Tag Archives: Summer
There is going to be a Tar…
We lived in an apt in Astoria,…
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We lived in an apt in Astoria, Queens and as a little girl I use to prop upa blanket like a tent. Me and my siblings would hang out especially on hot summer nights. We had to be in at 8:00 and everyone was still out. So being on the fire escape made us feel we were not missing anything. Also there would be a group of boys from a gang called the Barons and they would harmonize to the tune of Duke of Earl. Oh the days of little wants.
My first summer job on the…
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My first summer job on the books was at Mickey D’s by Prospect Park. I was 15 and so happy to get my little work permit, until I got hit with a little thing called taxes. The money I brought home was a joke compared to the “free” money I earned doing hair, or baby sitting. I was beginning to cultivate a bad attitude about working on the books until I got a new cute young manager. Gave me something to look forward to. My check sure wasn’t much to look at.
Aside from the 1998 “Welcome…
People go to Mecca, Thailand,…
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People go to Mecca, Thailand, India, etc. for spiritual insight, Others seeking personal meditative space have weekend homes upstate or can jet somewhere at will…. but for those of us of humble monetary means I can attest to the fact that some of the most crucial moves made in my life were carefully weighed for pros and cons beforehand, on a fire escape; the one place where the noise of the city can be as serene as the the sound of wild life in the woods. My godfather owned a rent-controlled apt on 8th ave. and 56th st. I would apt. sit for him all the time. It was a cool small split level old artists studio with a sky roof. Always smelled of incense and espresso. The radio always on Jazz 88. We called that small place “the Gazebo”. I spent many summers nights and days on the fire escape of that building watching the madness roll by. Witnessed a few road rage attacks, domestic interludes, heat strokes, killer sound systems. Felt like a pigeon scoping the city from above. Slept under the stars on a futon on hot night on that fire escape. Invited a bunch of redneck musician friends of mine from lewisburg and fleetwood PA to do an unplugged jam up there. Caused alot of people to look up and check out the great music. I lived in the East Village, and when I didn’t want to be found I would head to that apt. and that “escape” and just enjoy the peace.
CENTRAL BROOKLYN MODEL CITIES…
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CENTRAL BROOKLYN MODEL CITIES SUMMER PROGRAMS. Another of the many residential camp for the “urban youth” back in the late ’70’s. I was 14 and deeply into swimming, with no access to more than the neighborhood recreation pool. We went to The University of Durham New Hampshire. Beautiful campus, I immediately fell in love with the young lifeguard instructor, who stayed on campus to teach swimming for the summer. Fancied myself a great swimmer until told to do just 10 laps the full length of that olympic pool in order to qualify to begin diving and life-saving instruction. I almost burst a lung.It took a couple of weeks and many hours before I could knock-out 20 laps without hardship. Organized sports in that environment was just what we roughnecks needed. They had science and other classes to keep our minds from getting rusty for the summer. We even saw dissected felines marinating in formaldyhyde. Fresh air and adolescent hormones. I finally developed a crush on some one my own age, Paris Lucas, the best guy swimmer in the group, I was the best girl. I wasn’t so popular, so I could spend more time developing my skills than the more developed ladies. Paris thought I was just fine, and that suited me. I had been made president of the “Itty Bitty Titty Committee, and they were nice enough to hang my name-labled 32AA bra on the camp flagpole. They took the swimmers to the ocean and had us swim out to a distant rock formation. Most of us made it and 3 of us decided to hang out and sunbathe on that rock for a few hours. Later, We were baked and exhausted and could barely make it back. I was cocky when executing bold high-dives until I didn’t pull out in time and smacked into the water. They thought I was joking and took a while to figure out that I was unconscious. Gave me a red burn much worse than a sun. It was a great healthy summer that took me out of my usual element. Open fire hydrants on a hot summer day are great, but I’d opt for a clean non-overcrowded olympic pool any day.
Does anyone remember Camp…
I am the current President…
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I am the current President of The New York Emperor’s Stickball League, Inc. (NYESL) located in the Bronx. We have been in existence 16 years now where the Florida Kings with Barbara and the Pizzaroz boys; the San Diego Knights with Bobby and Paul Ortiz, Willie Blas, and Jim Strickland; the Puerto Rico Tainos with Pepin and Noble and the various other teams from the tri-state area have become and will always be considered extended family to me on a personal level and to the members of my organization on a competitive level. We are always trying to increase awareness of the game we have all grown to love so much. This summer, 2001, we will start, for the first time ever, the first organized children’s stickball league. With funding from the NYC Children’s Services and assistance from the Bronx YMCA and radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa and the volunteer efforts of the members of NYESL, the dream of reintroducing the game of stickball to a new generation will become a reality. Check out our website, www.nyesl.org, for updates on this and other events going on in the world of stickball.
While we all played and…
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While we all played and had fun all year long, the Summer months usually brought special memeories. What are some of yours? I remember the distinct smell when it rained on a hot summers day – rain, and concrete and asphalt was a unique experience of the senses that one couldn’t experience anywhere else but in NYC. Remember the steam coming up from the streets? I also remember going to Yankee and Met games with the local PAL…I think we had to pay a buck which included transportation, lunch, and the ticket! I also remember the moths and bugs swirling around the street lights on a steamy, hot, Summer’s night…and Mr. Softee music and the light from its truck in the background. Banana boats were under a buck…wow! I also remember making genies by emptying the gunpowder from leftover firecrackers from the night before on the 4th of July…we called it the 4th. I also remember eating those freeze pops in the plasic sleeves…may favorite was blue ice, what was yours?….not to mention the chocolate eclair or creamsicles from the Good Humor man or Bungalow Bar. And what about jamming ourselves in the boys and girls entrances in the schoolyard until the rain was over….one last powerful Queens memory….going to Weiss’s and Lenny’s clam bar on the way back from Rockaway beach. Oh, Summer in NYC, I wish I could have just one day back again!