On January 15, 1658, the Magistrates of Jamaica (Rustdorp) informed Governor Stuyvesant that Henry Townsend (who signed the Flushing Remonstrance) was hosting the banned sect, Quakers, at his house, He was fined 100 pounds and was to remain under arrest until this levy, and court costs, were paid. Although Townsend managed to pay this enormous fine he was again arrested a few years later when he was recorded at stating “they might squander and devour my estate and manacle my person, but that my soul was God’s and my opinions my own. ”
January 24, 1708
William Hallet III, his wife and five children were murdered by his slaves–a black man and his Indian wife. The two were arrested and executed at Beaver Pond in Jamaica, the man by hanging and the woman by burning. This was the first recorded capital crime in Queens County.
The location of their farm at Newtown Road and 43rd Street was for years regarded as a sinister place best shunned at night. They were buried at the Hallet family cemetery near today’s Goodwill Park in Old Astoria Village.
January 22, 1794
On January 22, 1794, Josiah Blackwell sells a part of Blackwells Island to his cousins, the Hallett family, which started his family’s slow divestment of the farms they held for more than a century. The Blackwell family painted a colorful chapter in local history.
Although a Blackwell house still stands on Roosevelt Island today (the current name of Blackwells Island), their main farm was across the East River in Ravenwood, Queens. There, an imposing house built of stone built by Josiah’s grandfather stood at the foot of 37th Avenue from 1730 to 1901.
Josiah’s father, Jacob Blackwell, was born in the house in 1717. In his youth he assisted his brother-in-law, Joseph Hallett, in the damming of Sunswick Creek and erecting a grist mill (near present day Socrates Sculpture Park). Jacob, who became a captain in the Newtown Militia, and later a colonel, participated in the French and Indian War of 1754-1763.
To finance this war, the British imposed taxes, creating wide-spread resentment. A provincial congress with representatives from all the colonies assembled at Philadelphia in 1774. At a protest meeting held in the Town Hall at Newtown (Queens Blvd. at Grand Avenue), Colonel Jacob Blackwell was elected a delegate to that Philadelphia convention.
When the Revolution broke out in 1776, and as British advanced through Astoria to Hell Gate, Colonel Blackwell was forced to flee from his house. A British officer hacked an arrow mark on his door with a saber, as a sign that Jacob, a known rebel sympathizer lost his home to a squad of British troops. A few years later, in 1780, he died never living to see his beloved country become independent.
January 24, 1812
An earthquake is felt for over a minute in Queens County. Although most of Long Island sits on glacial deposits, bedrock outcroppings similar to those found in Manhattan exist between 21st Street and the East River. Small faults running through these rock formations start in Queens and are the source of many slight tremors felt recently in this area.
January 04, 1821
Out of a Jamaica printer’s shop, the Long Island Farmer published its first issue. The Farmer was a weekly paper for throughout most of the nineteenth century. Later it became a daily, and in 1926 it changed its name to the Long Island Daily Press. The Jamaica based paper published under this name from 1926 to the 1960s changing to the Long Island Press by 1967.
The paper served Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, and part of Brooklyn and had a format and fold similar to the New York Times. (This writer delivered the Press in Nassau County from 1972-74.). The rival Long Island paper, Newsday, established in 1940, eventually usurped the Long Island Press, which folded in March 1977.
January 1857
Queens suffered through a severe winter with temperatures averaging 19.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The Long Island Sound and East River were icebound for 30 days, halting sailing and stem-powered ships from delivering their goods to the affected ports. Icebound ports prompted calls to expand the Long Island Railroad making the free flow or goods and commuters available every day in Queens regardless of the weather. Today, the Coast Guard patrols the rivers keeping them from freezing over so that vital barge traffic for oil and other commodities flow freely in New York harbor.
January 1869
The Bretonniere house at 57th Avenue and Hoffman Drive (now Queens Boulevard) was destroyed by fire. During the American Revolution (1776-1783), this
had been the old Samuel Renne house which served as the headquarters for British Army General Sir William Howe. Here, on September 3, 1776, Howe penned his famous report on the August 1776 Battle of Long Island (also called the Battle of Brooklyn). British officers and troops were billeted throughout Queens County until the revolution’s end.
