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I found this on the SmokingGun.com. It's rare film footage from the plane crash that happened on 7th Avenue in the early 1960's I believe. Interesting to see the neighborhood back then. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/tsgtv/index.html?id=TSGV5-38&link=TSGTVeflk
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and there was me thinking I had slept through some major incident
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Yeah, that was some tragedy. My husband has an aunt in law who was living here then and she remembers that day very clearly, says the sidewalks shook, etc. etc.. That spot remained empty for so many years.
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My grandfather, back when we owned the original Purity Restaurant, used to tell me stories about that day. He was almost at that spot. He used to go to the old theater on Flatbush in the afternoons. The owners used to let him in for free, because he would go in and sleep for a few hours. He would walk every day about that time. The area has definitely changed in 40 years.
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Anonymous
Posts: 9,622I was telling somebody about that accident one day when we were walking near the spot and a lady in front of us turned around and said she was there and it was awful. -
I played the clip and what struck me was how out dated that "newsreel" format has become. The authoritative male voice over the shmaltzy music just are not part of the way news is reported now. I know I am dating myself but when I was a kid I remember going to see a movie and as well as the cartoons first they showed these kind of news reels. I had also forgotten that the other plane landed up on Staen Island.
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Did the brownstones that this crash destroyed become Methodist Hospital? Or was Methodist always there?
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The crash was on 7th Avenue and Sterling Place, I never knew Methodist to be there, i thought the plane destroyed some brownstones one of which was a funeral home?
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No, the Purity Restaurant was was way farther down on 7th Avenue until a few years ago. Close to Flatbush.
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the purity was at union and 7th ave
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There was only one survivor, right? The little boy?"...you can choose the rain....but I choose the sun..." - N. Costa
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Anonymous
Posts: 9,622Whatchuwant » There was only one survivor, right? The little boy?
I think the little boy died shortly after. Veets - I agree with the newsreel style....It is very outdated.. Duffy's Sis...I don't think I ever saw the footage (just pics). Thanks for posting -
Whatchuwant » There was only one survivor, right? The little boy?
yeah, but he died either the next day or the day after at Methodist -
There's a new building on the corner of 7th and Sterling (finally built after many years as a vacant lot), and the Vermeil down Sterling replaced the ironically named Pillar of Fire Church, which was destroyed by the plane as well. This was the first major air disaster in US history, and there is no plaque commemorating this event. The only reason for this is that it might detract from the apartment value. I think if we all combine our powers, it IS possible for us to successfully petition for a plaque of some fort on this site. It's a shame City Planner Ed Rogowsky isn't alive any more, he lived right on this block and certainly would have been able to help us.
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There is a plaque in the Chapel at Methodist Hospital.Don't get me started
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Whatchuwant » There was only one survivor, right? The little boy?
I think the little boy died shortly after. And I believe the Methodist has the change that was in his pocket. -
Shishkab posted this photo before on Bklynian [quote="shishkab"]... my great uncle was a motorcycle cop at the 78th precinct when this happened, and he often tells the story about that day. the photo comes from NYC-architecture.com.
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I was there, just a few blocks away when it happened. It was a gray, foggy day with snow on the ground and sleet coming down. There was a weird noise and I looked up to see a plane wobbling approximately over Manual Training/John Jay HS. After the plane hit, it was a terrible scene. There were flames way into the sky, blood in the snow. The little boy, Stephen Baltz, did survive for some hours, maybe into the next day. The change that he was carrying in his pocket was included in a plaque that was next to the elevator in the lobby, but I believe it is now in the chapel of Methodist Hospital.
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I wasn't there but I remember the newspaper account. I was about 12 and lived in the suburbs on Long Island. I remember being in the kitchen, reading the story in the Herald Tribune. It made a big impression on me. Then years later when I moved to the Slope, there was the vacant lot where the plane fell. It gave me a shiver to connect it to that story long ago.
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hard to believe that was 1960 but apparently 'tis accurate.giggity giggity
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This shivery story was part of my childhood.. I was 11yrs old in 1960 and we lived in Midwood. Park Slope was a big unknown to me. It was only much later in life that passing that vacant lot always brought up that shivery feeling.. and even with a building sitting there ..the feeling doesn't go away. For me I know the story stayed with me because of the child that survuved the crash but died the next day.
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veets » I played the clip and what struck me was how out dated that "newsreel" format has become. The authoritative male voice over the shmaltzy music just are not part of the way news is reported now.
I was kinda thinking that not much has changed. Granted, the music is Supermany and wouldn't fly for a second today, but the voice... That's just a different delivery of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, or even what's her name... I think the only way to report news is the way those old reels did: get the footage, show the footage, authoritatively and objectively describe the footage, move on... I also really like that as I'm writing this the clip we were linked to has ended and the next one in my que is the one where that 3 year old smokes a bowl. Here's the link: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/tsgtv/index.html?id=TSGV5-38&link=TSGTVeflk Coincidence or just good data crunching and profiling? Actually.. looks like that link won't take you there... if you want it you'll find it. -
Stephen Baltz was 10 years old and was traveling alone from Chicago to New York. His mother and sister had taken a flight a few days earlier, but because Stephen had a cold, it was decided that he would stay back with his father until he felt better. (The family was going to visit the mother's parents in Westchester.) Stephen was still alive at Methodist, when his father flew in to be by his side. Very sad.
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The Park Slope Reader did a really good article about the crash a few years ago, you can find it on Archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20031223075957/http://www.psreader.com/article44.htmlI've used sarcasm before. It makes me feel really smart.
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Drunken.. I don't listen to those broadcasters so for all I know you are right. I am more of of NY Times, NPR not mainstream media person.
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Squindar: that article is really interesting. Thank you for including. I would love to see the plaque at the chapel.
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49 Years ago today. http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2009/12/today-in-history-dual-tragedies-in.htmlDon't get me started
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ringrunner » 49 Years ago today. http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2009/12/today-in-history-dual-tragedies-in.html
Thanks for posting that! -
Thanks for posting this ring. Have they ever put up a plaque at the actual sight of the crash? I ahave never seen one and always found it sad that it wasn't done.
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Interesting (and rare for that time)archival video from Gabe Pressman, Channel 4 News:
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I just spotted this today. No idea why a British newspaper is running these photos of the crash today - perhaps the photos have just been released, but thought it was interesting and folk might like to see.
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Always a sad anniversary. there are still people around who either witnessed this or read it in the news... I was 13 but it is still in my storage unit of bad images in my brain. I remember all the press coverage on the child that briefly survived most of all.
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There really should be a memorial on the crash site.
"Clamato! Straight Up! No chasah!
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