101 West 127th Street, c. 1939-1941.
1 media/nynyma_rec0040_1_01912_0029_thumb.jpg 2024-05-31T01:37:11+00:00 Stephen Robertson a1bf8804093bc01e94a0485d9f3510bb8508e3bf 1 2 De Thomas' store would have been in the storefront at the rear of 339 Lenox Avenue, on the left of the image, under the balconies. Source: DOF: Manhattan 1940s Tax Photos (New York City Municipal Archives). plain 2024-05-31T01:37:42+00:00 nynyma_rec0040_1_01912_0029 20180308 112436+0000 Stephen Robertson a1bf8804093bc01e94a0485d9f3510bb8508e3bfThis page has tags:
- 1 2023-12-13T11:08:36+00:00 Anonymous Department of Finance, Manhattan 1940s Tax Photos: Lenox Avenue Anonymous 4 plain 2023-12-13T16:17:17+00:00 Anonymous
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Frank DeThomas' candy store looted
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Around 9:55 PM, Frank DeThomas closed and locked his candy store at 101 West 127th Street, at the rear of 339 Lenox Avenue, he told the Magistrate's Court, and likely headed to his home in White Plains. Crowds appeared on the blocks of Lenox Avenue north of West 125th Street not long after DeThomas left. Sometime during the violence that spanned the blocks as far north as West 134th Street, the windows of DeThomas' store were broken. Later, at about 2:45 AM, Officer William Leahy of the 28th Precinct allegedly saw Joseph Wade, a twenty-four-year-old Black "candy boy" coming out of the store. Leahy arrested him and found several toy pistols worth sixty cents in Wade's possession, according to the Magistrate's Court affidavit, or $70 of goods, according to later reports of Wade's sentencing in the New York Age and New York Times. Wade lived at 148 West 127th Street near the other end of the block of West 127th Street on which the store was located.
Wade was clearly not the only person to have looted the store as DeThomas filed a claim for $745.25 in damages. DeThomas was among the twenty white store-owners who filed claims for damages from the city for failing to protect their businesses identified in the New York Sun and New York Amsterdam News. By the time the city comptroller heard testimony from those bringing suits, 106 owners had sought damages. DeThomas was not among those whose testimony appeared in newspaper stories about that proceeding nor did he appear in any of the trials to resolve the claims. The claim for $745.25 in losses was just above the median reported claim of $733. The city lost the court cases, so DeThomas likely was awarded a small amount of damages. It was not clear if he was able to remain in business. The MCCH business survey did not include any businesses at 101 West 127th Street in the second half of 1935. The Tax Department photograph of the address taken between 1939 and 1941 showed a business, but the angle and distance did not allow any details of the store to be identified.
Wade appeared in the Harlem Magistrates Court on March 20, when Magistrate Renaud ordered him held for the grand jury without bail. While few of those charged after the disorder were denied bail, Wade had been convicted three times since 1926, including once for unlawful entry resulting from a charge of burglary. The grand jury indicted him for burglary on March 22. Five days later, he appeared in the Court of General Sessions having agreed to plead guilty to the lesser offense of petit larceny. Almost all those indicted for looting agreed to such plea bargains. On April 8, Judge Donnellan sentenced him to six months in the Workhouse, a decision reported in the press as well as recorded in the 28th Precinct police blotter. -
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2:30 AM to 3:00 AM
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Sporadic looting continued on Lenox Avenue north of 125th Street and likely on 7th Avenue as well. While there was only one reported incident during this time, there were still people on the street. The damage already done to businesses provided them opportunities to take merchandise despite the presence of police.
On Lenox Avenue and West 127th Street, where the flying glass that had injured William Brown a few minutes earlier indicated stores were still being attacked, Officer William Leahy saw Joseph Wade, a twenty-four-year-old Black man, coming out of Frank De Thomas’ candy store. The business had been closed since just before 10:00 PM. Over the course of the violence in this area of Lenox Avenue in the hours since, holes had been smashed in the display windows, the door forced open, and merchandise taken. The store was just off the avenue, at 101 West 127th Street, so Leahy was most likely stationed at the intersection rather than driving by in a radio car. He was close enough to arrest Wade. Leahy allegedly found several toy pistols worth sixty cents in his possession that De Thomas identified as coming from the store. Wade lived close by at 148 West 127th Street, so may have been among those on Lenox Avenue watching what was happening for some time.
While Wade remained on Lenox Avenue, others who had been on the streets were returning home. Fred Bain went to his apartment in 227 West 127th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, before he called for an ambulance. The forty-four-year-old man had lacerations on his forehead that he told the doctor who attended him he received during the disorder. Other residents hit by police batons or flying glass appear to have returned to their homes without seeking medical treatment from ambulances or at the hospital.