Greater Astoria HIstorical Society
In conjunction with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, the TimesLedger Newspapers presents noteworthy events in the borough’s history
It was August 1962, and the National Guard reservists of Company C of the 1st Battle Group, 251st Infantry, who normally met once a week in the Flushing Armory, were on their two-week annual summer field training at Camp Drum in upstate New York.
More than 100 Reservists defended 1,000 acres of terrain that was, most of the time, soggy from rain. The situation was described as “tactical,” meaning the men had to carry rifles and gas masks wherever they went. Although because of the weather, swarms of insects sometimes landed in the men’s meals, the morale of Company C remained high.
The Empire State building was being restored. One of the workers, Andrew Schavnick, 60, of Sunnyside said he had never seen New York from the top of the Empire State before. “You know,” he said, “I never knew this town, my town, until I saw it from the top. You get a different perspective of the city, and life, up high.”
In Jackson Heights, a heroin sale went awry when a dog walked off with a plastic box containing 37 “decks of junk.” Some youths were rounded up by police, but others and the alleged pusher escaped.
The police learned of the dog’s role when a local resident came to the precinct with the box. The man said he was walking his dog, when his pet picked up the box and carried it home. The alleged pusher had evidently concealed the heroin cache and was negotiating sales when the dog picked it up.
The United States Public Health Service warned about the dangers of glue sniffing after 10 teenagers had been arrested in Queens on charges stemming from glue sniffing. The Journal of the American Medical Association ridiculed sniffing as just another adolescent craze but “unlike other relatively harmless activities, such as telephone booth-stuffing, glue carries with it a potential for significant detriment to the child’s health.”
“We’ve got everything from romantic offers to insults since this experiment began,” said “Sweetie Pie,” Patrolman Richard McLiverty of Sunnyside, as he strapped a pistol belt across the brown skirt he was wearing. McLiverty and the other members of the Police Department’s crack tactical squad dressed as women to halt the spread of street crime, specifically purse snatching.
Policewoman Dolores Monroe, of Douglaston, was charged with teaching fellow male officers on how to act like a woman. At least 100 rookie patrolmen were being trained to act as female decoys across the city.
McLiverty reported some difficulties with maintaining the disguise. He was sitting alone in a park, when a young man chose to sit on the same bench. “He talked to me for 25 minutes before he made his purse-snatch attempt,” McLiverty said. “Naturally, we can’t answer because our voices would give the whole thing away, so I just kept nodding my head and gurgling.”
“What Dogs the Mets,” read the headline of one newspaper. “Are Queens baseball fans destined to see the same inept brand of ball in 1963 that the Mets are exhibiting at the Polo Grounds this season?” The team was to move to the spanking new $19 million Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows next year.
By Aug. 31, the Mets record stood at 34 wins and 101 losses, they were in last place and trailed the National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by 53½ games.
For further information, call the Greater Astoria Historical Society at 718-278-0700 or visit our website at www.astor
