I grew up in “Da Bronx.”…
I grew up in “Da Bronx.” living on 219th Street & Bronx Blvd. from ’65 to ’79. My entire family is from the Bronx and it was a great place to be back then. Now? I’m not too sure. In the 70’s, I got involved in an extracurricular activity known as “graffiti” and made a name for myself writing “Teako-170.” I look back now and didn’t realize all the crazy things we did as kids but we all turned out all right (or least most of us). I picked up a very interesting book for my mother a few years back for Christmas. It’s called “The Beautiful Bronx: 1920-1950.” (You can pick it up at amazon.com) Loads of great pictures! Check it out. If anyone went to St. Mary’s (225th Street) or is from my area (or even if you’re not), stop on by my website and drop me a line. http://www.teako170.com
My first kiss? It was over…
My first kiss? It was over 20 years ago. It was with this girl Barabara who was 11 (I was 13). We were hanging at in her apartment with a bunch of friends and several times she would pull me off to a corner or something but nothing came of it. Then, she pulled me into a darkened bathroom, shut the door, and WOW! A french kiss I’ll never forget. She might have forgotten — but I sure won’t.
In “Da Bronx” I was fortunate…
In “Da Bronx” I was fortunate enough to live across the street from Bronx Park which is (if you include the Bronx Zoo and Botanical Gardens) roughly half the size of Central Park. Right in front of my house was the 219th Street playground where we had it all going on. Sliding ponds, monkey bars, swings, bball court, see-saws. Actually the playground was broken into 3 parts. One for the kiddies, one for the older kids, and then the bball court. When i was very young (late 60’s) the “Parky” (guy in green outfit who worked for the city) would open up the parkhouse (bathrooms) and turn off/on the sprinklers which was great in those dog days of summer. Then in the 70’s, I don’t recall seeing much of this Parky (think his name was George) and the parkhouse got vandalized and the sprinklers never worked anymore. Other than those black rubber mats being added under the swings, etc. the playground went downhill. But I still have found memories of that place. Seems like an eternity ago.
We just got some snow in…
I’ve been reading this site…
I’ve been reading this site for about an hour. There is no doubt that he Spaldeen was/is the ball of choice for Brooklynites in Bensonhurst. I haven’t seen anyone discuss the importance of buying a ball with a lot of powder on it because it broke much better when you threw a “coive” ball. On another subject, I can’t believe how many people have never heard of a “Johnny Pump.” Does any know the origin of this word.
Chinese Double-dutch. Any…
Chinese Double-dutch. Any girls remember that? It was played at all the great melting pot schools in the working class areas…which is pretty much Brooklyn personified. My area was Ditmas Junior High (IS 62). And Chinese double-ddutch is a game played with two girls standing on either end, but instead of holding clothes line rope they’re inside of a long chain-link of sturdy rubberbands. The jumper must negotiate complex “Twister-like” contortions with torso and legs and always be able to jump outside of the rubber bands, both legs free and clear.For lunch a big mixture of kids would flock together to varying restaurants to eat anything from Kasha Varnishkas (spelled right?) Pizza, tandoori chicken, egg rolls, canolli… you have it. We even traded bagged lunches. My pastrami for your fried chicken… it always worked out. This was a cultural exchange between the Asian and the African sisters back in the early 70’s, where we found common ground despite the odds. Some of those kids I’ve seen through life in Paris, Frisco, and Miami. It’s a small big world in Brooklyn. PS: I found out the game was Skully, not Skelly… thanks.
God did I enjoy reading…
this is going to be fun.are…
Although it’s been many…
Although it’s been many years since NY was my home, I’m originally from the Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn, but I went to school in Manhattan Beach’s PS 195. My best friend’s name was Randy, and she lived in a mansion with a yacht(I never knew we had them in urban NY), and she had 5 black maids. This amazed me because my grandmother was a black maid. I treated them all with the utmost respect. Randy and I were inseperable and I miss her and wish I could remember her last name. I left 6th grade with a 12.9 grade reading level thanks to my laid-back early 1970’s hippy teachers. That was a great school. In Bed-Stuy we played games like Skelly, where you used the plastic top of a milk jug filled with wax and flushed even by sidewalk scraping. Does anyone remember this game or what a skelly court looked like? I’d like to make one for my son.