Tussle At BP's House Echoes February 1940 Conflict

Get into a conversation with a longtime Queens resident and you're likely to discover a subscriber of the Long IslandStar-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 February, 1940!

Photo public domain Queens Midtown Tunnel exit in Manhattan.

During the grim winter between the two summers of the first World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, the Finno-Russian War ground on in the northeast corner of Europe. Finnish forces repulsed a major Russian attack on the Karelian Isthmus. Although backed by Soviet planes and big field guns, Soviet shock troops, which were carrying only light machine guns, were cut down in waves. Thousands died when, as they tried to assault the center of the Finnish line, the defenders tossed hand grenades into their massed formations. The Germans, who had started World War II only a few months earlier, carefully watched from the sidelines.

Stateside, the United States was eyeing a civil income tax suit against Al Capone as it slapped him with a $350,000 tax liability (including interest and penalties). Released after completing a term at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary the past November, Capone, who was receiving treatment in a Baltimore hospital for a mental ailment, ducked incarceration. Nonplussed, Federal District Judge John Barnes stated, "The government's civil suit will be handled with dispatch as soon as service of process can legally be made upon the defendant."

Photo members.lycos.co.uk John Barrymore and fourth wife Elaine Baffie.

On a lighter note, the February 3 issue of the Star-Journal had an account of John Barrymore, Bayside's brief but widely publicized resident, as he bade adieu to his suburban retreat at 208-20 215th St. After only one night in the borough, he elected to abide in the Manhattan apartment of Elaine Baffie, Mrs. Barrymore number four. On the way back to Manhattan, it seems the bad boy of the American theatre's royal family had stopped along the way on a trip down Northern Boulevard. Rumor had it he "oiled his tonsils" no less than four times on the 15-mile trip from Bayside to Times Square.

On February 12, engineers working on the Queens Midtown Tunnel announced that the two ventilation towers were almost finished. Twenty blowers in the Long Island City tower of the $58 million tunnel would pump a 45- mile-an-hour gale that would enter the tunnel through ductwork at the bottom of the tubes and exit from the exhaust channel at the top. Engineers estimated that with the average auto moving at about 30 mph, it would take about three minutes for a vehicle to pass through the mile and a quarter tunnel.

Borough President George Harvey, who led the campaign to restrict apartment house construction in Queens, came out against "too much" zoning. Harvey went on to suggest that zoning, in many instances, was "comparable with confiscation of property" and suggested that the city Planning Commission be abolished. "We used to get along without then," he said "Planning is a fine thing in theory but you just can't do it. We can't have someone in Manhattan coming over and saying what to do with our property in Queens. The old way was better, when we had elected officials decide these zoning problems. A lot of property in Queens has actually been confiscated by this kind of planning."

Photo public domain Al Capone FBI mug shot.

The borough president delivered these nuggets on urban planning at a hearing before the Board of Estimate. The Planning Commission, which proposed to prohibit unrestricted apartment house building in Forest Hills, roused the ire of about 200 homeowners who jammed the board chambers during the February 2 meeting.

According to the residents, their only hope of protecting their home investments was to reverse this zoning change. Their pleas did not fall on deaf ears. Borough President Harvey not only supported, but also vowed that the "country-like suburban atmosphere" in Queens would be preserved.

The borough president certainly had his hands full a few days later when eight inches of snow fell on February 15. Across New York, a small army of 38,000 men (5,500 in Queens alone) dug the city out of snow that had drifted several f e e t high in places. After dozens of cars stalled out, the Grand Central Parkway Extension was closed and cars were rerouted to Northern and Astoria Boulevards. The Bronx- Whitestone approach between Corona and Whitestone was also closed. In Bayside and parts of Flushing, Jamaica, and Springfield, the fire alarm box system collapsed. Falling wires disrupted telephone and electric service throughout Queens. The borough ground to a halt.

The front page of the Feb. 14, 1940 issue had a humorous account of a gathering at Borough President Harvey's home. Under the lead, 'Who punched whom- and who tossed a cannon- at Harvey's party?' a breathless account went on to claim that several staid, dignified members of the Board of Estimate engaged in an old-fashioned rough-and-tumble fist fight at Harvey's Flushing home.

The party was flowing along beautifully in the recreation room in the cellar of the Harvey abode until two board members got into an altercation. It seems that one was a staunch supporter of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, and the other a person who often delighted in making wisecracks about the mayor.

When Member 1, after emerging from the party (which sported a large sign, "Mayor's Office", tacked to a wall), spied Member 2, he picked up an orange and heaved it in that gentleman's direction. It missed its target and smashed a picture on the wall.

Member 2 started for the orange thrower, who in turn, started for a toy cannon. Member 3 joined the fun with, "Now boys, now boys, let's not fight" and grabbed Member 1 by the sleeve. He was too late. Member 1 already had the toy cannon in hand and was waving it wildly above his head. Member 2 swung a haymaker and landed. Then someone threw a pie that is said to have hit Member 3 smack in the face. Or did this happen?

The Star-Journal's informant denied this account. The distinguished gentleman suggested that Member 3 might have been hit with a fist. The informant also suggested that he thought "everything was all right for now" and "that none of the members held anything against any other."

That's the way it was in February 1940.

Upcoming events: Monday, March 5, 7 p.m. "The Magic of Steinway" Rare images from the personal collection of Henry Z Steinway. Saturday, March 10: time to be announced: Bix Biederbecke's 104th Birthday Celebration. Both events at Quinn's Gallery, 4th Floor, 35-20 Broadway, Long Island City

For more information, call the Greater Astoria Historical Society at 718- 278-0700 or visit www.astorialic. org. Visit the Society at Quinn's Gallery and Lecture Hall, open to the public on Saturdays noon to 4 p.m.¦