Oct. 1, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
After being obscured by graffiti, a commemorative sign to a tragedy on the East River at Astoria Park has been replaced by the Parks Department.
The sign tells the story of the General Slocum disaster, a steamboat fire on June 15, 1904. It describes a harrowing sequence of misfortunes that led to more than 1,000 deaths – the highest death toll of any disaster in New York City before the Sept. 11 attacks.
The sign’s removal was noticed by the blog Glimpses of Paradise.
On the day it sank, the General Slocum traveled up the East River from the Lower East Side, carrying about 1,300 people, including many children. By the time it reached Astoria, a fire had broken out.
An untrained crew was unable to properly alert the captain and passengers of the fire or manage the chaos. Many were jumping from the boat by the time it passed through Hell Gate. Those who wore life preservers were not saved – the boat’s preservers were rotted and pulled wearers underwater rather than buoying them.
Hundreds of bodies washed up on Astoria’s shoreline.
As the Slocum passed Randall’s Island, the captain was finally alerted of the fire, which had begun to consume the boat. Ultimately, it was beached and burned to the waterline.
As part of the Parks Department’s Historical Signs Project, the sign at Astoria Park was installed in 2004 on Shore Boulevard across from the World War 1 memorial.
However, after collecting spray paint and marker graffiti that could not be removed by hand, the Parks Department decided to replace the sign, spokesperson Meghan Lalor said.
The sign was removed in August and a new one was installed on Thursday.
Reach reporter Jackie Strawbridge at [email protected]
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4 Comments
the replacement sign is so haphazard and shoddy.
it is just a printed sheet of paper with a flimsy piece of plastic bolted on top of the plywood. there is already moisture under the plastic and it will soon be moldy and need to be replaced again. i guess they didnt want to spend much time or effort , knowing that the lowlife losers who hang out and litter up shore blvd. will likely just spraypaint it again.
It takes a special kind of scumbag to deface a memorial. I know, I know graffiti is art.
Spet all that money when it could have been cleaned. Oh boy more city B.S
Not sure what kind of pathetic losers deface a memorial.
Many thanks to the people at the Astoria Historical Society who were instrumental in working with the Parks Dept to get this sign replaced in (for this city) record breaking time.