My Brooklyn (264)

Fred (Bim) W. Makinney

Lived at Bay Ridge . . . 86th & Shore Dr. Went to Brooklyn Poly Prep '37 '38 '39. Played jv football. Loved those Dodgers . . . Actually knew Dolph Camilli, 1st base . . . Pee Wee Reese was a rookie. . . . Some of the guys at Poly I remember are T. Clavin, Wyarda, Bill Redmond, Dave Johnson, Pilketon, Epstein, Bill Dance. Aloha from Hawaii.

8 June 2000

Vincent Amato

I lived on Hicks and Pacific in South Brooklyn. My fondest memories come from playing stick ball as a kid in the 50s and 60s on Hicks Street. My father owned a grocery store on the corner and there was a park right across the street. I loved Brooklyn so much that it broke my heart to leave. My father lived there until 1968 when the Long Island College Hospital bought up just about all of the property around us. We were one of the last holdouts. I remember the times that we would spend in the park playing "fist ball" with that white dimpled rubber ball or having a beer or two with friends on those hot summer nights. We always talked baseball in those days. Remember playing a game called "batting stances" where someone would pose in a familiar players batting stance and the others would try to guess who it was. This usually went on into the night. I could go on and on. I will never forget my beloved Brooklyn. There were harsh times also but I choose not to recollect those. You have to be born and raised in Brooklyn to really understand the closeness, family ties, and friendships that last a lifetime even if you move to the ends of the earth. I will never forget the neighbors that I grew up with. The people that often visited my father's store and kept him company. Thank you for providing me the opportunity to express some thoughts about a place and people that I will never forget.

10 June 2000