The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1940-08-24

with its gigantic amusement palaces
and celebrated board walk bnt
Luna Park is an illuminated pleasure
park which was formerly Gotham's
postcard motif number one until the
Fair came along :. it was interesting
to note brokerage offices along the
boardwalk where the unhappy chs
toners could still sell their shirts and
walk home in their bathing suits
there are more thrills speeding ALONG
the super-highway systems of New
York especially down Riverside Drive
all the way past the mighty Hudson
River especially at night when YOU
can see the glittering necklace of the
lights of Palisades Amusement Park
on the Jersey side and the riding
lights of men-of-war swinging QUIETLY
at anchorage in the lower river
municipal regulations require the use
of DINNERS on all headlights inside
the city limits because of the driving
pressure created by the tremendous
speed with which the motor vehicles
thunder down the highways Won
pass the brobdingnagian bulks of the
S. S. Queen Mary and the S. S. Nor
mandie hawsered down to their
wharves silently rusting in their cam
outage gray paint while squads of
husky patrolmen maintain a 24-hour
vigil to prevent sabotage from every
possible approach to their steel ter
mlnals . police are even perched
upon the upper viaduct to circumvent
the possibility of missiles being
thrown from automobiles as thew
speed past . downtown, the gen
darmes very efficiently untangle the
maze of traffic which bottlenecks at
the various bridge ramps and a word
about the expert services of the men
in blue should be quite appropriate at
this point . they stroll their beats
with holstered revolvers swinging
from the hip as they cut a fine figure
in midnight blue uniforms of can.
blouse and trousers, wearing black
neckties =. again they pursue speed
violators along the avenues mounted
on high-pOwered Indian motorcycles
others ride the intersections and
control crowds astride trained horses
=. still more patrol the city in super
charged coupes painted green and
white responding to alarms flashed
over their two-way radio sets with
sirens shrilling and scheeching wide
open as they converge upon the point
of danger . novel feature is the
installation of small metal boxes con-
tanning radios along the various
bridgeheads where police are station
ed to direct traffic and intercept any
cars bearing license plate numbers
which are regularly broadcast from
headquarters . the men who walk
the beats swing long, loaded billies
as they keep the public peace and
woe to any recalcitrants who are be-
ligerent enough to warrant the use of
their nut crackers there is a
splendid predominance of colored of
ticers and men throughout the Harlem
precincts and they are perfectly able
to maintain better order and discipline
among their own people with fine re-
suits e. Harlem is indeed proud of
its officers in high police positions who
have risen from the ranks through
bravery and merit while visiting
New York you must take dip in the
swimming pools either at the
beautiful Lido Pool on 10th Street
off Seventh Avenue where the theatre
cal folks gather the morning after to
minimize the head poundings of the
previous evening among the gay
young set who disport from diving
boards and surface plunges a
spraying fountain in the center lends
the proper Venetian atmosphere to
the scene and often social clubs en-
gage the Lido for dancing and SWIM
ming q. . . and then there is the su-
preme achievement of the City of New
York Department of Parks the
comparatively new and luxurious
Colonial Pool constructed and oper-
ated for the sole benefit and recrea-
ton of the people of the Harlem COM
munity which surrounds it on all sides
located at 10th Street and Bradhurst
Avenue on Sugar Hill now let
me introduce to you Mr.. Reginald
Austin, colored war veteran who
successfully passed the civil service
examinations and was appointed Su-
pervisor of Park Operations over the
Colonial Parks project which envelops
an area of twelve city blocks set
aside for purely recreational purposes
developed in 1886 and maintains a
regular personnel of forty persons
both colored and white . Mr.. Austin
has likeable personality and knows
his business l was especially in
terested in the aquatic facilities and
he showed me around from the crows
nest to the keel of the S. S. Colonial
the municipal swimming pool