My oldest daughter is in New York for a few days between exams in Montreal. She texted this morning that she had arrived at 5:00 a.m., and was at her friend’s apartment by 5:30. I was reminded that I was in New York at 18 as well, at about the same position in life as she is, but I was looking for Castro.
Fidel Castro arrived in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations. Castro's visit stirred indignation and admiration from various sectors of American society, and was climaxed by his speech to the United Nations on September 26.
By the time Castro arrived in New York City in September 1960, relations between the United States and Cuba were rapidly deteriorating. Since taking power in January 1959, Castro had infuriated the American government with his policies of nationalizing U.S. companies and investments in Cuba. Some American officials, such as Vice President Richard Nixon, believed that Castro was leaning perilously toward communism In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to begin training Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro's regime. When the United States suspended the import of Cuban sugar in 1960, Castro's government turned to the Soviet Union for economic assistance.
In September 1960, Castro led a delegation to New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly. Fidel Castro has found hotel accommodations at the Shelburne Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The Elysee Hotel cancelled his earlier reservation and they had been finding it difficult to book rooms. The delegation was not be allowed to travel outside New York City during its stay. United States and United Nations officials facilitated the Shelburne booking in an effort to avoid embarrassment. In Manhattan mass demonstrations were planned to protest Castro's visit.
At this point I was watching all this happen on TV, and called my friend Bob Poter to see if he wanted to go to New York and see what was going on. There were Russian ships in New York harbor, and I was excited. I knew this was big news and I wanted to be there.
Bob liked the idea, and I called my father who was working in New York at the time. He said if I would drive our car to New York, he would arrange (and pay) for a hotel for us, and we could drive him home on the weekend.
Castro and his entourage caused an immediate sensation by deciding to stay at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem. While there, Castro met with a number of African-American leaders, including Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam and the poet Langston Hughes. On September 26, Castro delivered a blistering attack on what he termed American "aggression" and "imperialism." For over four hours, Castro lambasted U.S. policy toward Cuba and other nations in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The United States, he declared, had "decreed the destruction" of his revolutionary government.
We had arrived and were settled in when we heard about the move to Harlem. We called Sheldon Rochlin, cinematographer, director, editor, producer, writer, actor and an old friend, who was, in those days, working at the Bleeker Street Cinema. Sheldon got in his Jeep, and picked us up so we could go to Harlem and see Castro.
We went by the harbor to see the Russian ship sitting in New York, and then off to the Theresa Hotel. Upon arriving and finding a parking space, I was immediately accosted by a man with a butcher knife. I was already scared to death, and this was unsettling. However, he wanted to sell the knife to me, and I wasn’t really interested in buying it, so he moved on.
We walked to the hotel, and as we were dressed in “normal” clothes for us, we seemed to blend right in with what we found. The common clothing for us was jeans and chambray shirts and various army surplus jackets. This was quite radical for 1960, so we blended in with hangers on, Cuban soldiers in green fatigues, reporters, diplomats, etc. We simply went under the orange tape and stood around talking and blending. Everything was lit up by strong lighting for the news people I guess, and we were happy. However, Sheldon had a better idea, he wanted to see Fidel! Fidel was in for the night; it was about 1:30 a.m. and wasn’t expected to come out again, so he figured we should go in.
Bob and I were reluctant to try it but Sheldon forged ahead. He went inside as we looked helplessly at each other. We waited a minute and went forward to see Sheldon carried out by his shirt collar and the back of his pants and unceremoniously chucked over the orange tape onto the street. The Secret Service people (we believe) gestured for us to leave as well, and we understood that there would be no discussion.
Castro's visit and lengthy public denunciation marked the final breaking point in relations between the U.S. and Cuba. In January 1961, the Eisenhower administration severed all diplomatic relations with Cuba. In April 1961, just a short time after taking office, President John F. Kennedy ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Cuban exile force, armed and trained by the CIA, landed in Cuba.
Thankfully we didn’t try and see Khrushchev!
“The State Department has asked the television networks to limit their coverage of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev during his U.S. visit. The networks said they were already planning restricted viewing before they got the State Department advice. Face the Nation, on C.B.S., decided not to invite Khrushchev on its show, according to a report in the New York Times on this day in 1960. Meet the Press, on N.B.C., did invite Khrushchev to appear, "but it was not known whether the invitation had the sanction of N.B.C. officials in New York. 'I'm afraid that what we did voluntarily will now be defined as knuckling under to the State Department,'" one network official told the paper. An article that appears under the headline, "K-Day in the Propaganda War; On Tuesday Mr. Khrushchev will attempt to establish a new beachhead in the battle of words," in the New York Times Magazine on this day in 1960 says the Soviet premier has made Manhattan "the center of the global propaganda struggle" for the duration of his stay in the city, proving himself "a master of publicity”. from : This Day in the 1960’s
Fidel Castro arrived in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations. Castro's visit stirred indignation and admiration from various sectors of American society, and was climaxed by his speech to the United Nations on September 26.
