Readers Report
I was born in East New York, in my parents' house on Schenck Avenue. They were both European immigrants. I was the youngest of four children, attended P.S. 72 on New Lots Avenue crnr Schenck Avenue, across from the old Dutch Reformed Church with a graveyard containing brownstone monuments, many of which had names on them which were the same as nearby street names: Van Sicklen, Van Sinderen, Schenck, etc. In more recent years services were offered in Spanish. We went frequently (on foot) to the Arlington Library near Highland Park where we often descended that steep hill which ended on Jamaica Avenue either by bellywhopping on sled in winter or riding our Schwinn, balloon tire bikes in warmer weather. The New Lots Ave. trolley line passed under my window. In blizzard times I would lie in bed and watch for the brown cars with big brushes that were used to keep the tracks clear. Later I attended J.H.S. 149 on Wyona St. and finally Thomas Jefferson H.S. from which I was graduated! in January, 1944.
In those days I knew few people who attended special schools: one went to Townsend Harris (which was closed down as "elitist" in about 1942; one went to Stuyvesant; a few went to Bklyn Tech. If Bronx Science existed yet, I didn't know about it. The neighborhood schools offered a wonderful education and I walked to all of mine.I do have other schools to compare ours to because I have known intimately people from many other parts of the country.
If there are others who grew up in East NY I would be happy to hear from them.
If anyone is unfamiliar with the wonderful book about ENY and Brownsville, A Walker in the City by Alfred Kazin, get it and read it. Chapter 2 (I think) is the one about food and is a true classic.
12 March 1997
I was born, raised and hope to die here in the greatest city in the world.
The best times of our lives are lived in our youth. My youth is now gone but the memories will always remain.
I live in Carroll Gardens, First Place to be exact. Back in the day there must have been 30 kids on my block, now you're lucky to find five. Pee-Paw's was one of the many candy stores in my neighborhood; now it is Thakor's. Mola Pizza was the lunch period hot spot. It was right down the street from P.S. 58. The park was a place were you could find everybody. The old Italian men played bocci, the young kids were on the monkey bars, the "big" kids played softball while the young kids played basketball. When we were not at the park we were playing whiffle ball, stoop ball (5-10-15) and skelzies. Searching for a "Manhattan Special" bottle cap was a daily activity. After long hours of search we would melt crayons in the caps and play skelzies until our fingers blistered. At night we would play man-hunt or just hang out sucking on our chocolate-lemon ice."
That was my youth, that was my Brooklyn!
Feel free to e-mail me to talk about Brooklyn.
22 February 1997
This is what I remember from pre- and post-WWII Brooklyn:
- Handball at Brighton Beach and the schoolyard of P.S. 135
- Punchball in the streets
- The Knothole Club at Ebbets Field
- The egg creams at Kramer's
- Ice skating at the Brooklyn Ice Palace
- My father emulating George Raft on the unpaved trolley tracks
- Hot knishes from the little cart
- The Good Humor truck
- Ebinger's bakery
- Winthrop Junior High School
24 March 1997
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