Soldiers and Sailors Monument

On Memorial Day, May 30, 2022, New York City Council Member Gale Brewer spoke before a gathering at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, in Riverside Park, Manhattan, near 89th Street. The monument, erected in memory of the New York regiments that fought in the Civil War, served as the terminus for Memorial Day parades for decades after its dedication in 1902. In recent years it suffered extensive deterioration and in 2017 was fenced off to protect people from the cracked and crumbling stone. At the 2022 ceremony, Brewer rallied support for a long-overdue restoration of the landmark and urged the audience to sign a petition urging the City to fund desperately-needed repairs. “Our servicemen and women, our citizens, and our City deserve better,” Brewer said.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Riverside Park, New York, ca. 1936. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Six months later, Council Member Brewer’s efforts were rewarded with a $62.3 million allocation in the City’s capital budget for the restoration.

The monument is located on a promontory along Riverside Drive at West 89th Street. The Stoughton brothers, engineer Charles W. (1860–1944), and architect Arthur A. Stoughton (1867–1955), won a public competition for their design inspired by Greek antiquity. An example of the City Beautiful movement, the monument is in a cylindrical form with 12 Corinthian columns of white marble. The monument is capped with a richly carved ornament of eagles and cartouches sculpted by Paul E. Duboy (better known for his work on the Ansonia Hotel). 

Commissioned by the City of New York and the Memorial Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1893, the competition was held in 1897. New York State Governor Theodore Roosevelt officiated at the cornerstone laying ceremony in January 1900. On Memorial Day 1902, with then- President Roosevelt presiding, the completed monument was unveiled following a parade of Civil War veterans up Riverside Drive. For many years the project was delayed because the City could not agree on a site for the monument. The Municipal Art Society vetoed the initial location at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. Eventually it was sited along the axis of Riverside Drive, looking south and out toward the Hudson River, a companion structure to the Grant National Memorial located two miles north.  

Aerial view, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Riverside Park, January 1934. Department of Parks & Recreation Photograph Collection.

In the early 1960s, the City spent over $1 million in extensive repairs to the monument, including a new roof. It was designated a municipal landmark in 1976. 

The Landmark Designation Report for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Department of Parks and Recreation 2017 Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Memorial: Conditions Survey & Restoration Treatment Study can be accessed in the Municipal Library’s Government Publication Portal.

“History and dignity restored,” read the New York Daily News article on January 15, 2023, reporting on funding for the restoration in Mayor Eric Adam’s budget. Following the announcement, Council Member Brewer thanked the Mayor and remarked, “The 120-year-old monument was built to honor Union Army soldiers who fought against slavery in the Civil War and brings together veterans and civilians to remember all those who have died serving this country. The future of this memorial is bright. Restored to its former glory, it will again speak of our memory of war and the dream of peace.”   

Monument 89th Street, Soldiers and Sailors, showing scaffolding, September 15, 1927. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection.

For the Record readers are invited to visit the Monument this Memorial Day, May 29, at 10 a.m. to enjoy a ceremony planned in conjunction with Fleet Week, dedicated to honoring our nation’s military personnel who died serving in the United States Armed Forces. The event will commence with a musical prelude by the U.S. Marine Corps Band, followed by a processional featuring the Piper New York Caledonian Club, Sons of United Veterans of the Civil War and Veteran Corps of Artillery at 10:30 a.m. Retired Commander Peter Galasinao of the United States Navy and President of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Association will deliver welcoming remarks. Guest speakers will include City Council Member Brewer, Commissioner of NYC Department of Parks & Recreation Sue Donoghue and other City officials.   

Silent Toasts and Solo Flights: Mayor LaGuardia’s Forgotten Fraternity

In a letter dated November 2, 1934, an unnamed writer remarked, “Glad to see La Guardia in again at last Monday’s dinner. His job does not give him many evenings off.” The letter was signed “Cordially Yours, HOUSE COMMITTEE,” and found its way into Mayor LaGuardia’s subject files, now at the Municipal Archives. At first glance, the letter seems ordinary. At the end of 1934, Fiorello H. LaGuardia was finishing up his first year as New York City’s mayor, following a notable two-term stint in Congress. He certainly would have been invited to many dinners, and indeed, did not have many evenings off. Yet the letter becomes more interesting in context. It follows up on an earlier one sent to Mayor LaGuardia’s assistant, Lester B. Stone, which requests:

Some Monday evening, when the Major is not too much crowded and would like to slip away for an hour or two where he will not be under restraint, observation, and can feel free to do what he likes, route him up to the Quiet Birdmen. Better not send him up on the first Monday night of the month because it is pretty well crowded that night. Other nights...would, I think, probably be more agreeable to him; he sees enough of crowds.

