Judge Orders City of Yonkers to Release Records in Unsolved Murder

A State Supreme Court judge has ordered the City of Yonkers to turnover to the New York Civil Liberties Union records of its investigation into the unsolved murder of John Acropolis, a union leader who was shot dead in 1952 after battling the mob’s influence in the local trash hauling industry.

In October, the NYCLU and cooperating attorney Joann Prinzivalli filed the lawsuit in State Supreme Court on behalf of John Bly, a resident of Dallas, Texas, who is writing a book about Acropolis’ life and murder. The city had refused Bly’s request under the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) for records concerning the murder investigation.

“The court’s decision makes it clear that the City of Yonkers was not justified in denying our client’s request for information from the police file on the Acropolis murder,” said Prinzivalli, who is vice chairwoman of the NYCLU’s Lower Hudson Valley Chapter. “This is a victory for the principle of open government and accountability to the public.”

In a decision released Wednesday, Supreme Court Judge James W. Hubert ruled that the city provided insufficient reason to exempt the documents from FOIL.

“The free flow of information benefits both the public and the government,” said Linda Berns, director of the NYCLU Lower Hudson Valley Chapter. “The unsolved murder of John Acropolis is among the most sensational crimes in Yonkers history. It is a subject ripe for public scrutiny.”

Acropolis, the president of Teamsters Local 456, was shot twice in the back of the head in the early morning hours of Aug. 26, 1952. He was found facedown in a pool of blood just inside the entrance of his apartment on Warburton Avenue.

Detectives from Yonkers, New York City and Westchester County interviewed hundreds of witnesses following the Acropolis murder, but the crime was never solved. It is possible that mob corruption may have interfered with the murder investigation. A 50-year retrospective of the murder published in the Journal News in 2002 indicated that “questions remain about just how vigorously Yonkers police investigated the case.”

Judge Hubert noted that the city claims to no longer possess many of the records Bly requested, including copies of ballistics reports and Acropolis’ death inquest. As a result of the decision, Bly will receive copies of the notes and reports of the detectives assigned to the case and documents describing actions of the Yonkers Police Department related to the case.