Category Archives: Manhattan

I’m back again. I can’t…

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I’m back again. I can’t seem to stay away from this site. The one place that comes to mind when I think of the Lower East Side is Mott Street. Little Italy to most of you. We had a large group of kids that hung around together. At most we were around 15 boys and girls who ‘stayed together’. In the summer months we could be found at the corner of Mott and Broome Streets. Just hanging out on the front stoop.That’s what we called it. Just hanging around. We sat around and talked and there was always singing and dancing to someone’s radio. This was way before hand held recorders for tapes. CD’s weren’t even invented yet. (Gee, how old am I?) On Sunday we attended church and then later on took in a movie. Always a group of us went. Maybe a local movie house (Delancy or Canal Theaters) or if there was something good happening uptown – either at Radio City Music Hall or any of the other big theaters. Does anyone remember ‘The Dumps’. Also known as the Universal Theater. It was a little movie house at the corner of the Bowery and Hester Street. In the later years, it always smelled like the inside of a liquor bottle. That’s where the homeless (to be politically correct) hung out and kept warm. But I remember it when we could spend an entire Saturday there for 15 cents. We would get 20 cartoons and two full length features. Plus the Newsreel. My father would drop me off in the morning with a friend or two and then pick us up in the late afternoon. Can you imagine we were entertained for several hours for 15 cents! Try and get this now. Well, I think I’ve rambled on and on for long enough. It would be soo nice to see some replies on my posting. If you remember some of these places, maybe you were one of those kids. Take care…Jeanne from Forsythe Street

I’m also from Washington…

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I’m also from Washington Heights, on Bennett Ave. We played this game, but we called it “Slug”. I wonder if anyone else knew it by this name. I don’t remember our rules so well so I’m checking w/ my older sister… hopefully she will.

In Washington Heights we…

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In Washington Heights we used the Spaldeens… don’t remember the pinkys which, based on the discussion here, sound like basically the same sort of ball. We did have a Pink ball that was made of a different material than the spaldeen… it was a foam rubber ball… heavier, lots of bounce, but the grip of the soft rubber foam on the ground made it have “unpredictable” bouncing behaviors. We didn’t use those much, I don’t think, we used the spaldeens. Anyone else remember the Pink foam rubber balls I am refering to?

The museums were a mecca…

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The museums were a mecca for truants. It was the only place where you wouldn’t get questioned by security. they always thought you were with a class trip. Meet up with your crew on a cold day, when your funds were low. Truant officers were waiting for you at the cheap action movie theaters on 42nd. Spoof on the art pieces, imagine yourself from far away places. Good fun. The museum of natural history, art, in Manhattan and the one in Brooklyn. Guggenheim (if you could afford it) horticulture gardens, whatever (I can’t remember them all), people always seemed to smile at you when they saw you in those places. I guess they thought it was great that you took an interest in the “finer things in life”. Actually, in spite of myself, I did take a liking to museums for the rest of my life.

Wow, it’s been so long since…

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Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve been back to this site. I remember all of the above. The games, the streets, and the theaters. We lived across the street from the Forsythe Street Park. Does anyone remember the bike store on Forsythe Street just pass Delancy? You could rent a bike for 25 cents an hour. Of course in those days 1950’s that was considered a lot of money. I ran many a bike into the brick wall in the park. Got lots of scars to show for it. Do you remember that Pickle store on Hester Street? I went to P.S.42 and on our walk home we would stop and buy a pickle. You had to point to the one you wanted and the man would fish it out. The smell of a pickle, even now, brings those days right back to me. And the knishes. One of my favorite foods. What I would do now for a knish. Haven’t had one in years. I live in a state that doesn’t even know what a ‘knish’ is. Only those of us born and raised in New York know what these are. How about the Academy of Music on 14th Street, Manhattan? When Rock n Roll started, we could not wait to see all the new rocking stars. We saw them before they became a household name.

I must say that this site…

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I must say that this site took me back to my youth at 109st btwn Madison & 5th Ave in Manhattan in the late 60s to mid 70s…I’ve read all the messages! I had one of best “caps” ever made. I found an old school chair,removed the metal floor things on the bottom of the legs and filled them with candlewax. They were almost indestructable, slid great and was so difficult to “blast”.Boy, that was one of my favorite games to play…Thanks for this site and for bringing me memories of those days…signing off, a true Killer Diller!

Hello, my name is “Pete”….

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Hello, my name is “Pete”. I was featured in Jim’s book,”Hanging Out-City Kids,City Games”(1974)as the inventor of the game “Psyche Job”. I’m the one in the t-shirt,and my brother Tony(refered to as “Chuck” in the basketball section)is wearing the headband.Jim,time has passed but you’ll remember me and the gang of 106th and 3rd Ave in Manhattan. Jim,if you’re still out there,it would be really special if we could connect!Here’s my email address:dro [dot] so [at] verizon [dot] net [dot] By the way,I still have the signed copy of “Hanging Out…” you gave me in Madison Square Garden the evening the book was first put out to the public!I hope to hear from you soon.Meanwhile, I’ll keep the “spauldeen” bouncing on the bars…Your friend,Pedro “Pete” Berdeguez Jr.