By the time Castro arrived in New York City in September 1960, relations between the United States and Cuba were rapidly deteriorating. Since taking power in January 1959, Castro had infuriated the American government with his policies of nationalizing U.S. companies and investments in Cuba. Some American officials, such as Vice President Richard Nixon, believed that Castro was leaning perilously toward communism In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to begin training Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro's regime. When the United States suspended the import of Cuban sugar in 1960, Castro's government turned to the Soviet Union for economic assistance.
In September 1960, Castro led a delegation to New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly. Fidel Castro has found hotel accommodations at the Shelburne Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The Elysee Hotel cancelled his earlier reservation and they had been finding it difficult to book rooms. The delegation was not be allowed to travel outside New York City during its stay. United States and United Nations officials facilitated the Shelburne booking in an effort to avoid embarrassment. In Manhattan mass demonstrations were planned to protest Castro's visit.
At this point I was watching all this happen on TV, and called my friend Bob Poter to see if he wanted to go to New York and see what was going on. There were Russian ships in New York harbor, and I was excited. I knew this was big news and I wanted to be there.
Bob liked the idea, and I called my father who was working in New York at the time. He said if I would drive our car to New York, he would arrange (and pay) for a hotel for us, and we could drive him home on the weekend.
Castro and his entourage caused an immediate sensation by deciding to stay at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem. While there, Castro met with a number of African-American leaders, including Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam and the poet Langston Hughes. On September 26, Castro delivered a blistering attack on what he termed American "aggression" and "imperialism." For over four hours, Castro lambasted U.S. policy toward Cuba and other nations in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The United States, he declared, had "decreed the destruction" of his revolutionary government.
We had arrived and were settled in when we heard about the move to Harlem. We called Sheldon Rochlin, cinematographer, director, editor, producer, writer, actor and an old friend, who was, in those days, working at the Bleeker Street Cinema. Sheldon got in his Jeep, and picked us up so we could go to Harlem and see Castro.
We went by the harbor to see the Russian ship sitting in New York, and then off to the Theresa Hotel. Upon arriving and finding a parking space, I was immediately accosted by a man with a butcher knife. I was already scared to death, and this was unsettling. However, he wanted to sell the knife to me, and I wasn’t really interested in buying it, so he moved on.
We walked to the hotel, and as we were dressed in “normal” clothes for us, we seemed to blend right in with what we found. The common clothing for us was jeans and chambray shirts and various army surplus jackets. This was quite radical for 1960, so we blended in with hangers on, Cuban soldiers in green fatigues, reporters, diplomats, etc. We simply went under the orange tape and stood around talking and blending. Everything was lit up by strong lighting for the news people I guess, and we were happy. However, Sheldon had a better idea, he wanted to see Fidel! Fidel was in for the night; it was about 1:30 a.m. and wasn’t expected to come out again, so he figured we should go in.
Bob and I were reluctant to try it but Sheldon forged ahead. He went inside as we looked helplessly at each other. We waited a minute and went forward to see Sheldon carried out by his shirt collar and the back of his pants and unceremoniously chucked over the orange tape onto the street. The Secret Service people (we believe) gestured for us to leave as well, and we understood that there would be no discussion.
Castro's visit and lengthy public denunciation marked the final breaking point in relations between the U.S. and Cuba. In January 1961, the Eisenhower administration severed all diplomatic relations with Cuba. In April 1961, just a short time after taking office, President John F. Kennedy ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Cuban exile force, armed and trained by the CIA, landed in Cuba.
Thankfully we didn’t try and see Khrushchev!
“The State Department has asked the television networks to limit their coverage of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev during his U.S. visit. The networks said they were already planning restricted viewing before they got the State Department advice. Face the Nation, on C.B.S., decided not to invite Khrushchev on its show, according to a report in the New York Times on this day in 1960. Meet the Press, on N.B.C., did invite Khrushchev to appear, "but it was not known whether the invitation had the sanction of N.B.C. officials in New York. 'I'm afraid that what we did voluntarily will now be defined as knuckling under to the State Department,'" one network official told the paper. An article that appears under the headline, "K-Day in the Propaganda War; On Tuesday Mr. Khrushchev will attempt to establish a new beachhead in the battle of words," in the New York Times Magazine on this day in 1960 says the Soviet premier has made Manhattan "the center of the global propaganda struggle" for the duration of his stay in the city, proving himself "a master of publicity”. from : This Day in the 1960’s
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