My Brooklyn (300)

Cary Modlin

Sure, "you are what you eat," but "you are also what you experienced." So here I am, a product of growing up on the streets of Brooklyn, and especially fortunate for having had the opportunity to do so. Born in '42 on East New York Avenue off of Utica and Empire Boulevard. I remember the White Castle on the corner, and the Sugar Bowl a few blocks north on Utica Avenue; trips to the Brooklyn Zoo and Botanical Gardens; Dubrows on Eastern Parkway; and my Bar Mitzvah reception at the Little Oriental. At six years old we moved to East 54th Street between Snyder and Tilden Avenues. I went to P.S. 244 through the 6th grade. I remember the Church Avenue Trolley, the Rugby Movie Theater and the bowling alley next door (with pinboys), Silver Rod's Drug Store, and the Tower of Pisa Restaurant. Of course, the trolley opened a whole new word to me, the Flatbush Avenue shopping area and its string of movie theaters, the BMT Subway Line to Coney Island and Brighton Beach so I could visit my grandparents. It was funny then and now that they lived on Brighton 7th, and had a Summer Home on Brighten 4th. The bus and trolley routes were our means of getting to Ebbets Field, and the Empire Roller Rink more times than my parents ever knew. We did a lot of venturing out because the streets were safe then. Summers?, when we were not at one of the Brooklyn beaches or the Rockaways, we went to the Catskills to hotels and bungalow colonies. Those were the best of times. Even though we hit the traffic backup on old route 17, at the Bloomingburg traffic light, it was always worth it to escape the summer humidity which blanketed the city. And yes we always stopped at the Red Apple Rest.

We were the first class to attend P.S. 258, Meyer Levin Jr. High, and the first class to graduate. Then it was on to Tilden High School, where I graduated in '59. Shortly after entering Tilden we moved to East 52nd Street bet. Ave. H and I. During the years I developed friendships which remain as of today. In January, 2000 a core group set out on an effort to find the 20 of us who were inseparable back in the 50s and 60s. This was not an easy task because the girl's names had changed, some had moved out of state, etc. But in three weeks time we found 15, and at the end of a month another 4. We arranged to meet, and for the first time in forty years, we laughed and cried our hearts out.

Other flashbacks about the neighborhood; singing harmony in the stairwells of the Glenwood Projects, Grabstein's Deli, the Triangle Restaurant, Franks Pizzeria, Stahl's Knishes, U-Bet Syrups, playing ball in Marine Park, stoop ball, stick ball, punch ball in the streets (I once hit two sewers), johnny on the pony, cruising Crossbay Boulevard, the Pizza King in Laurelton/Valley Stream, and my nosed and decked '56 Merc. I loved growing up then! (Want to chat? Give me a shout.)

19 October 2000

Eleanor Sakin Meltzer

The year was 1946 and I had just graduated from 8th grade at P.S. 135 on Schenectady Avenue in East Flatbush. I was heading to Samuel J. Tilden High School. I lived on E. 46th St. and Church Avenue, over a grocery store and all my friends lived in the neighborhood. It was a hard time because of WW2 but a great time to be a kid in Brooklyn. Each neighborhood was like a small town where everyone knew each other and each kid was watched over by the entire block. I remember playing ball on the street, and stoop ball at a friends house. I also remember riding my prized two wheeler around the neighborhood. At high school I thought I was an adult. Most times I walked to Tilden with friends, but sometimes we took the trolley car up Church Avenue to school. I remember these times with great fondness and always wonder what happened to some of my friends from grade school and high school. Are they still out there? Where? Have any of them moved "upstate" (Ulster or Dutchess Counties) Can we perhaps meet at some time soon?

21 October 2000