The publisher/politician William Randolph Hearst had an on-again off-again relationship with the New York City political machine known as Sons of St. Tammany. Tammany opposed Hearst in both his bids for Mayor. The 1905 election was extremely close, and it is thought that Tammany had minions voting for George McClellan multiple times, while votes for Hearst were being thrown in the East River.
Hearst did have Tammany backing for the 1906 Gubernatorial election, but former Governor Teddy Roosevelt pulled out all the stops to help his party mate, sending Elihu Root to denounce Hearst. Especially damaging was the claim that Hearst had caused the assassination of William McKinley by permitting Ambrose Bierce to publish a quatrain about the 1900 assassination of Kentucky’s Governor: The bullet that pierced Goebel’s breast,
Can not be found in all the West;
Good reason, it is speeding here.
To stretch McKinley on his bier.
NYC’s East River is not really a river. It is an estuary. An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.
The East River of New York City is an estuary connecting Upper New York Bay and Long Island Sound. Long Island Sound is at its north end, and Upper New York Bay is at its south end.
Long Island is the most populated island in any U.S. state or territory, and the 18th-most populous island in the world (ahead of Ireland, Jamaica, and Hokkaidō). Its population is over 7.8 million, with density of 5,571 inhabitants per square mile. If Long Island geographically constituted an independent metropolitan statistical area, it would rank fourth most populous in the United States; while if it were a U.S. state, Long Island would rank 13th in population and first in population density. It contains over 40% of the population of New York State in 3.8% of the state’s territory.
According to the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Maine (1985), because the East River is not a river, Long Island is not an island, and therefore is struck from the list of the world’s most populous islands.
During early settlement of New York City, East River used to be called Hell Gate, an Anglicization of the Dutch Hellegat meaning bright strait. Because explorers found navigation hazardous in this New World place of rocks and converging tide-driven currents (from the Long Island Sound, Harlem River strait, Upper Bay of New York Harbor, and lesser channels, some of which have been filled), the Anglicization stuck. Today, Hell Gate is the portion of the East River that is east of Wards Island, between Wards Island Park and Astoria Park on Brooklyn. The Hell Gate Bridge spanning Hell Gate is named the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge.
The Hellespont is a name formerly used for what is now called the Dardanelles, one of two narrow channels separating Asian from European Turkey. The more well-known channel is the Bosporus, located at Istanbul, with the Sea of Marmara between the Hellespont and the Bosporus.
I thought an island is any land mass entirely surrounded by water. What is Long Island, if not an island?
In play:
Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, victor of the Battle of Gettysburg as commanding officer of the U.S. Army’s Army of the Potomac, was born in Cadiz, Spain to expatriate American parents.
Cádiz, which fit the definition of island off-and-on over the centuries , was ideally situated for Phoenician traders venturing beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Continuously occupied since the Phoenician outpost, it is now sometimes called Europe’s oldest city.
We may need a lawyer to explain the details of why it mattered but apparently Long Island was judged part of the mainland because* the East River was too shallow to be navigated.*
The Last Outpost is a 1951 Technicolor film Western directed by Lewis R. Foster, set in the American Civil War with brothers on opposite sides. The cast includes Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming.
Ronald Reagan is presumed to be a descendant of an O’Riagain sept, but it’s not clear whether his sept is the O’Riagains of Meath, named after Raigain mac Fergna mac Angus of the O’Neill family, or the O’Riagains of Thomond, named after Riagain mac Donn mac Cennetig, descendant of an ancient King of Munster.
A Y-chromosome test might clarify the descent, assuming none of the relevant agnates were cuckolded.
Al Lewis, the actor best known as Grandpa on the sitcom The Munsters ran as Green Party candidate for Governor of New York in 1998. In that race he sought to be listed on the ballot as Grandpa Al Lewis, arguing that he was most widely known by that name. His request was rejected by the Board of Elections, a decision upheld in court against his challenge.
Despite this setback, he achieved one of his campaign objectives. His total of 52,533 votes exceeded the threshold of votes set by New York law (50,000) and hence guaranteed the Green Party of New York an automatic ballot line for the next four years.
Al Lewis was also a noted basketball scout who specialized in helping high school players get connected with the “right” colleges where they could excel. Among the players he was linked to were Chuck Cooper, the first black player drafted in the NBA, Solly Walker of St. John’s and Scott May of Indiana.
St. John’s University’s team nickname was the St. John’s Redmen, which referenced the red uniforms worn by its teams in competition. The name was interpreted as a Native American reference in the 1960s, and the university did have a mascot (adorned in Native American dress), which eventually led to the team’s name change to the Red Storm. The team’s current mascot is Johnny the Thunderbird, a reference to another St John’s nickname, the Johnnies .
The Ford Thunderbird was an automobile that was manufactured by Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005. From its introduction to its phaseout, Ford produced over 4.4 million Thunderbirds.
The thunderbird is part of Native American legend, particularly in, but not restricted to, the Pacific Northwest, so the team mentioned above is still likely in hot water with some tribes. The thunderbird is a symbol of power and strength in Indian art, song and folklore.
The Minnetonka Thunderbird moccasin was introduced in 1955 in gift shops across the country. The distinctive shoes were made by hand using soft leather and featured beads in a traditional Native American Thunderbird pattern.
By the way I’m very surprised at the supposed fact that the East River is too shallow to be navigated. For many years I’ve seen it navigated by barges, cruise boats, party boats and ferries.
The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, commonly known as the Thunderbirds, were established in 1953 and have flown five different kinds of fighter jets over the years in thousands of aerial demonstrations. Since 1983, they have flown F-16 Fighting Falcons.
, was ideally situated for Phoenician traders venturing beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Continuously occupied since the Phoenician outpost, it is now sometimes called Europe’s oldest city.