks of some workers appeared likely to continue well past the holiday. All except two major railroads serving the city were near full passenger operation, and most had long freight trains rolling again, but the speed with which they could bring raw and prefabricated materials into town and get thousands of laid-off workers back on their jobs was a doubtful matter. Reports from steel manufacturing centers indicated up to a month might be required to get production up to prestrike levels, and depleted stockpiles of raw material in the city indicated comparatively few of the furloughed employees can be called back to work in the next week or two. Republic Aviation Corporation at Farmingdale announced, for example, it might not be able to recall its 4,000 idled employees for at least two more weeks because of shortages of supplies. Other industrial firms indicated a similar situation.”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.