Just a day after posting a blog about what the 60s were like, @saralyall retweets a young journalist's Tweet (@emmaesquared) about a somewhat implausible headline and sub-heading.
The NYT in the 60s was 10¢ and the then-standard eight columns wide. They then, as now, tended to not trumpet salacious murders, and shied away from reporting things that might have seemed humorous takes on the foibles of mankind. So when a front page headline and sub-headline, despite being condensed into the width of what was needed to get eight columns to a page goes:
22 HELD IN MELEE
IN WASHINGTON SQ,
Disorder Set Off By Arrest
of Boy Who Climbed Tree
to Get Pet Squirrel
a double take is a natural reaction. The story jumps to Page 28 where complete details are provided. Lots of quotes. No photos. Today there would be photos.
Washington Square Park is where it's always been, and it's always been a bit of a free-spirited place. Adjacent to NYU buildings, the park is always filed with the youth and the concerns of the day. If the air was bit blue from marijuana smoke in the 60s, there's no reason to think it is otherwise today.
In typical one-thing-leads-to-another fashion, at about 5 P.M., a 17-year-old boy, John Angel, climbs the tree to retrieve his pet squirrel that slipped the leash, gets arrested by the cops—who are not met with glee by the occupants of the park (This is era of calling cops "pig.")—leading a young woman to climb the tree in protest to the lad being "roughed up" as he's lead away in handcuffs, that leads to two other people to climb the tree in protest (protest was a VERY big thing in the 60s) that leads to coaxing two of these people down, but still leaving a stubborn one up there who gets poked by a 10-foot boat hook after the Emergency Services Unit is called and a net is flung out at the base of the tree, while a crowd of now 300 has gathered to watch the cops get this individual down, to then see the fellow jump into the net and be set upon by a scrum of cops—"it was solid blue" Miss Shirley Herman, a 26-year-old writer tells the reporter, pummeling away, to then have a squad of 10 or 12 cops charge the scene swinging their nightsticks to disperse the crowd—"instant riot" as Miss. Herman tells us.
This is did not go over well with the community of folks who were in the park at the time. Further hell broke out. For the want of a squirrel a city erupts.
It was not until 11 o'clock that evening that the park was reopened for the public. The squad of police that came in "swinging their nightsticks" was what was then called the T.P.F., the Tactical Police, Force, a unit called in to deal with what were then protests and demonstrations, and with the Vietnam War not being very popular, there were plenty of demonstrations in that era.
To give you an idea of the T.P.F,'s way of dealing with things, you only have to listen to the quote of Deputy Inspector James T. Sullivan in charge of the T.P.F. and the 100 men at the scene—"force is inherent in police action."
The reference to the "nightstick" is to a piece of police equipment that was eventually phased out and replaced by a baton with a handle carried in the belt. The handle was designed to create less impact when someone is struck with the baton.
Nightsticks were straight, made of hickory, an extremely hard wood, and were topped with a leather strap that allowed the patrolman to twirl as well as hold the nightstick. In earlier times, that were used to bang on the sidewalk to alert other cops to respond. A whack with a nightstick was attention getting.
Ironically, the squirrel story is adjacent to a story on the police use of "call boxes" those green boxes on light poles that were used as another signaling device. The boxes could also be accessed by the public to make calls for help. This was all before the 9-1-1 era, and certainly before cell phones. There are no longer call boxes
The adjacent story told of bombs being placed in the boxes, and that the police were advised to no longer use them because of a potential booby trap. The 60s were full of explosions as well.
Sometime in the early 70s I believe, the T.P.F. was disbanded. They were seen as too rough in their approach to situations.
In a way, the story reminds me of the fellow who recently started to climb the outside of Trump Tower using suction cups in the hope of reaching the presidential candidate Donald J. Trump to have a discussion. It made for great TV coverage, especially when the police removed glass panels and left the bugger with nowhere to go but to approach the opening where the police were waiting for him. The swiftness he was then pulled in by a harnessed E.S.U. cop who looked like a linebacker was almost comical as well as dramatic. His reception on the floor, outside of the view of the cameras, in an Ivanka Trump shoe showroom I'm sure did not go well for him. The trip to Bellevue and psychiatric evaluation followed.
People with odd animals as pets is not a new story in New York. There is the urban legend of an alligator coming up through someone's toilet—a somewhat debunked story. But the following photo posted by @bklynbckstretch, Teresa Genaro, a racing journalist and teacher, is the real deal and clearly shows that even extremely odd animals don't seem to cause the ruckus you would expect. Consider her very recent photo of two guys in the subway whose pets came along with them.
As the 60s progressed to the 70s, police responses to situations became more measured and less physically confrontational. A 1975 bank robbery that led to an 8 hour hostage situation filled with a series of rambling, wild, inconsistent demands ended when the suspect demanded that a shopping cart with food, cigarettes and beer be delivered. The suspect, Ray Olsen, eventually drank several beers and became groggy and started to fall asleep. The police moved in.
Not many people ask me anymore, "what were the 60s like?" But when they do, I don't go into all the assassinations, protests and demonstrations that were indeed regular, nor do I talk about how men then didn't type in the office. I just tell people, "things were hot, there was little air conditioning."
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
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