Readers Report
At first Brooklyn was visiting my grandparents as a child. We lived in Queens but both of my parents were born and raised in Bensonhurst. When we were kids they thought Queens would be the place to raise us. I wish they hadn't made that decision. I loved my grandparents' building on Cropsey Avenue, across from the park (where my father never failed to point out the two trees between which he had learned to walk). There was a stone windmill in front behind a wrought iron fence that intrigued me. The front steps were wide, like a stage. The lobby was dark, there was musty old furniture there that no one ever sat on. The elevator was a treat, with a round window and a cherry red light above the small black button that lit up when it was on its way. I remember the apartment in detail, especially the clawfoot tub and the pipe in the bathroom that ran ceiling to floor and radiated heat. And the kitchen . . . well, many fond memories there. When I visited with my cousins on a Sunday, there was the balloon man in the street. He had hand painted heavy duty, helium filled balloons on a short, thick rubber band that you could hold and punch the balloon. When I stayed with them, my grandfather would take me out and buy a rubber bouncing ball. Not the pink kind, we had those already. But a brightly painted one that eventually peeled. Later, when I was 12, we moved back to Brooklyn. I spent my teen years in Trump Village in Brighton Beach. Then it was a brief stint in P.S. 100 where my teacher was Mrs. Solomon, then on to Reynolds JHS and then, of course, Lincoln. Those high school years consisted of summers at the paddle ball courts and Bay 9 and nights hanging out at the shopping center or at someone's house with a big group of friends. Going steady, sweet 16 and the "hippy" years. During J.H.S. I had a locker at Brighton Beach Baths for two summers. Sad to hear it's gone. Coney Island, BB Avenue, the D and F trains. I wish I had the memories that many of you have. And yet I feel as if I do. I cry over other people's memories. Thanks for all of them.
16 July 1998
I was born in Brooklyn in 1936 and lived on Clarendon Road and E. 26th St. I graduated from St. Jerome's School in Jan. 1951. My family and I moved to New Jersey in 1978 but we love and remember Flatbush always. We still have relatives who live there and visit regularly. Our children and grandchildren have visited and love it. I wonder if anyone is out there who lived in our area and/or was active in St. Jerome's church during the sixties and seventies. I wonder if Marion and Carl who owned a candy store on Nostrand and Foster Avenues are around in the area yet. I would love to hear from anyone who might remember the times there from the forties on.
19 July 1998
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