January 02, 1890
On January 2, 1890, the Steinway family sets up a free circulating library for their employees and the residents of the Steinway settlement that grew up around their factory. This library became the Long Island City Public Library, and with the consolidation of New York City, the Queens Borough Public Library. This library has the largest circulation of any library in the nation, if not the world. The portrait of original benefactor, William Steinway, still rests on the wall of the main reading room of the Steinway branch on 31st Street.
January 03, 1890
On January 3, 1890, Mayor “Battle Axe” Gleason was elected to his second term as mayor of Long Island City. The following day, he discharges many of the department commissioners in the city and appointed himself and his cronies to run local government.
Gleason was born in the parish of Drum & Inch in County Tipperary, Ireland, on April 25, 1844 and, at 6' 1¼" tall, was reputedly the smallest in a family of seven boys and one girl. He migrated to America in May 1862 following some of his brothers who had already came here.
During the decades from 1887 to 1897, Gleason was elected several times as mayor of Long Island City. While mayor, he owned trolley lines under city contract, leased personal property to the school district, and sold water to the city from his wells. When the railroad put a fence to block traffic on the ferry, he personally chopped it down earning the nickname “Battle-Axe.” After being elected as mayor, he refused to give up his seat on the Board of Aldermen, holding both positions in local government.
Gleason’s volatile temper got him arrested, and his relationship with the board of aldermen was tempestuous at best. The newspapers, which loathed him, refused to publish his photograph. Yet Gleason is still remembered fondly by the people of Hunters Point for his was a friend to the common man. PS 1, which was the largest high school on Long Island when built, was his legacy to the community’s children.
When he died bankrupt and discredited but a few years out of office, hundreds lined the route to his internment. The late historian George Henke once stated, “Patrick Jerome Gleason was never boring, and although labeled a brawler, braggart, buffoon and scoundrel, he was not worse than some of his slick opponents. He was an astute politician.” Gleason’s personality was legendary.
January 01, 1898
The City of New York charter went into effect. The law was passed in May 1897 to incorporate the city and consolidate over 40 entities into one municipality–Greater New York. The Borough of Queens encompassed Long Island City, and the towns of Flushing, Newtown, Jamaica, along with the Rockaway peninsula which (were part of the town of Hempstead). The Queens County of old (1683-1898) also included the eastern towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay which elected not to join greater New York, becoming Nassau County in 1899.
January 07, 1900
St. John’s Hospital at Jackson Avenue and 12th Street in Hunters Point was formally opened. Bishop Charles E. McDonald delivered the blessing. In the Long Island Star’s words “The formal opening was…one of the most intensely impressive events in the history, not alone of the community in which the noble edifice has been raised, but also of the entire Borough of Queens and the whole of Long Island. The hospital is the culmination of years of arduous labor and earnest, persistent, devotion on the part of the Sisters of St. Joseph, led by the sister superior in charge, Sister Mary David.”
January 16, 1909
Ethel Merman born in Astoria. The Tony Award-winning musical comedy entertainer who popularized songs by George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, among others. Merman's Broadway performances include Girl Crazy (1930), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), and Call Me Madam (1950). Biographers describe her as “a Broadway singing giant with a brassy, larger-than-life star persona and a uniquely powerful, heart-felt voice.” Merman's belt-it-out rendition of Berlin's "There's No Business Like Show Business" has become the anthem of the entertainment industry. She died in 1984 and is still fondly remembered by friends from her old neighborhood.
January 28, 1913
The first trial trips of the electric trolley were run across the Queensboro Bridge from Manhattan to Woodside. The next day regular service began.
January 01, 1914
On January 1, 1914, the volunteer fire that had provided protection to Woodhaven was finally retired. Three new houses were built the year before, and modern motorized trucks replaced horse drawn equipment. Five new professional FDNY companies were organized replaced nine older volunteer groups with picturesque names like Americus Hose, Desraismes Engine of Brooklyn Hills, Aqueduct Hose Company and Union Course Hook & Ladder.
January 17, 1918
Freight train service begins on the Hell Gate Bridge. The bridge,
dedicated in March of 1917, began passenger train service in April of that year. A
rail link between New York City and New England was finally realized. It is the
largest four lane rail bridge in the world when constructed, able to carry the weight
of dozens of locomotives. Built from each side of the Hell Gate, when the two halves
met in the middle they were off less than half an inch!