Please express our kindest regards and best wishes to the Mayor, and tell him that we all think he is doing a swell job.[1]

The letter was signed by Guy Kelcey, Chairman of the House Committee, and was carefully typed on letterhead of the Anciente and Secret Order of the Quiet Birdmen. These missives are just two among a total of twenty-seven letters Mayor LaGuardia received from the Quiet Birdmen. Yet the Order is not mentioned in biographies of the Mayor.

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Letter from the Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen inviting the mayor to attend, May 29, 1934, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Collection. NYC Municipal Archives

That LaGuardia was a member of fraternal organizations is no secret. Fraternalism was hugely popular among American men in the early twentieth century, and many prominent individuals were members of fraternal societies. LaGuardia himself was a Freemason for most of his adult life, having joined Garibaldi Lodge No. 542 in New York City.[2] The Freemasons are well known, and have included many noteworthy figures, yet the Quiet Birdmen are almost unheard of. From the letters of 1934, it seems the Birdmen were either courting the Mayor as a prospective member, or already included him among their ranks. A look at the history of the fraternity and LaGuardia’s earlier life reveals why.

The Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen was, according to its own letterhead, founded in 1921, and headquartered at 220 West 42nd Street. Newsletters received by the mayor over the course of two years shed light on the nature of the group. A two-page description of the order received in December 1935 states, “QB is a wholly social fraternity composed of men who have soloed at least one type of powered aircraft and who have demonstrated exceptional qualities of good sportsmanship and fellowship.” The order was organized into local “Hangars” and claimed to be “without constitution, by laws [sic], officers, dues, or other formal organization.” One of the main customs of the group, mentioned in almost every newsletter, was the Silent Toast to honor those members who had “gone West,” i.e. died.

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Mayor LaGuardia, a pilot and war veteran, was just the kind of member the Quiet Birdman wanted. LaGuardia on Alaskan Highway tour with unidentified officers, 1943. Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

As LaGuardia well knew, aviation was in its infancy and deaths of pilots were common. In 1915, La Guardia had taken flying lessons on Long Island, and then enlisted the following year in the US Army Air Service. He served in Europe during World War I, surviving two plane crashes. He did all of this while serving as a US Congressman.[3] LaGuardia loved the danger of flying, even after retiring from the Air Service and becoming mayor. In a letter to Charles Burlingham while in office, LaGuardia wrote of wanting to fly to Floyd Bennett Field for a celebration but being warned of a storm by the Coast Guard. The mayor said he had replied “in my usual boastful manner... that I was willing to take the chance.” The Coast Guard admiral responded, “We don’t mind you taking a chance, Mr. Mayor, for mayors are plentiful, but... good planes are scarce and hard to get in the Coast Guard.”[4] The Mayor was well-qualified for membership in the Quiet Birdmen, who referred to him by his Air Service rank of Major.

However, the Quiet Birdmen were not simply a group of daring pilots toasting the memory of their fallen compatriots—and indeed, they were anything but quiet. Their newsletters abound with complaints about unruly members:

The night of August 10th at the Gotham—just another Great Big Headache for us sober (or at least fairly well behaved) fellows. A 2-½ foot Lion (not Bob) was taken from the Lobby of the Hotel.... We are fairly sure who did this rotten, lousy job, one a QB and one a guest (we don’t know whose). Your hard-working House Committee is on the spot for this. WE WANT THAT LION RETURNED—NUFF said.[5]

That their meetings were raucous affairs with copious libations is obvious in the letters. Prohibition had been repealed in 1933, and the QBs, like the rest of the nation, were thirsty. Multiple times, the cost of dinner and drinks is mentioned, and the members are reminded that the hotel would charge for broken items.  

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Hotel Gotham, where Mayor LaGuardia attended a meeting of the Quiet Birdmen in October 1934. 1940 Tax Photo Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In May 1934 the address of the QBs was 220 West 42nd Street, Suite 2007. By August, it was given as “Hotel Gotham, Fifth at Fifty Fifth.” Then in September 1936, the House Committee announced a move to the Hotel Algonquin at 59 West 44th Street, Suite 211, stating,

What with excellent facilities, a sympathetic and understanding management, very satisfactory arrangements, and an atmosphere much better adapted to gentlemen who are not yet on crutches, we will be much better off in our new quarters than we have been.

