NYC Contemplates 1st Zoning Change Since 1916

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 March 1958.

Rebel leader Fidel Castro, reportedly low on arms, made a move to topple Cuban President Fulgencio Batista by calling a general strike. Batista, hunkered down in a military base surrounded by 7,700 police and his 22,000-man armed forces, canceled all celebrations on the sixth anniversary of his military coup.

Edward R. Murrow's latest "See it Now" segment featured interviews with local residents of Alaska and Hawaii on the issue of statehood. With few exceptions, most residents were in favor of such a move: it would end taxation without representation, enable them to choose their own governor and judiciary and better regulate industry based on local firsthand knowledge rather than officials from Washington.

Photo Agência Brasil Fidel Castro today. Photo public domain Castro c. 1958.

In commenting on the proposed first comprehensive zoning revision since 1916, the Bowne Park Civic Association issued a statement suggesting "the [zoning] commission may have to step on some toes to get an adequate zoning program passed. The need for increased industrial space should be a prime factor in whatever zoning resolution the commission adopts. In an area like Long Island City, the gradual encroachment of residential zones into industrial areas has put industrial space at a premium and reduced job opportunities."

Peter Vitale of Flushing always wanted a home of his own, but the house he built with his own hands landed him in court with Building Department summons. The problem with the family domicile at 40-18 196th St. was that the Flushing shoemaker put in a threefamily house where the zoning only permitted two families. His wife and four kids had stayed in her native Sicily while he built his dream house, but time was running out. She had to return to the States or risk losing her citizenship.

Photo Sfoskett Aerial photo of the Throgs Neck Bridge.

"I picked a two-family house so I could rent one floor and help pay off the mortgage. But this house cost more than I planned and I had to borrow extra money. So I thought we could finish off the basement of the house and live there and pay off the debt with two tenants. I don't want to hurt anybody or break any laws, but I can't live here without two tenants," Vitale said. The army veteran said he made every effort to legalize the house. "I love this house, it's like a part of my family. I'll guess they will have to throw me out."

Rumors of a federally financed slum clearance for the heart of College Point were cooled off by the Real Estate Bureau, at least for the time being. Homeowners, however, were buzzing that the area, from 14th to 20th Avenues, and between 119th to 127th Streets, was marked for a largescale facelift. According to the rumor mill, a mysterious syndicate had already bought up all the available land. Low-cost housing was reckoned as the most likely replacement for the present buildings, which, although with low assessed valuations, were kept in generally good repair by their owners. One woman insisted she saw chauffeur-driven city cars appear simultaneously in the area. Inside, she saw men going over some records. "I went to borough hall after seeing those cars and asked to look at the tax records. I had to wait an hour to get them and they always were instantly available before," she said.

On March 7, work began on the $71 million Throgs Neck Bridge. Two companies, Steers Construction and the Snare Corporation, who were building the Queens anchorage, moved all their heavy equipment to Little Jones Beach in Beechhurst. The anchorage was erected on the East River in front of Utopia Parkway, and connected the Cross Island and Clearview Expressways.

On March 13, Boulevard Hospital opened a new $900,000 four-story, 50-bed annex. Designed to break up the old style of hospitals, the new section was compared to a hotel in appointments and service. The new facility boasted modern furniture, a children's pavilion and a new x-ray facility and laboratory

on the first floor. The non-sectarian

hospital also had a separate room with three cabinets that contained articles for use by Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant clergymen. The facility, designed by Astoria architect Carl Wurst, had received its first patient on St. Patrick's Day in 1928.

Queens GOP Leader Frank McKenna's home organization, the Astoria Republican Club was half a century old in 1958, and began a year-long round of golden jubilee events. However, club President Joseph Stocklinger was stepping down because U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had recently nominated him to the post of U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District, which encompassed Long Island.

In other political news, the Taminent Democratic Club unanimously endorsed District Leader Ralph De Marco of Astoria and his co-chair, Mae Tynan, for re-election to the Astoria- Jackson Heights district, which embraced the 4th Assembly District. Facing them were candidates Michael Genovese and Elizabeth McGee of the Steinway Democratic Association.

Police Commissioner Stephen Kennedy of Bayside said the police "shouldn't be baby sitters" and patrol school corridors. He made his remarks before the Queens Grand Jurors Association in Kew Gardens. "That's not their job," he continued. "They're not educators or school teachers." Kennedy believed that the Department of Youth Bureau was doing a "good job" in combating juvenile delinquency. Within a year, the guards would begin regular patrols of public schools, a policy that continues to this day.

A million years is a long time for some horse-like teeth to stay buried and undiscovered. But that's what happened in Little Neck, according to the American Museum of Natural History. The museum made no bones about the discovery of the oversized teeth by three boys playing in excavations.

"They're fossils all right," said Mrs. Rachel Nichols, scientific assistant in the American Museum's Department of Geology And Paleontology. "They're possibly from the Pleistocene age" more than a million years ago. They are the first ever found on Long Island, said the folks over on 79th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan.

The fossil site was off the Horace Harding Expressway, east of Little Neck Parkway. Although the museum people admit the teeth are interesting, "They [have] no scientific value other than the fact that they were found at a new location," Nichols said, nipping in the bud any claim to fame by the trio of vacant lot explorers.

But don't tell that to 11-yearold Gregory Kurd or his two 10- year-old pals, William Gummer and Melvin Kalin. The specimens, a few pieces of bone and 15 teeth, were initially examined by Dr. Claude Springer, a local dentist at 256-20 Horace Harding Expressway. The boys gave the battered bicuspids over to the museum "in the interest of science". However, they intended to look for more, like all good paleontologists worth their salt.

That's the way it was in March 1958!

Greater Astoria Historical Society exhibits at Quinn's Gallery and Lecture Hall, 35-20 Broadway, Astoria, are open to the public on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, contact the Greater Astoria Historical Society at 718-728- 0700 or visit www.astorialic.org.