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‘26 summer heat wave caused more than 10 deaths in boro

By The Greater Astoria Historical Society

The construction of the Flushing extension of the Corona “L” — today the No. 7 line — was completed from the east side of Flushing Creek to the station at Main Street.

Work finishing the stations were underway at the Tiemann Avenue (111th Street) and Willets Point Boulevard stations. Work was also progressing on the Roosevelt Avenue rapid transit and highway bridge, which would carry the “L” over Flushing Creek.

Opening of the line all the way to Main Street was not expected before spring 1926.

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On June 24, the first surveying for the construction of a massive bridge connecting Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens was done at 125th Street in Harlem.

The event was cause for a celebration called “Tri-borough Bridge Day.” A luncheon was held at the Hotel Theresa, at Seventh Avenue and 125th Street, followed by a parade from the hotel to a speakers’ platform at First Avenue and 125th Street.

Among the speakers was then-Mayor John Hylan, who promised to find a way to finance the estimated $30 million project. The Triborough Bridge opened 11 years later in 1936.

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A heat wave gripped the city. On June 6, it was reported that on the sixth day of the wave, at noon the temperature was 95 degrees. In the preceding 24 hours, five people had died and 12 more were overcome in Queens.

Some of the deaths were from drowning, as several Queens residents sought refuge from the heat in the cool but treacherous waters of the East River. Mrs. Mildred Castelli, 25, of Astoria, was splashing happily in waters near the shore of Astoria Park when swift currents swept her away.

On June 8, the heat wave broke, but not before a total of 17 dead and 20 hospitalized.

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In Washington, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Queens released some statistics on taxpayers. In Queens, 39,389 federal income tax returns were filed in 1923. Most were for incomes less than $5,000 a year.

In New York state, 1,221,654 returns were filed with an average net income of $3,987. In the entire United States, only 74 people filed returns showing net income of $1 million or more. Only 141 people had incomes between $500,000 and $1 million and only 3,964 people had incomes from $100,000 to $500,000.

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On June 29, after crawling through small spaces, breaking down a bulkhead, moving a wall of coal bags and entering a cargo hold loaded with lumber, customs agents found 3,000 cases of whiskey, valued at about $200,000, concealed in more than 2 million feet of lumber aboard the three-masted schooner Natisco.

The “liquor was stacked ten feet high and solidly encased in lumber.” The ship was towed to the Barge Office at the Battery, and officials said they would not only condemn the schooner (worth about $50,000) but also confiscate the load of lumber (worth about $900,000) and, of course, the liquor.

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On June 21, Philip Matcovich, of Astoria, tried out his auto-boat invention at the waterfront in North Beach. He had spent more than a year building his prototype. The machine was designed to travel 35 mph on land and 12 mph in water.

Its body was that of a boat, but on land it ran on three motorcycle wheels. Once in the water, the wheels were raised and the motor connected to the propeller. The test was a success, but the machine had to cruise rather slowly in the East River to prevent water from entering the engine and other mechanical apparatus.

The model cost about $10,000 to make and had some hand-made parts. Matcovich estimated the machine could be mass-produced for about $1,500 per machine.

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Stretched upon a pallet in the old gypsy camp at Maspeth, Mrs. Sara Stevens, veteran Queen of the Gypsies, lay near death.

Recently, the city Health Department had decided that the gypsies must leave Maspeth. Many had left, but a few were allowed to remain until the end of the summer to complete contracted jobs they had.

Some moved to Philadelphia and some moved to a woodland 4 miles beyond Jamaica. It was thought that this woodland might have tempted the old queen to leave her home in Maspeth.

But she said fiercely, “Here I have lived, and here I will die.”

For more information, call 718-278-0700 or visit astorialic.org.