Readers Report
My Brooklyn is 1703 Carroll Street. I remember playing stoop ball on the stairs of my grandparents' four-family home. The kids and I around the block used to play ring a leveo till late into the night. Our parents never even knew where we were. We used to go to the Carroll Theater and watch movies two/three times, having gone in the middle of one and leaving in the middle of another. P.S. 189 was my public school. The gated stairwells we used to climb to get to the sixth floor are a vivid memory in my head. The playground where we used to line up before school started. I lived there from 1950-1961 and then I moved to Queens. But my Brooklyn memories have always impacted my life, even as an adult.
16 April 1999
I grew on Ave. M and East 2nd St. I went to P.S. 226, graduated 1955, then went to Lafayette, graduated in 1959. After graduation I went into the Navy stationed at Newport R.I. on the USS McNair. I played baseball for St. A's. I remember the trolley car at McDonald Ave. that went to West 8th St. in Coney Island. I had a locker at Raven Hall. Remember Steeplechase for a dollar all day long? Best custard in the world was right next door to the best franks in the world—Nathan's. Coach Frank Esposito from St. A's, Mr. Bloom from Lafayette. Anyone who remembers my Brooklyn? Oh, and I almost forgot Danny's Luncheonette on Ave. M and East 2nd.
17 April 1999
Crown Heights: 836 Montgomery St. from 1943 to 1967. Attended P.S. 221, J.H.S. 232 (Winthrop) and Wingate H.S. Hung out in "Albany playground" and Lincoln Terrace Park. I remember the Carroll and Congress Theaters and lost childhood friends: Jerry Toback, Sandy Melzack, Roberta Greenberg, Barry Schenker. Where are you?
17 April 1999
Currently, my parents live in Brooklyn Park, MN, although I'd have to say I do not hold this city very close to my heart, since I personally do not live with them on a permanent basis. I came upon this page sort of on a random job search for this summer. In any case, "my Brooklyn" is most definitely a suburb (surrounded by many other suburbs) of the Twin Cities area, which mean the two larger, magnet cities of Minnesota (St. Paul and Minneapolis). When I think of Brooklyn Park, I think of asphalt, an unattractive mall, lots of chain restaurants, and a mostly middle-class environment. (Hmm, I think it is also the town where Jesse Ventura was mayor at one point.) I wish this city had more appeal to me, but sadly, it just doesn't. The neighborhood my family lives in is pretty, though. Lots of trees and parks, but just a few blocks away are fields of strip malls and video stores that persistently sprout up like dandelions during the summer.
18 April 1999
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