My Brooklyn

Readers Report


William Fitz-Gerald

As many have written, all is familiar. I would like to add my 2 cents. Born in Brooklyn in 1925—lived there 28 years. Most of that time was at 129 Adelphi St. No I didn't know Eileen at 99 Adelphi St., probably because I left about 1953. Went to P.S. 12, P.S. 67, then to aviation school in Manhattan. The war was too much draw on me so I joined the navy—1942. When I came home, went to Borough Hall Academy

I often wonder about some of the young people from the neighborhood —Farley, Pagano, Marino, Catello, Turco, on and on. . . . Is Pete's Restaurant still there? The Dodgers would stop there once in a while.

Brooklyn was not a place, it was a feeling. All the times we would walk any where, I never remember looking behind me. Now live outside of Baltimore about 10 minutes from BWI. We only go into the city on rare occasions. Anyone that would care to contact me, you would be more than welcome.

15 February 1999


Gene

My Brooklyn is Williamsburg-Greenpoint in the 60s and early 70s. The Graham Theater ("Always Three Big Features Daily") and the Grand Book Center, St. Mary's School on Maujer and Leonard (class of '66), and the docks on Noble Street. '49 Park and McCarren Park. Any old friends out there who aren't dead or in jail, please feel free to write.

16 February 1999


Billy Baggs

No matter where you go . . . if you grew up in Brooklyn your heart is always there. I lived in Red Hook (actually Erie Basin) and lived on the corner of Wolcott & Van Brunt . . . over the A&P. We had steam heat and it wasn't a railroad flat. Our rent was $25.25 a month and we didn't always make it even though my father was a letter carrier. By today's standards we were poor, also by today's standards we were rich.

My sister went to Bishop McDonnell and I went to Boys' High, then we both went to Fordham. I was Class of '58 and Wilma, Class of '63. We were the first in our family of turn of the century immigrants to go to college.

My Brooklyn was Mike's & Willem's Ice Cream Parlors on Van Brunt Street. The Pioneer Theatre (12 cents) and the Clinton Theatre (25 cents), baseball at Boys' High with Coach Kane and Tommy Davis, the Parade Grounds and Mark Twain Field in Coney Island. The Rock 'n Roll Shows at the Fox and Paramount. Of course . . . Juniors, and Michel's on Flatbush Ave. . . . playing hookey to go Yankee Stadium . . . it was great living in Brooklyn and rooting for the Yankees (except for 1955). I remember the wading pool at Coffee Park, the big Red Hook Pool, but I really learned to swim at Pier 38, ducking the Coney Island Whitefish.

I left Brooklyn in '67 for Long Island and left LI for the Jersey Shore in 1973 . . . still go back occasionally for a hero (they are hoagies here) at Defonte's on Columbia Street and go down to the piers to remember the good old days.

My youngest two boys were born in NJ. They are 21 & 22. About ten years ago I took them to Red Hook and their reaction was, "Dad, you never lived here?" How did a tough Irish-Italian kid from the Hook get two yuppies? Progress? I doubt it. The streets of Brooklyn were the best education. Of course a couple of fat lips were the tuition.

18 February 1999


Readers' reports continue . . .

[ Jump to My Brooklyn, page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368]


subway tokenReturn to Brooklyn Home Page.

Copyright © 1995-2010 David Neal Miller. All rights reserved. For clarification and limited exceptions, see the Brooklyn Net copyright page. Last updated: December 26, 2010