However, it became apparent in the next letter that the QBs had been kicked out of the Gotham for breaking furniture and discarding cigarette butts on the floor. Several members of the House Committee had to pack up the order’s belongings in one long night and had consumed a whole bottle of scotch and another of rye while they worked.[6] 

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Hotel Algonquin, the new home of the QBs after they were kicked out of the Gotham. 1940 Tax Photo Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The QBs may have had a particular interest in the Mayor given his history with alcohol. LaGuardia had been a vocal opponent of Prohibition while in Congress, even going so far as to mix alcoholic beverages openly as a publicity stunt in 1926. Much to LaGuardia’s disappointment, he could not get a passing police officer to arrest him for this act of civil disobedience.[7] Less than a decade later, he became the mayor of a happily post-Prohibition New York.[8]

Yet, LaGuardia’s relationship with alcohol was more nuanced than could be assumed. In a book published during LaGuardia’s term as Mayor, journalist J.F. Carter claimed that LaGuardia, distraught by the death of his first wife in 1921, had turned to heavy drinking. While LaGuardia’s grief over Thea’s death was well-attested by his friends, the drinking was mere rumor, and the books were recalled after the mayor threatened a lawsuit.[9] Further, even while calling for an end to prohibition, he acknowledged the need for some restrictions, particularly for hard liquor.[10] This attitude would continue into the 1940s. As World War II drew the United States into conflict, LaGuardia spoke at the International Association of Chiefs of Police and called for moderation of hard liquor. “There should be less consumption of liquor now than in peace time,” he declared, adding that “decent people will not tolerate debauchery and excess.” Letters poured into the Mayor’s office immediately afterward, with many citizens voicing support and expressing complaints about drunk soldiers and sailors in the city. A public challenge to these statements was written by the chairman of the liquor board and printed in the New York Times on September 22, 1942. The Chairman insisted that rules were being followed and liquor was not a problem. LaGuardia denounced him unequivocally in a letter to the editor the very next day, citing a specific instance of the board violating its own rules in reissuing a revoked liquor license.[11]

Thus, while he was no teetotaler, neither was Mayor LaGuardia a libertine. For example, during his first summer as Mayor, in 1934, he had banned large jazz dances in Central Park. When critics complained, he stated that he did enjoy jazz, as long as it was not too boisterous.[12] Those around him also noted that despite his loud, aggressive persona, he preferred to keep his social circle small, and associate only with people who had been his friends before his election. As it happened, summer of 1934 was the date of the earliest Quiet Birdmen newsletters in his records. It is quite likely that he was invited to join the group at that time. However, his involvement may have been minimal. A newsletter from April 1935 bemoans that “Some of our members are so constantly importuned for autographs that it becomes a very serious annoyance,” and states that it is “bad form” to ask another member for an autograph. It is reasonable to assume Mayor LaGuardia was one of the members who had expressed serious annoyance and was probably keeping his distance. 

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Letters to the mayor following his call for greater restrictions on hard liquor. Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In any case, the newsletters from the Quiet Birdmen ceased after December, 1936. Whether LaGuardia was a regular or a rarity at their meetings cannot be determined. What is certain, though, is that the Quiet Birdmen were proud to claim him among their ranks. In an undated membership handbook held at the National Air and Space Museum, Fiorello H. LaGuardia is listed as a member who had “gone West.”[13] His death was reported in the Times on Sunday, September 21, 1947, the day after it occurred. One can only assume that on Monday, the Quiet Birdmen drank a Silent Toast to him.

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[1] Letter dated May 29, 1934.

[2] https://www.garibaldilodge.com/garibaldi-lodge

[3] Heckscher, August and Robinson, Phyllis. (1978). When La Guardia was Mayor: New York’s Legendary Years. Norton. 21-22.

[4] Kessner, Thomas. (1989). Fiorello H. La Guardia. McGraw-Hill. 449.

[5] Letter dated September 1, 1936. Capitalization theirs.

[6] Letter dated September 30, 1936.

[7] Kessner, 112-113.

[8] Heckscher, 15.

[9] Kessner, 79.

[10] Kessner, 114.

[11] Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia Subject files, Box 95.

[12] Heckscher, 69.

[13] https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/booklet-quiet-birdmen/nasm_A19890646000

Find of the Week: Report of the Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission

In 1906, the City’s main decision-making body, the Board of Estimate, appointed a three-person commission to evaluate the conditions of Jamaica Bay and report on improvements to the Bay and the City’s waterfront. In 1907, the commission issued its report, and in 1909 and 1910 issued updates on the status of the Jamaica Bay estuary. A copy of the combined reports is housed in the Municipal Library, with slight water damage but otherwise in good condition. In addition to the analysis, the reports contain several maps of Jamaica Bay.  

