QUEENSLINE
A RELUCTANCE TO CONFRONT NEWTOWN CREEK’S
ODOR PROBLEMS AND MORE FROM AUGUST 1953
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020 15
In conjunction with
the Greater Astoria
Historical Society,
TimesLedger Newspapers
presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s
history.
Welcome to August
1953!
It seems that the odors
emanating from Newtown
Creek were always a part
of that landscape, at least
assert city officials facing
the irate claims of locals
who live downwind from
Newtown Creek. Though
more offensive than toxic
in nature, the Star Journal
nevertheless reported the
city’s utter reluctance to
confront the problem from
fear that the industries
in question would move
elsewhere. The Journal
candidly concluded: “The
city’s health authorities
cannot continue to tell people
there is no stench, for
noses far less experienced
than those of the health inspectors
have been able to
detect it, without half trying!”
Meanwhile, another
“stink” is raised at 160th
Street and 17th Avenue in
the wake of a two and a
half hour demonstration
staged by mothers upset
over speeding motorists in
Clearview Gardens, Bayside
where police broke up
the city’s first baby carriage
blockade. Sparking
this protest, claim residents,
was the increased
level of traffic once 160th
Street was widened and,
more pointedly, a speeding
car struck a child on 17th
Avenue. Protest organizer
Florence Roth asserted
that the blockade would
resume in full force “if the
Department didn’t follow
through on its word to do
something.”
The Long Island Star
Journal reported the response
across Queens on
new published Kinsey Report
on Human Sexuality.
The modern reader should
brace themselves for the
reaction.
The paper firmly stated
that men and women
throughout Queens showed
“more skepticism than interest”
in the report. According
to the majority
of those the Star Journal
interviewed, women were
“unable to provide honest
answers.” A Douglaston
woman noted, “The average
woman wouldn’t answer,
and those that would
probably wouldn’t tell the
truth.” Similarly, a doctor
from Astoria, whose
patients included many
women, asserted that “only
a fraction of Kinsey’s female
interviewees—in his
estimation two or three
percent—would actually
be truthful” while a proprietor
of a billiard hall
in Flushing put it bluntly
stating women weren’t
capable of an accurate account
of anything.
And yet a Maspeth woman
stood out, stating that
she approved of the study
and would be happy to cooperate
while from Astoria
shared the same view,
stating “the research is a
much needed thing.”
That’s the way it was in
August, 1953.
Editor’s note: Only
through the narrative of
history can we truly appreciate
far we have come in
two generations and how
fortunate society continues
its march onward.
For further info, call the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society at 718-278-0700 or
www.astorialic.org.
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LAST WEEK’S TOP STORY:
Black Lives Matter demonstrators protest at PBA
President Pat Lynch’s Bayside home
SUMMARY: Bayside’s Black Lives Matter group, along with
other groups from Queens and around the city, marched toward
the home of Pat Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent
Association, on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
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