Just Minutes Into His Tenure As Mayor of New York, John Lindsay Had a Crisis on His Hands—The City’S Transit Workers Went on a Strike That Would Last Nearly Two Weeks
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Just minutes into his tenure as Mayor of New York, John Lindsay had a crisis on his hands—the city’s transit workers went on a strike that would last nearly two weeks. Lindsay tried to set an example by walking, saying that his strolls were indicative of a “fun city.” Here, he walks to City Hall, accompanied by boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano) By 1966, fiery Transport Workers Union president Michael J. Quill was look- ing for his “last hurrah.” He got it, antagonizing Lindsay by calling him a “pipsqueak,” and saying the judge who sentenced him to jail could “die in his black robes.” Shortly after the strike was ended, Quill died. (AP Photo) By the end of the 1967 season, Joe Namath had racked up more than 4,000 yards passing, a record, and brought the Jets to their first-ever winning record. But his off-field activities kept him from gaining the trust of teammates, who voted him sixth on the Jets’ team MVP balloting. (AP Photo) On March 1, 1969, a Yankee era ended when outfielder Mickey Mantle decided he would not play anymore, and retired. He received a plaque memo- rializing his achievements at Yankee Stadium in June 1969, with Joe DiMag- gio looking on. Mantle’s retirement broke a string of Yankees stars that went back from DiMaggio to Babe Ruth. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler) In a way, Joe Namath took on Mickey Mantle’s persona as the top rascal on the New York sports scene. Mantle retired as Namath was ascending, but the two became fast friends, even forming an employment agency, "Mantle Men and Namath Girls, Inc.," in August 1969. (AP Photo) Linebacker Sam Huff (70), playing here for Washington against the Giants, had a bitter separation from the Giants before the 1964 season. Huff went on to play five more NFL seasons, and his departure was a catalyst for the Giants’ collapse in the mid-60s—after winning 11 games in 1963, the Giants won 10 games combined over the next three seasons. (AP Photo) Coach Allie Sherman inherited a dynasty when he took over as Giants coach. But as his players aged, Sherman made a series of unpopular trades, and was serenaded with chants of “Good-bye, Al-lie!” by home fans at Yankees Sta- dium, before he was finally let go in September 1969. (AP Photo) Muhammad Ali’s last fight before he was scheduled to be drafted into the Vietnam War took place at Madison Square Garden on March 22, 1967. He faced thirty-four-year-old Zora Folley, whom he called “such a nice, sweet old man,” and knocked him out in the seventh round. (AP Photo) Relative to the rest of the country, New York City avoided the large-scale race riots that became commonplace during the late 60s. In September 1967, a small outbreak took place in Brooklyn after the shooting of a black fourteen- year-old. Two officers were injured, including Sgt. George Hartigan (above) but police quelled the potential riot peaceably. (AP Photo/LB) New York police employed a policy of restraint in riot situations, one rea- son the city avoided a major tragedy. Here, a suspected looter is arrested on the night of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. Where Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ordered his officers to shoot looters, Lindsay, pointing out that most looters were teenagers, famously said, “We are not going to shoot chil- dren in New York City.” (AP Photo) On April 4, 1968, the night that Dr. Martin Luther King was killed, riots hit several cities across the US. In New York, though, the worst damage was limited to looting in Times Square. Here, police arrest a suspect after a shoe store was looted. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler) Unhappy at the prospect of Robert Wagner winning the Democratic nomi- nation for mayor and even unhappier about Comptroller Mario Procaccino, writer Norman Mailer (right) entered the race, with Jimmy Breslin (left) as his running mate. The two attracted 5 percent of the vote. (AP Photo) One teammate who was critical of Namath and his lifestyle in 1970 was mid- dle linebacker Al Atkinson (62), an important cog for the Jets’ defense during the 1968 season. The two were side-by-side in more peaceable times, on the sideline during an October game at Shea Stadium in 1969. (AP Photo “A football player who’s real good doesn’t have to talk,” said enormous Colts defensive lineman Bubba Smith (78) of Joe Namath during Super Bowl week in 1969. But Namath’s talking seemed to give the Jets a psychological advan- tage that pushed them to an incredible 16-7 upset win. (AP Photo/File) Over the course of their time in New York, Joe Namath and John Lindsay went through huge swings of public approval and disdain. In the wake of Super Bowl III, Namath was on an upswing, while Lindsay, here giving Namath a medallion recognizing the Jets’ triumph, was at a low point. (AP Photo) In February 1969, Namath played in a celebrity golf tournament in California. He had begun to grow back his Fu Manchu mustache by then, and very will- ingly posed for a publicity photo to highlight it. (AP Photo) Whatever controversy Joe Namath might have gotten into with his team- mates, after the Super Bowl III win, they were more supportive. Emerson Boozer (right) joined Pete Lammons and Bill Mathis to model clothing on the set of Namath’s short-lived talk show in December 1969. (AP Photo/ Harry Harris) Pitcher Nolan Ryan came on in relief in Game 3 of the 1969 National League playoffs against the Braves, the first-ever postseason baseball game at Shea Stadium, and held on for a 7-4 win that sent the Mets to the World Series. Catcher Jerry Grote joined Ryan on the mound to celebrate. (AP Photo/File) In a dryer moment, Mayor Lindsay congratulated Mets catcher Jerry Grote following the Mets’ win over the Braves in the National League playoff. Later, Grote would be among the players dousing Lindsay with champagne in front of television cameras. Lindsay latched onto the Mets’ run in his re-election bid. (AP Photo) The interior of Bachelors III, the Upper East Side bar owned, in part, by Joe Namath. In the summer of 1969, when the NFL tried to force Namath to sell his stake in the bar because it was frequented by gamblers and underworld figures, Namath refused and briefly retired, before relenting. (AP Photo) The New Madison Square Garden opened in February 1968, and its two primary tenants enjoyed breakthrough seasons. The Rangers, above, had their best winning percentage since World War II in 1967-68. (They are shown here playing a Stanley Cup semifinal series in Chicago.) Two years later, the Knicks were NBA champions. (AP Photo) Forward Bill Bradley, shown during his first workout with the Knicks in December 1967, arrived from Princeton via a two-year stint at Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Bradley never became the high-scoring star many expected, but he was a valuable role player for the Knicks’ champions. (AP Photo) Bill Russell (6) and the Celtics were one of the main obstacles for the Knicks in the Eastern Conference, and eliminated them from the playoffs in 1969. But Russell retired after that season, opening the way for the Knicks in the East. (AP Photo/A.E. Maloof) A vicious Shea Stadium wind forced Joe Namath into one of his worst perfor- mances in the 1969 AFL divisional playoff game, a 13-6 loss to Kansas City in which Namath completed just 14 of 40 passes, with three interceptions. Namath would play eight more seasons, but never reached the playoffs again. (AP Photo).