January 21, 1928
The IRT (Interboro Rapid Transit) Number 7 elevated line reached
Main Street, Flushing. Parades with floats and speeches took place in both Manhattan
and Flushing to celebrate the completion of the line. The price seemed to be right
for most people, who rode from downtown Flushing to Grand Central Terminal and Times
Square for only a nickel (5 cents). Dignitaries and commoners made the first
Manhattan to Flushing run but NYC Mayor Jimmy Walker missed the train.
January 1935
College Point is in the news as fire sweeps the L. B. Kleinert Co.Factory,
at 26th Avenue between 127 and 128 Streets. The wind whips flamesfed by acids
and chemicals. The fire completely destroys one section of a top floor of the
rubber manufacturing plant. More than 125 employees are out of work.
January 02, 1937
On January 2, 1937, Queens was already looking forward to the 1939 fair. ‘Flushing Meadow Park will be listed as permanent borough benefit. Public improvements are valued at $8,000.000. Queens stands to gain more than any other borough,’ wrote Frederick Mcnutt, President of the Queensboro Chamber of Commerce, in a letter to Richard Whitney, chairman of the Worlds Fair bond sales committee. Mr. Mcnutt continues: ‘not only will we get a park half again as large as Central Park, but other advantages will include such tings a new highways, underpasses at bad intersections and improvements to Flushing bay.’
January 21, 1939
Progress and suburban growth ousted the last farm in
Elmhurst. Developers bought the land to construct 96 houses. The last working farm
in Queens, the Klein Farm was recently sold. Efforts are being made to protect it
from development. Farmers in Queens supplied both flowers and produce to New York
in the 1800s. Our rich soil made many wealthy.
January 1950
Rapid transit service to the communities east of Flushing, a popular
home sector, is a top transportation need, urges civic organizations. The should link the Flushing 'L' with the Long Island Rail Road and send rapid transit lines over the rail tracks.
Businessmen in Bayside/Flushing raise funds to engage engineers and lawyers to advise them on the construction problems involved, feasibility of dual operation, and legal questions that might arise in the operation of a city owned service over the facilities of a private company.
January 12, 1954
Howard Allan Stern was born on January 12, 1954, in Jackson Heights. He got his start in radio while at Boston University, and worked in various cities before landing a spot on a morning talk show in New York. A spot on the Letterman show was his real break, and his unique style of off–color banter soon found him a wide audience via national syndication.
Although his successes led to his self-proclaimed nickname of “King of All Media,” he had multiple run–ins with the Federal Communications Commission, which has fined Stern and his corporate parents on several occasions.
Although many found his low brow humor and explicit subject matter distasteful, as a testament to Stern's huge following, his autobiography Private Parts was the fastest-selling book in Simon and Schuster publishing history.
In 2004 he announced that he had signed a five-year, $500 million contract to take his radio show to Sirius Satellite Radio, a subscription-only network where he would be unaffected by FCC regulations. That five-year, $100 million annual deal, at more than $41.9 million a week, or nearly $275,000 a day, made him the highest-paid radio personality in America.
In 2006, Howard Stern was selected as Time Magazine’s “Time 100: The People who shape our world.” That same year, Forbes Magazine ranked him seventh in the annual “Celebrity 100.”
Notable quote, “Standards have gone to an all-time low and I'm here to represent them.”
January 17, 1955
On January 17, 1955, an ambitious new plan was proposed by Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority chairman Robert Moses. The overall program, whose scope was billed as unprecedented, revealed that for the next five years the city would both improve existing transportation routes and erecte new bridges and arterial highways.
The cost, from public funds, would be an impressive $379,000,000, or well over a billion dollars in today’s money. More than $93,000,000 of that figure was slated for a six-lane suspension bridge over the East River (today’s Throgs Neck Bridge), $204,000,000 for a 12-lane double deck suspension bridge over New York harbor (the future Verrazano-Narrows), and finally, $82,000,000 for a six-lane lower deck for the George Washington Bridge.
The initial plans were also drawn up for a proposed six-lane elevated expressway that would cross over Manhattan connecting the Queens Midtown Tunnel and the West Side highway.
In Queens, the future Clearview Expressway and Throgs Neck Bridge would connect with the existing Cross Island Parkway. At 35th Avenue in eastern Queens, the Clearview would meet Francis Lewis Boulevard and continue onto the Horace Harding Expressway (today the Long Island Expressway), then under construction.
