October 22: ON THIS DAY in 1932, a dangerous riot on Roosevelt Island
ON THIS DAY IN 1932, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Police headquarters and the office of Mayor [Joseph] McKee were informed just before noon today that a riot of dangerous proportions had broken out on Welfare Island [now Roosevelt Island], on which the City Prison is located. The mayor was informed that one man had been killed in the rioting. Fifty detectives were promptly rushed to Welfare Island, as well as 25 patrolmen, four emergency squads and four ambulances. Inspector Vincent Sweeney also notified all squad commanders to rush additional detectives to Welfare Island … An extra detail of detectives and patrolmen was rushed to the Tombs as a precautionary measure against the breaking out of a ‘sympathetic’ riot there … In Brooklyn, 25 detectives armed with sawed-off shotguns were thrown around Raymond Street Jail, as a similar precaution.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1860, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The friends of Breckinridge for President and Brady for Governor, held a meeting at Binghamton on Friday, at which speeches were made by Mr. Brady, Samuel S. Courtney, Esq. and Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, who presided. Mr. Brady’s speech was an exposition of his own position, a eulogy of Mr. Breckinridge and a denunciation of Mr. Douglas. He declared that he had no idea that the mere election of Lincoln would be regarded by the South as a cause for secession, and that it clearly should not be so considered. Mr. Courtney’s speech was mainly a discussion of the relative claims of Breckinridge and Douglas, and Mr. Dickinson went over the same ground.”