Category Archives: Brooklyn
I had been to the roller…
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I had been to the roller rinks in Brooklyn and Queens all of my life, folks showing off their savoire faire and the derby types that pluck you off like hockey players. But it was not until summer in the 80’s that I found sheer beauty in dance skating in Central Park. A girl from Michigan, Zee was very much like Madonna and was the first to befriend me at the park. I was in excellent shape due to bike messengering, and although I could always skate, skate, my move lacked finesse until she taught me how to define my moves in a small confine and express myself on wheels. The other regulars met after work and we were of all ages. My regular dance partner was Eddie, a smooth Latino who taught me the crazy 8’s around the cans and hustle turns all around him and the circle that we all flew around. It was the greatest release to flow with the music and the bodies. The guys demonstrating their strength by lifting and turning the ladies without missing beat, and the ladies showing their svelte physiques and grace. Water was the most important commodity in the park. I remember how we used to say to one another as we danced and sweated around the circle…”I’m sitting out the next one” but inevitably the next song would be a more crucial jam than the last. And we would keep on movin’. An older Italian gentleman was my slow jam partner. He saved my life once when he spotted me flying around the corner of 59th and 5th with a broken axle, he snatched me right out of the street into his arms and the safety of the corner. I did not realize I was so close to being history. I thanked and hugged the hero. I tried to get the beauty of a man and woman skating together to music across to a young Irish speed street hockey player. He lived for flying down 5th avenue backwards on skates. He could only relate to slolums and speed.
I am 71 years old and lived…
In the 60`s and 70`s I “hung…
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In the 60`s and 70`s I “hung out” at Mitchell`s drive in restaurant on 86 st. and 7th ave in Bensonhurst. All the hot rodders hung out there. I remember racing our cars on 7th ave down to the traffic light from 86th st. to 92nd. st by victory memorial hospital. Also remember racing on 1st ave by the Bush Terminal buildings. The cops used to chase us constantly. We had more fun than anyone would ever believe. I tell people stories about what went on at the drive in and nobody believes me. The crowd I hung out with was the biggest bunch of screwballs on the face of the earth. One summer night, the motorcycle crew, rode thru wearing nothing but their helmets { no kidding }. Waitresses dropped their trays and ran inside screaming and laughing at the same time. Except for one “particular” waitress. She hopped on the back of one of the bikes and rode away with him, food tray and all. Somebody didn`t get their order that night?
Every year or so since I…
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Every year or so since I was 7, My aunt shipped as many of us as she could to relatives or summer camp. I’ve been through some interesting summer camps in my lifetime. I thought it cool to reminisce about parent-paid, state-funded, obligatory, or otherwise summer camp fiascos or great times spent away from your city. Because as you know,wherever you go, you take a little piece of Brooklyn with you. My very first summer camp experience was spending an entire summer (which started out as only two weeks) with a family of Quakers in Pennsylvania, through Fresh Air Fund. My mom became very ill and the family offered to keep me longer. I was the oldest of their children(two daughters) and had to do the more serious work. Being from Brooklyn, waking up at 5:00 in the morning to board a tractor with the father and cruise along much more than 75 acres of land, stopping along the way to milk cows, get eggs from their huge poultry farm, pick strawberrys for our excellent crepe and fresh milk with fresh honey breakfasts, was an amazing experience. I was in pain for the first few weeks. Although I could play any kid under the table, this was work, and it felt totally different. By all standards this family wasn’t poor land-wise. This was kind of like the “South Fork” of Quarker-owned land where all work was peformed through hand-labor. Many of their ways were exactly the same as my family’s. Like once, we were riding in the horse-drawn buggy and the little girl was nagging her mom trying to climb into the front seat, when her mom back-slapped her to the back. It reminded me of my grandmother and her nervous lightning speed back-slaps…. kind of made me feel right at home. We went to sunday school every day. Sang “Yes Jesus Loves Me” constantly, were very hard working and mindful of one another. I stuck out like a sore thumb, yet the kids hung with me and we had a great time. The family bought me my first brand new bike, and we all cried profusely when parting. That summer my mom and the young father of that family passed and we had each other to lean on. There’s so many summers to talk about, let’s start a summer camp discussion, let each other know what unsuspecting societies Brooklyn unleashed it’s children on, back “in the day”.
Hi all — I grew up…
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Hi all — I grew up in Brooklyn in the 60’s and used to play a game called “Russian 10”. My sisters and I are going crazy trying to remember what each action was with the spaldeen from 1 thru 10. Can anyone help> THis would be a fantastic gift for my sisters, with whom I fondly remember the ‘good old days’ on East 5th Street and Avenue R. Thanks alot! Lydia
Hey Ted i grew up on martense…
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Hey Ted i grew up on martense & nostrand what year was that there i have older brothers and sisters i have to ask about that i remember going to the granada what a great a great neighborhood it was i went to holy cross wow do you remember the great egg creams from the candy store on church& nostrand and al’s toy store
i had some of the best times…
I think that Fred (Wednesday,…
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I think that Fred (Wednesday, December 22, 1999) is right. I grew up in Brooklyn and we always called it a “sliding pon”. I think that what’s happened is that when some of us reached adulthood and tried to make some sense of this phrase to non New Yorkers we assumed that it must have really been a “sliding pond” and that we were just mis-remembering. In fact, I’m convinced that it was “sliding pon” which is a corruption of another term for that piece of playground apparatus. Maybe some posters will suggest what that term might be.
I played Skully in Bensonhurst,…
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I played Skully in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY in the late 50’s and and early 60’s almost every summer day. I lived on 70th Street between 17th and 18th Aves. I recall A friend of mine Dennis, carving a court in the street with a large screwdriver and then painting in the grooves with white paint. That court lasted until they redid the street in the late 1970’s. Great times and games !!