Go To Work As Usual
Negroes from Harlem and other Negro districts traveled
to and from their work in other parts of the city
yesterday, and carried on their duties without
molestation.
In midtown Manhattan, Negroes went about their work as
usual, although zoot- suiters, usually numerous in the
Broadway district, were conspicuous by their absence.
Police Commissioner Valentine said last night the
detectives of the sabotage squad were investigating
reports they received before the riot that organized
gangs of hoodlums from certain Southern cities had been
sent here to cause trouble and had been filtering into
Harlem for some time. As yet, He asserted, they have not
been able to confirm the reports.
Army intelligence officers are understood to be
cooperating closely with the police. A number of them
were in Harlem last night under the command of Maj.
William A. Sullivan, a former New York captain of
detectives and a veteran of the First World War, who
returned to the Army at the
beginning of this war.
The station house looked like an arsenal, with all the
equipment, present needed to quell a major riot.
Searchlight, loudspeaker and emergency trucks were
provided by the police, M.P. Trucks by the Army, and
other vehicles by the Police and Fire Departments.
Heavily armed white and Negro policemen, soldiers and
volunteers filled and surrounded the station house and
patrolled the district, which was blocked off on all
sides, with almost all traffic rerouted around it.
The police had every conceivable unit on hand, including
emergency and riot squads, motor cycle and mounted men,
radio car crews and detectives. Patrol wagons,
ambulances and Fire Department emergency and salvage
squads were present.
All over the district policemen were stationed on street
corners, in hallways, on rooftops and in automobiles
parked in the streets.
Mayor La Guardia, who characterized the disorders as a
"shame" that had been brought down upon the City of New
York made five radio broadcasts in which he called upon
the law-abiding citizens of Harlem to keep off the
streets, promised to protect the lives and property of
all citizens, and warned hoodlum and thieves that
further crime and violence would be severely dealt with.
He also warned residents of other parts of the city to
stay out of Harlem for the time being.
Staying on the job virtually all night Sunday and all
day yesterday, and canceling a trip to Washington, the
Mayor made several visits to Harlem police headquarters
at the West 123d Street Station, on the fringe of the
trouble area, toured the district, and held frequent
conferences with police., Army officials and Negro
leaders. He had only one hour's sleep which he took
yesterday afternoon.
Although the Army sent in military police and trucks to
evacuate all soldiers form the district, the Mayor said
yesterday afternoon that the situation was under control
and that there was no occasion for a declaration of
martial law or for asking the military to intervene.
Only through an application by Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, on
the ground that the local authorities had lost control
of the situation, could the Army intervene.
Governor Dewey, who was at the Roosevelt Hotel last
night, kept in close touch with the situation in Harlem,
but had not received any request from the Mayor to call
on President Roosevelt for the Army or to mobilize the
New York (State) Guard.However, it was learned that
at the Governor's direction Maj. Gen. William Ottmann,
commander of the Guard, had ordered 8,000 members of the
Guard to report immediately for drills in the various
armories of the metropolitan area where they can be
readily available for riot duty if needed. They are all
from this area, including 1,500 who are now in training
at Camp Smith, Peekskill, N.Y., but will arrive here
today. All 8,000, including a Negro regiment with
headquarters at the Fifteenth Regiment Armory at 143d
Street and Fifth Avenue, will be in the armories "until
further notice." They can move into action from the
armories within thirty minutes.
6,000 Police Sent Into Area
The Mayor and Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine
mobilized 6,000 policemen (about one-third of the city's
force) for Harlem duty by canceling all leaves and days
off and calling in foot and mounted patrolmen,
motorcycle officers, radio cars and detectives from all
the five boroughs. Police poured into the district all
day by subway, truck, emergency car and patrol wagon.
Maj. Gen. Robert M. Danford, commandant of the City
Patrol Corps, also sent extra men to the district.
Regular and special police wore air-raid helmets to
protect them from missiles.
At an afternoon conference with military authorities the
Mayor assured Maj. Gen. Thomas A. Terry, commanding the
Second Service Command, and Col. John McNulty, provost
marshal in charge of the military police, that the
disorders were "all cleaned up."
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