The Counter Cultural Tour of NYC

In the long illustrious history of the Italian-American experience within the United States, the names of Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, Rocky Marciano, Mother Maria Cabrini, Madonna, and mob bosses like Al Capone and John Gotti are often invoked. Pictured here however is perhaps the most unsung and OFTEN DISRESPECTED hero in all of Italian-American history, Ettore Boiardi (1897-1985) Born in the Northern Italian town of Piacenza, Ettore and his brother Paolo arrived at E...Continue reading

In the 355-year history of New York City (394 years if we factor in New Amsterdam) only one Mayor was shot while serving in office. August 9, 1910 (109 years ago) New York City Mayor, William Jay Gaynor while boarding the ocean liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse via Hoboken, New Jersey was the victim of an assassination attempt, when James J. Gallagher (a former night watchman who Mayor Gaynor discharged from duty in July of that year) produced a pistol, and shot Gaynor ...in the neck. William Gaynor would survive the initial attempt on his life with a bullet lodged in his neck. Three years later at the end of his term in September 1913; before running for re-election, Gaynor would take a cruise to Europe on the RMS Baltic, and Gaynor suddenly died while lounging in a deck chair on September 10th. Doctors concluded that Gaynor suffered from a heart attack, and that the bullet in his neck played a minor role in his passing. To date, William Jay Gaynor remains the only post-consolidation Mayor* to die while in office. Gaynor is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. (*Consolidation happened in 1898, when Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, & Staten Island would merge to form the current geographical boundaries of what is modern day New York City)

On July 28th, 1945 A B25 bomber inadvertently struck floors 78-81 of the Empire State Building, killing 14, and costing the building $1M worth of damages. In spite of this most horrific tragedy, a related episode of a miraculous survival was also recorded. 20 year old elevator operator, Betty Lou Oliver, not only survived the impact of the World War II era bomber; she also survived a 79 FLOOR PLUMMET in the elevator that she was trapped in, after several elevator lines were severed when the plane made its impact. Betty would be credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the person to survive the highest/longest free fall from a elevator. Mz. Oliver passed away in 1999 at age 74 survived by three children, and seven grandchildren.