Fire, Crime, Jimmy Walker Highlight August 1932

us.history.wisc.edu “Bonus Army” WWI Veterans making camp in Washington, D.C., to protest unpaid pensions

Get into a conversation with a long-time Queens resident and you’re likely to discover a subscriber of the Long Island Star-Journal, a daily paper that informed the community about local and world news until it folded in 1968. A banner across the Star-Journal masthead reminded readers that the newspaper’s name came from the merger of the Long Island Daily Star (1876) and the North Shore Daily Journal--The Flushing Journal (1841).

Welcome to August 1932!

Disaster was in the headlines at the beginning of the month, with Star-Journal readers learning that four Queens firefighters were among the seven New York City Fire Department personnel killed in a Manhattan hotel disaster. (An eighth, Fireman Edward Maloney, Engine Company. 39, a resident of Elmhurst, would later die of his injuries.) "A fire in the basement paint shop of the Ritz Tower hotel on Park Avenue and 57th Street on August 1 caused a double explosion that proved fatal to the fire fighters in the immediate vicinity."

The dead were Lieutenant. John H. Cosgrove of Jackson Heights, Engine Company 65, Lieutenant. James Hartnett of Forest Hills, Hook and Ladder Company 16, Firefighter William Pratt of Whitestone, Hook and Ladder Company 2, and Fire Fighter Thomas S. Finn of Hollis, Engine Company 65. "The most tragic death of all was that of William Pratt, 33, of Whitestone. He has suffered an injury to his back in the Coney Island fire last month and had been on sick leave since that time until yesterday. Mr. Pratt was one of the most popular semi-professional baseball players in Queens ten years ago, having become manager of the Corona Caseys after starring as that team’s left-handed first baseman," the paper reported.

New York’s 97th Mayor Jimmy Walker.

On August 4 the Queens firefighters were memorialized. "Joint funeral services—the first in the memory of Fire Department officials—were held today in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan." Six hundred fire fighters took part in the procession to the cathedral, and after the services their colleagues followed the caskets over the Queensborough Bridge for interment. "All the Queens firemen were popular in their home communities and all the funerals were exceptionally large."

It was more sad news for communities already ravaged by the Great Depression. On August 1 readers of the Star-Journal saw pictures of the "bonus army"—World War I veterans who had vowed to camp around Washington, D.C. until they were given immediately the bonuses they were due to receive in 1945—find a new home in Johnstown, Pennsylvania after they had been forcefully expelled by federal troops. Johnstown’s Mayor McCloskey used his store credit to buy them bread and bacon, shocked to learn that "the bonus army, driven from Washington by bayonets and gas, faced a famine. ‘I’ll pay for it when I get my pay check on Wednesday,’ he told the merchants.’"

On August 4 a headline read "Report of Family Welfare Society Reveals Widespread Distress Among Boro Families That Once Were-Well-To-Do." The paper reported that 8,785 families were "under the care of the society whose aid alone holds them together. The grim drama and tragedy among families and individuals who, until the present economic crisis arose and engulfed them, had always been self-sufficient and independent, could only be hinted at" in the report.

There was a shred of good news on August 17, when the Star-Journal reported that Paramount’s Astoria studio on 35th Street, "abandoned recently as a production center, will be reopened for two weeks, starting tomorrow. The studio will be used for the shooting of several scenes for the film ‘The Big Broadcast.’ Frank Tuttle, director, arrived here today from Hollywood to direct the scenes involving the balance of the radio cast." The film was designed to show Americans their favorite radio stars on the silver screen, and "The Big Broadcast of 1932" was to prove the first in a series of popular movies.

"Eastern engagements prevented the radio stars from traveling West, and among those who will appear in the scenes are Kate Smith, the Roswell Sisters, the Mills Brothers, Vincent Lopez, Cab Calloway and Arthur Tracy. Bing Crosby, Burns and Allen and other radio stars have already been photographed at the West Coast studios." And on Wednesday August 31 the Star-Journal reported that "tomorrow will terminate Paramount-Publix Picture Company’s studio activities in the East. On Monday the final scenes were shot of Cab Calloway and his eleven-piece orchestra. ‘Kickin’ the Gang Around’ was the number Calloway sung." The newspaper also noted with approval that "nearly all the working staff of 52 people used on this picture at the Astoria studio are Queens residents."

New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker announced on August 6 that he would go to Washington to apply for a federal loan to complete the construction of the Triborough Bridge, which the city had temporarily halted for lack of funds. Walker had broken the ground for the project that was to link Queens with Manhattan and the Bronx in October 1929, the same month as the stock market crash that signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. "Five million dollars has already been spent on the Bridge, which, it is estimated, will cost $80,000 in all. Construction came to a dead stop when the granite piers in Astoria and on Ward’s Island, which will support the towers of the bridge, were finished."

The Triborough Bridge would not open until 1936. Proposals to fund its construction were caught up in the scandal surrounding Mayor Walker’s resignation at the beginning of September. "Gentleman Jimmy" was immensely popular despite—or perhaps because of—the fact that he was far more often seen in speakeasies and nightclubs than in City Hall. In 1932 he was under investigation by an independent commission headed by Judge Samuel Seabury on charges of corruption and financial irregularities. Immediately after his resignation Walker left for Europe where he remained until any danger of criminal prosecution seemed to have passed. On September 3 the Star-Journal ran the results of an informal poll of registered voters in Queens. By a margin of about 4 to 1, his constituents still supported "Our Jimmy." Comments from Queens included opinions such as "Walker was one of the best mayors New York City ever had"; "If he ran again I would support him whole-heartedly," and "James J. Walker was nailed to the Cross—Seabury wanted to further his political ambitions at the former Mayor’s expense."

It was not until Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia took office in 1934 that New York began its long slow climb out of depression. The dire economic situation of so many individuals—unemployment figures in the U.S. had reached 23percent by 1932—could explain the crime wave in Queens that was in the news that summer. Star-Journal readers became accustomed to seeing headlines such as "Gunmen Murder Two Victims in Flushing ‘Ride’—Pair Killed in Gang War, Police Believe," and "Three Boys Accused of More Than 20 Burglaries." On August 18 the newspaper announced the results of its probe into criminal activity in Queens, with the headline "Crime Carnival Mounts With 29 Hold-Ups, 18 Burglaries Since July 1."

"These figures," the Star-Journal added sternly, "include only crimes which have been uncovered by reporters despite police attempts to suppress the news. It is probable that as many more robberies and housebreakings in the same period have been successfully covered up by the police. The Police Department policy of suppressing the news was assailed today by Percy H. Willis, president of the Forest Hills Community Association, who declared that if the true picture of the crime situation were given, Queens would receive the additional patrolmen to which it is entitled." Storeowners complained they had been held up twice in two months. At the end of the month a Queens grand jury made an official request for increased police presence in the borough as the "crime carnival" continued unabated.

That’s the way it was in August 1932.

Compiled by Clare Doyle, Librarian, Greater Astoria Historical Society.

For more information, contact the Society at 718-728-0700 or visit www.astorialic.org.