Gertrude Ederle led a long and amazing life. Born in New York City in 1905 to German immigrant parents who ran an Upper West Side butcher shop, Ederle became an Olympic swimming champion at age 19 in 1924, and in August 1926, a century ago this month, became the first woman – and the fifth person – to successfully swim the English Channel.
Henry Ederle promised his daughter a red roadster if she did it, and in a companion boat he and Trudy’s sister shouted reminders about the car as encouragement on the turbulent route from France to England. [Read more…] about Gertrude Ederle: The Queen of the Waves Hits a Speed Bump
U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester) 
“After more than a decade together, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his longtime girlfriend, Sandra Lee, announced on Wednesday that they are ending their relationship. The two confirmed the split in a statement.” – New York Times, Sept. 25, 2019.
Seventy years ago this month, a lower Manhattan courtroom provided the stage for a remarkable confrontation – much of which played out in New York – that symbolized the frustration of a nation that had recently won the Second World War but felt more insecure than ever.
Ogden Rogers “Brownie” Reid, the six-term former congressman, ambassador, and New York Herald Tribune editor who died recently, was a link to a bygone era.
Fifty years ago this month, John Vliet Lindsay, 103rd mayor of New York and national paragon of urban progressivism, faced ruin in Rego Park.
Andrea Stewart-Cousins is positioned to become the first woman and first African-American state senate majority leader in New York state history after the New Year. Ms. Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers resident, is currently the Democratic leader in the senate, a chamber her party will now control, with 39 seats out of 63, following the November elections.
One candidate was the incumbent, owner of a glittering resumé featuring roles in the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Truman administrations and a veteran of two tries for the Presidency, most recently with former President Truman’s overt backing. The other candidate, 17 years younger, was an electoral neophyte but a past holder of positions in the FDR, Truman and Eisenhower administrations.
A century ago on September 29, 1918, Allied forces breached the formidable 400-mile Hindenburg Line, spelling the beginning of the end for Imperial Germany in World War I. In the vanguard that cool, misty morning were two American divisions under British-Australian command. The 30th division, nicknamed “Old Hickory” after Andrew Jackson, was drawn from North and South Carolina and Tennessee National Guard regiments.