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This Week in Rockland: Newspaper Excerpts: Flashback Friday: Week of July 12

2024-07-12 TWIR Image-Fort Comfort

July 11, 1874 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal

DEVASTATION
       A friend of ours at Pearl River, in this county, writes us that the hailstorm of Saturday afternoon was one of the most destructive in its results that has ever occurred in his neighborhood. He informs us that his conservatories were completely unroofed, and the contents looked as if they had been put through a huge mortar; everything beneath the glass being destroyed beyond recovery. The windows in the Aetna Sewing machine Works, exposed to the storm, were battered to pieces, and other property in the vicinity utterly ruined.
       West and south of Pearl River the effects of the storm were still more appalling. Between the above place and Westwood, hailstones ten and twelve inches in circumference came crushing down, and everything exposed to their violence was destroyed. Slate roofs at Park Ridge, Pascack, Hillsdale, and Westwood were nearly or quite ruined; buggy and carriage tops, exposed, were pierced as if by bullets; horses ran away and all windows with a northern and western exposure, together with the blinds, were completely shattered.
       Grass, grain crops and gardens were annihilated, and fruit and forest trees are as bare of leaves to-day as they were last January. A branch of an apple tree brought over by Irving Stephens was shown to us and the bark was peeled from it as clean as it done by a knife.
       Fortunately, the hail belt did not extend over a large scope of country, but where the hail fell destruction followed in its path. Parties who went to view the scene on Sunday assert that tons of hail could have been gathered up even then. A visitation of this description has never before been experienced in this county and we sincerely sympathise [sic] with those who have been deprived of the benefit of their labors in this sudden and ruthless manner.

July 10, 1924 – 100 YEARS AGO
Pearl River News

INN AT PIERMONT IS PADLOCKED BY SHERIFF BROWN — Lessee of Old Fort Comfort Inn Disappears, Owing Many Stores in Community
[Image: Fort Comfort Inn, Piermont-on-Hudson, undated postcard no. 33356, published by Moore & Gibson Co., New York. Printed in Germany. Courtesy of the Piermont Public Library via NYHeritage.org.]
       Old Fort Comfort Inn at Piermont, the scene of many fires and unsuccessful efforts to operate it on a paying basis, in the last few years, is again in the keeping of the Sheriff.
       Following the disappearance this week of the lessee, Charles S. Flynn, after he ran up bills at many stores in the community led Sheriff Brown to take possession of the hotel, when in company with several deputies, he stopped by to serve levies. They found only Miss Lillian Trop, who announced that she was there “to look after Mr. Flynn’s interests.” She had been released under bail several days previous for having passed a bad check and has now disappeared.
       Jack Dalton, known as the manager of the hotel, is also sought by the Sheriff.
       Flynn entertained his guests lavishly while he reigned at the hostelry. Four and five piece bands were on hand at all times and flowers adorned every table. He boasted of previously having had charge of several prominent hotels in New York.

July 11, 1974 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News

LUAU, LONG AN EYESORE, TO BE OFFICE COMPLEX
       The Luau, a former Upper Nyack nightclub and restaurant which was the focus of a lawsuit when Upper Nyack tried to force its demolition because of its derelict condition, has been sold and will be turned into an office building.
       William Iser and Benjamin Lee, builders and owners of the Nyack Manor Nursing Home, Valley Cottage; and Friedwald House, New City; have the Luau property under contract of purchase from the estate of Benjamin Levison and are to take title on Aug. 21.
       But Iser and Lee haven’t waited for the contract to be closed to start cleaning up the Luau. They have already taken out 50 truck-loads of dirt and debris and anticipate that it will be another two weeks before the cleanup is completed.
       The Luau’s condition deteriorated after a fire hit it more than 10 years ago.
       Iser and Lee said they plan to start construction immediately following the cleanup. The village had issued them a special permit to rehabilitate the structure into a general and professional office building.
       One of the conditions of village approval was that after the new owners take title they are to put up $5,000 as a guarantee that the work will be performed, according to Lynne A. Warren, secretary for the Upper Nyack Planning Board, and special counsel for the village in the Luau matter. Another stipulation was that the work was to be completed by June 1, 1975, but Iser and Lee said they hope to have it done by winter.
       But the Luau, which is located on the west side of Route 9W at the northern entrance to Upper Nyack, was badly damaged by fire in Dec. 1963. No effort to repair it was ever made and although windows and entrances of the all-masonry structure were boarded up from time to time, it was repeatedly broken into.
       Upper Nyack authorities, after years of trying to get the owners to rehabilitate or raze the structure, declared the Luau a nuisance and ordered its demolition. The owners contended that the village board, which had acted under a state law, should have done so under a village ordinance. A long legal battle ensued in which the Court of Appeals ultimately upheld the village board.
       The 9,000-square-foot, one-story building has a full basement. Iser said that both floors will be converted into offices and both will be air-conditioned. Aluminum siding will replace the stucco surfacing on the facade of the building. The front of the property will be landscaped and the Luau’s large parking area paved.
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This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan on behalf of the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2024 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.


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