Map of Jamaica Bay, Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission. Reports on the General Improvement and Development of Jamaica Bay in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, 1907-1909. Municipal Library.

The commission reviewed the capacity of the piers for the Port of New York and compared its operations to those of European port cities such as Rotterdam, Bremen, Hamburg and Marseille. The Port of New York received 38 per cent of all foreign shipping to the United States, or 18,942,380 tons in 1905. Nevertheless, the Commission concluded that the operations of Manhattan’s port including docking receiving and transferring goods from the docks to vehicles for delivery was costly and inefficient.

Their recommendation was that Jamaica Bay be developed as a major international shipping port and industrial center. Because much of the Bay was shallow, dredging to accommodate large cargo ships would be required. Additional improvements were required—piers, bulkheads, trainlines to transport cargo to the interior. The costs were to be borne by the City of New York and the federal War Department. New York State hedged its bets—it authorized the conveyance of the land under the Bay after the City had invested $1 million; and the City would need to purchase land for warehouses. 

West Portion of Jamaica Bay, New York, Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission. Reports on the General Improvement and Development of Jamaica Bay in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, 1907-1909. Municipal Library.

Substantial dredging was completed to deepen the channels. A pier was built on Barren Island for the garbage scows to dump street refuse from "the City". Some of that debris along with fill from dredging was deposited in marsh areas to create new land. However, the work was completed in starts and fits and the proposed international port never materialized.

Sketch Showing Main Channel to Jamaica Bay Through Rockaway Inlet in Different Years from 1841 to 1906, Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission. Reports on the General Improvement and Development of Jamaica Bay in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, 1907-1909. Municipal Library.

In recent years, many of the topographical changes made to the Bay to achieve the dreamed-of Port were reversed. As described in the report Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan Update, 2018, from the Department of Environmental Protection, wetlands have been reclaimed and habitats restored.  Today, Jamaica Bay is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area .    

The Congressional Records of Mayor Edward I. Koch

The records of New York City Mayors are one of the most-researched collections in the Municipal Archives. Dating from 1826 through 2021, the materials document the highs and lows of the City and its government. In addition, mayoral papers pre-dating 1826 may be found in the Common Council collection because the Office of the Mayor was part of the Council.

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Edward I. Koch, campaigning, n.d. Edward I. Koch Congressional Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Mayor Edward I. Koch collection totals more than 800 cubic feet and consist of correspondence, memos, briefing papers, photos, videos, scrapbooks and more. Much like Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Koch seemed to read every document, and several contain scrawled responses or comments. Serving as Mayor from 1978 through 1989, Koch presided over the city’s recovery from the fiscal crises. The voluminous collection offers insight into the strategies to bring the City back, including massive cuts to services, and the eventual financial stability that led to further investment in government operations.

In an interesting twist, the Municipal Archives also holds the records from Koch’s Congressional service which immediately predated his election to the mayoralty. The 373 boxes containing the records of Congressman Ed Koch were transferred to the Municipal Archives where they have remained, untouched and unprocessed since 1982. The records went directly from the National Records Center to the Municipal Archives at the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS), at that time headed by Mayor Koch’s close friend and supporter, Eugene Bockman.

Beginning with a January 24, 1968 media release titled, “KOCH TO RUN FOR CONGRESS FROM ‘SILK STOCKING’ DISTRICT” and concluding with images and notes documenting his successful run for Mayor in 1977, the records offer insight into the work of one of New York’s most unique and productive government officials.

A brief review of the Koch Congressional Collection by the Municipal Archives, conducted in August 2018, shows that the collection contains photographs, negatives and slides; audio and video tape, brochures and printed materials; correspondence files; subject files; campaign materials; issue mail; scrapbooks; press clippings and personal material.

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Press Release, 1968. Edward I. Koch Congressional Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Koch Congressional records document the actions of a very involved member of Congress during a critical period in our nation’s history and have direct relevance to issues being debated and legislated today. Highlights include correspondence related to war in Vietnam, the crises faced by urban areas, and the pending impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon.

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Constituent Correspondence, 1977. Edward I. Koch Congressional Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Congressional records complement the Mayoral collection, showing both the evolution and consistency of Congressman and Mayor Ed Koch’s views on such issues as housing, gun control, foreign aid, food insecurity and immigrant rights.

The New York Archival Society, a non-profit that supports the work of the Municipal Archives, has launched a project to raise funds to process and digitize this vital collection in order to make these records publicly available. New York Archival Society - Ed. Koch Congressional Project