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The Great Pinball Machine Bust

In 1935, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia ordered for the seizure of all pinball machines. They were considered gambling machines, like slots or roulette, which had been made illegal the year prior. Pinball was supposedly a culprit in corrupting the morals of America's youth.

ByCenter for Brooklyn History logoCenter for Brooklyn History
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651 Atlantic Avenue
651 Atlantic Avenue icon

651 Atlantic Avenue

Pinball, roulette, and slot machines were seized by the NYPD between 1935 and 1942.
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Bush Terminal
Bush Terminal icon

Bush Terminal

Almost two-thousand games were confiscated in a single raid.
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Bush Terminal
Bush Terminal icon

Bush Terminal

Games were siezed all over the city and stockpiled at a warehouse in Brooklyn.
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Bush Terminal
Bush Terminal icon

Bush Terminal

Destroyed machines were picked clean for scrap, which was then resold to support the war effort.
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Bush Terminal
Bush Terminal icon

Bush Terminal

The Brooklyn Eagle wrote: "In these days, the banishment of gambling devices, innocent in appearance yet thorough in thievery, is really an aid to national defense."
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Bush Terminal Piers
Bush Terminal Piers icon

Bush Terminal Piers

The rest of the machines were sailed off on barges and dumped into the Long Island Sound.
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