Readers Report
I grew up on 18th Ave. and Coney Island Ave. and attended St. Rose of Lima and St. Brendan's, then St. John's U. My Brooklyn is sitting on the stoop, fireflies in the summer, stickball and stoopball, and later, harmonizing on the corner, Tommy Jennings singing lead to "Stormy Weather," the Dorchester Debs, hanging around at the Leader Lanes and Tony's candy store where we got to make our own egg creams, riding the subways, singing with Reparata and the DelRons in the late '60s, the Sunrise Drive-In. I've lived in Seattle for 30 years, but still, when asked, say I'm from Brooklyn. (Not New York, just Brooklyn.)
12 September 1999
1939 to 1960. P.S. 190, J.H.S. 109, Thomas Jefferson (grad 1957). Lived on New Lots & Georgia Ave. Nino's pizza, Sol's ice cream, Biltmore Theater, Supream Theater. Izzy's Knishes.
12 September 1999
I grew up in the West Village, and transplanted myself to Brooklyn in the mid-1980s after many moves through several boroughs. Despite a brief interval in Manhattan again in the middle, I've been a Brooklyn resident for over a decade now, and have to admit that I had never originally expected to find anything quite like the warm, friendly neighborhood "feel" I'd been accustomed to growing up in lower Manhattan.
I've been settled in Park Slope now since 1994 or 1995 and just had my first (and probably only) child here this past summer—the first generation of Brooklynites in both my family and my husband's family (my husband Paul is Dutch). The Slope seems like the ideal neighborhood to raise Max in . . . our proximity to playgrounds, Prospect Park, and lots of schools seems like a dream come true—and as a freelancer, it couldn't possibly be more convenient for me. I've also discovered over the past four years of organizing poetry and literature spoken-word performances that cutting edge culture doesn't have to be restricted exclusively to Manhattan alone—in fact it's easier and more genuine organizing and promoting this sort of thing here because the attitude and atmosphere seems a lot less exclusive and creative.
It still strikes me as bizarre that Manhattanites seem to think they've got the corner on "kultcha"...
13 September 1999
I lived at 2110 Union Street and later moved to 9720 Kings Highway. Went to 183 Public School, Somers Junior High School and Tilden High School. I graduated in 1962.
13 September 1999
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