Including anchorages, the Throgs Neck bridge would extend nearly a mile’s length and be completed in three and a half years.
January 16, 1958
Subway service extended to Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens. Now designated the "A" train, it is the MTA's longest line, stretching 31 miles from 207th Street in Inwood, northern Manhattan, to Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway or to Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park, two stops at opposite ends of the Rockaway peninsula.
January 11, 1961
On January 11, 1961 the Throgs Neck Bridge opens. Serving as a vital link in the area’s interstate highway system, in the Bronx it feeds into the Cross Bronx and Brucker expressway, and in Queens, to the Clearview Expressway and Cross Island Expressways.
Its nearest Queens neighborhoods are Beechhurst, Bayside, and Little Bay, as well as historic Fort Totten. Two 3,200 foot suspension cables support the 1,800-foot main span and two 555-foot side spans.
The bridge cost $92 million. It was name for John Throckmorton who settled the area in 1643.
January 11, 1961
Two crucial but unconnected elements of Queens transportation went into operation. The Throgs Neck Bridge, a 13,410 ft steel suspension bridge linking Queens to The Bronx, opened to traffic. A mere 3.5 miles to the south of the new bridge, the Long Island Expressway was completed.
The L.I.E. was comprised of various sections, some of them previous roads, and built under one standard construction plan to link them together and form the 13-mile Queens stretch.
The $92 million bridge was designed by engineer Othmar H. Amman and built mainly to ease the congestion on the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge.
The expressway linked the Queens-Midtown Tunnel to the Nassau County line, and eventually to Riverhead in Suffolk County.
January 1962
An unusual shipment arrives at Idlewild Airport. The body of Charles “Lucky” Luciano, who died in Italy, is en route to St. Johns Cemetery in Middle Village.
Its arrival creates confusion within US Customs Service over the possibility that the coffin might contain narcotics or diamond contraband. Although officials had a right to do so, they did not open it.
January 20, 1966
On January 20, 1966, after the Pennsylvania Railroad threatened to abandon the Long Island Railroad, the state purchased the bankrupt railroad for $65 million. The state also agreed to lease the rights to use the Pennsylvania Station and East River Tunnels.
The purchaser, the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (which later became the MTA), embarked in an aggressive capital campaign at raising funds for new track and rolling stock. It remains the busiest commuter rail line in the country.
January 22, 1968
The Board of Higher Education forms ’Community College Number Nine.’ Opening three years later, it is known today as Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College, named for New York's Mayor who was a devoted immigrant advocate.
The college offers 30 majors to nearly 12,000 students from more than 150 countries. Over 70% of its students are from Queens; the largest contingent is from Flushing.
Its LaGuardia and Wagner Archives is a leading repository of the social and political history of New York.
January 12, 1969
In a game that stands out in sports history, the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III. Quarterback Joe Namath had brashly guaranteed victory over the Colts, who were 20-point favorites. The Jets’ offense also featured Don Maynard, George Sauer, Emerson Boozer, Winston Hill, and Randy Rasmussen.
A four-yard touchdown run by Nassau County's Matt Snell and three Jim Turner field goals were all the Jets needed.
The defense, led by Verlon Biggs, Gerry Philbin, Al Atkinson, and Randy Beverly, held the mighty Colts to a mere seven points.
The victory established the AFL as a more than formidable rival to the NFL. The Jets, ably coached by Weeb Ewbank, won the AFL Championship over Oakland at Shea Stadium to get to the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. The victorious Jets became the first Queens based sports franchise to win a championship.
January 1989
Citicorp Chairman John Reed snips a red ribbon opening the $250 million
Citicorp Tower at Court Square in Long Island City. The 48 story tower, the
largest structure between New York and Boston when built, is a harbinger of
the future for Queens. Long heralded as New York's fourth business district,
the area around the tower will soon boast millions of square feet available
to businesses and apartments for New Yorkers fleeing Manhattan's congestion
and rents.
January 07, 1996
The "Blizzard of 96" socked Queens with over 20 inches of
snow. The 36-hour storm began on a Sunday afternoon and wrought havoc with the
city and northeast by Monday morning. Underground sections of subway routes
continued service allowing those intrepid souls that ventured out to make it to
work. Four-foot snowdrifts were reported in Long Island City and Fresh Meadows.
Air transportation in our borough was crippled. The local economy was set back
$50 million. As blizzards go, this one was fun for some but not for all!
