Times Square during a civil defense exercise, May 6, 1958. It was part of a nationwide Cold War drill to practice in case of a nuclear attack.
Mayor Robert Wagner (left) and Robert E. Condon, the city's Civil Defense director, are the grim-faced officials getting updates shortly after 10:30 a.m. A take-cover signal—"a three-minute glissando of sirens"—had just sounded and the city fell eerily silent. The drill, called Operation Alert 1958, was the fifth annual civil defense test. "The public went peaceably and swiftly enough to shelter, and all non-essential traffic stopped on cue," wrote The NY Times. "However, the drill seemed to be quietly endured but not taken seriously." Some people failed to heed the sirens. In Times Square, "coffee-drinkers sitting at a big plate-glass window in a cafeteria had a perfect view of the proceedings, despite the fact that civil defense instructions adjure people seeking shelter to stay away from windows."