News Articles From 1928
Daily Star – March 3, 1928
GREENPOINTERS
TO MARK START
OF SUBWAY WORK
Oldest Residents Will Turn
Earth Preceding Big Parade
Sunday Afternoon.
The beginning of the fulfillment of a forty-year dream will take place for Greenpointers tomorrow afternoon when Mrs. John Ben, seventy-eight, and Samuel Lockwood, seventy-five, Greenpoint’s oldest native born residents, will turn the spade of earth that will mark the official beginning of the construction of the first link of the Brooklyn Crosstown Subway through Greenpoint. An Elaborate celebration has been planned by Alderman Peter J. McGuinness and The embers of the Greenpoint Merchants Association. A parade of various organizations of the district through Manhattan Avenue, from Ash Street to McCarran Park has been planned with a dinner following at the auditorium of Lexington Council. K. Of C Meserole Avenue and Lorimer Street.
Mayor James J. Walker has faithfully promised to be in Greenpoint at 4 o’clock to witness the parade as It pass through. Manhattan avenue and to speak at the dinner which is to follow. Other city officials who will be present are Borough President James Byrne, Transit Commissioner Delaney and various local officials.
The parade which is to start at Ash street 3:30 o’clock will probably accompanied by the Police Band, the St. Alphonsus’ Fife and Drum Corps and other musical organizations. The Veterans of the World War, members of T. R. Nulty Post, V. F. W., and Greenpoint Post, American Legion, will lead the parade.
Other organizations that are expected to be in the line of march are: Greenpoint Boy Scouts, Lexington and Fidelity Councils, K. of C.; Polish-American Citizens” Club, Pulaski Club, Sterling Cobweb Club, Greenpoint Peoples Regular Democratic Organization, Fifteenth A. D. Democratic Organization, Jefferson Democratic Club, Wigwam Democratic Organization, Alpha Republican Organization and Women’s Auxiliary, Knights of St. Antony, Loughlin Lyceum, All Pals, Merry Mores, St. Francis C. C, St. Aloysius C. C. and Hungarian-Slovak, Club.
More than 1,000 club members and citizens are expected to be in the line of March.
The parade, after forming at Ash Street, will proceed to Green Street, where Mrs. Bell will turn the first shovelful of dirt, thus officially breaking the ground for the start of subway construction work.
From there the parade will continue to Manhattan Avenue and Nassau Avenue, a point where the second ct of subway work is located. Here Samuel Lockwood will turn a shovelful of dirt to mark the start of construction of the contract at that end of the district.
After the ceremonies here the parade will continue to McCarren Park where it will disband. The dinner is to follow immediately after in the auditorium of Lexington Council. More than 400 tickets have been sold for the affair.
It is expected that that Mayor Walker will address the gathering; Municipal Court Justice William J. Bogenschutz is to be the toastmaster. Others on the dais will be: the Rev. Dr. John R. McCoy, the Rev. Dr. Benney Benson, the Rev. Dr. A. Herbert Fedder, Register James A. McQuade, Alderman Peter J. McGuinness, Assemblyman Edward J. Doyle, Magistrate James V. Short, Municipal Court Justice Charles Carroll, Senator Jere F, Twomey. William Stanley Miller, Joseph J. Holwell, Richard Wright, Joseph Jacobson, Mayor Walker and Borough President Byrne.
Walter Farrar, president of the Peoples Club has charge of the arrangements for the parade and the dinner committee is as follows: Herman E. Sprigade. Chairman; Charles O’Connell, George Moskowitz, H. Wilck and Albert J. Silverman.