P, yes… Sheridan Ave. started at Atlantic. We lived at #7.
I don’t recognize those names, but my father Sal was the mailman for the neighborhood from Hill Street to Sheridan Avenue, so he knew everyone on Hill, Autumn Ave., Lincoln Avenue, McKinley Ave… I think there was a little candy store on Autumn Avenue and McKinley. And on the corner of Sheridan and McKinley was “Iglebrink’s” (we called it “Inklebrink’s”).
My Aunt and Uncle and cousins, the Walls, lived at 406 Grant Avenue between the convents.
My father went to FKL but I’m not sure what year he graduated. I’d guess in the 30s sometime, or maybe early 40s. (Sal Vitale)
My parents grew up in Bushwick (next door to each other) on Central Avenue near Halsey I think. My grandparents lived there until the mid-70s, and my grandfather had a barber shop on Central Ave.
His name was Alfonso Vitale.
My father went to Fourteen Holy Martyrs. As a kid, they used to drive me and my sisters past The House of Good Shephard, the home for wayward girls. When he really wanted to threaten us, he took us to Johnson Avenue where the slaughterhouses were. He had a warped sense of humor.
I grew up on the corner of Sheridan and Atlantic.
OH… I just remembered another grocery store we shopped in… Bohack! Wasn’t that on Fulton Street?
Peter… I was paid $1!!! They had me sign a release without asking my age… I was only 16. It was fun, though, because so many people were watching from inside the building on Park and 54th St. that I was stopped for weeks on the street. My hair was extremely long so I was “distinctive”. If you ever watch it again, you’ll see me. And yes… he falls into the fountain at the end!
Dr. Cascio was old, in my mind, in the 1960s. A little white-haired guy that my mother used to drag us to for Vitamin B-12 shots. The cocaine of its time, I tell you. We’d be FLYING after those shots! I remember not being able to sleep and thinking my heart was going to beat its way out of my chest.
I believe his office was on a street somewhere between Atlantic Avenue and Jamaica Avenue, on one of the numbered streets. (Didn’t it go Elderts Lane and then 75th St, etc… ?)
PKoch: I’m actually IN “The Groove Tube”. I was 16 and they were filming near my job in NYC. I’m the girl with the long dark hair in the last segment (the one with Ken Shapiro dancing in the pink suit to “Just Me, Just You”). I was walking back from the bank and they shot it, and then asked me to do it several more times. It was a blast.
I don’t know Dr. Catapano, but our doctor, Dr. Cascio, also had a office in his home and made house calls. I think he may have been in Richmond Hill or Ridgewood… not sure. I can picture his house as though it were yesterday.
How funny! My cousin Dennis is doing fine. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife (a woman he met in Guam when he was stationed there). He has a few grandchildren, too.
I think 1974 or even 75 may have been the last graduating class from St. Michael’s.
What fun! Did you know Tina Suzdak? I think she, too, may have been in your grade.
Elaine: No, that wasn’t my Aunt Millie. She had Joseph, Linda and Cathy. My father’s name was Sal but that wasn’t him. My father was the mailman for the neighborhood, from Hill Street to Sheridan Avenue, on the side of Atlantic closer to Liberty.
My sister Loretta graduated from St. Mike’s in 1963 and my sister Corinne graduated in 1968. I graduated in ‘73. I remember Kenny’s because I used to buy my Barbies there! In the '70s, “Electric Lady” was a hip clothing store.
I also had cousins, The Walls, who lived in between the convents on Grant Avenue next to St. Sylvester’s. My cousin Dennis Wall may be about your age.
I was laughing about your movie stories. When I was 13, I was headed to the Earl to see “The Graduate” until my sister told my mother that it was “full of bedroom scenes” and she ran down the block to catch me.
Jack: No, not related to Masoni. My family lived on Sheridan, near the corner of Atlantic Avenue. And YES… the crumb buns were great!!
Elaine: My aunt Millie and cousins Joseph, Linda and Cathy may have lived on Forbell (or Eldert’s…not sure) on the side of Atlantic Avenue closer to Fulton St. We lived on Sheridan, on the other side of Atlantic, closer to Liberty Avenue.
I went out with Gregory Roman who lived on Forbell Street.
I think I saw that movie at the Earl too! I also remember seeing “House on Haunted Hill” and “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors” there, and running home in the dark, scared out of my wits!
I laughed when I read “Joseph’s Hair Salon”. Remember “Ben’s”? It was owned by Ben Gazzarra’s sister. Some other stores I remember on Liberty were Thom McAnn’s, Crystal’s, King John, John’s Bargain Store, Busy Bee (hamburger place), Bo-Peep (children’s clothing store), Haber Jewelry.
We went to St. Sylvester’s grammar school and St. Michael’s HS.
The best record store in that area was Jerry’s on Liberty Avenue near the split for 101st Ave. (in City Line, on the other side of Atlantic). It was way down the Avenue near Areola’s Bakery and the East New York Savings Bank.
Wasn’t there a bakery on Fulton Street that had amazing cheesecake?
Jack, if you lived on Autumn Avenue on the side of Atlantic closer to Liberty, my father Sal was your mailman.
PS to the powers that be on this site: It’s nearly impossible to find the “log in” link. I had to dig through the FAQs to find the page where I could log in!
Since I grew up on the “other” side of Atlantic Avenue (on Sheridan), we had the choice of The Earl (or ‘The Itch") or The Embassy.
The Earl was the low-rent option… dirty, buggy, loud… sometimes birds would fly around inside the theater. Saturdays were a free-for-all.
The Embassy had an adult side and a kids' side (you had to be 14 or over to sit on the “adult” side). You could also smoke on the adult side. There was a dress code: no shorts for girls. The matrons were wicked…they’d patrol up and down the aisles with their flashlights. So funny to remember that!
It was always The Earl or The Itch to me, and I lived in the neighborhood from 1955-1974. Never heard it called the City Line. If you sat in the last row, you risked getting roaches in your hair from the venetian blinds behind you!
Philly… no, my relatives were Nicholas and Laura DiMarco (cousins) and Rose and Frank (their parents).
Have to check out tapeshare!
P: Iglebrink’s was a little corner deli/convenience store.
P, yes… Sheridan Ave. started at Atlantic. We lived at #7.
I don’t recognize those names, but my father Sal was the mailman for the neighborhood from Hill Street to Sheridan Avenue, so he knew everyone on Hill, Autumn Ave., Lincoln Avenue, McKinley Ave… I think there was a little candy store on Autumn Avenue and McKinley. And on the corner of Sheridan and McKinley was “Iglebrink’s” (we called it “Inklebrink’s”).
My Aunt and Uncle and cousins, the Walls, lived at 406 Grant Avenue between the convents.
Me again…
My father went to FKL but I’m not sure what year he graduated. I’d guess in the 30s sometime, or maybe early 40s. (Sal Vitale)
My parents grew up in Bushwick (next door to each other) on Central Avenue near Halsey I think. My grandparents lived there until the mid-70s, and my grandfather had a barber shop on Central Ave.
His name was Alfonso Vitale.
My father went to Fourteen Holy Martyrs. As a kid, they used to drive me and my sisters past The House of Good Shephard, the home for wayward girls. When he really wanted to threaten us, he took us to Johnson Avenue where the slaughterhouses were. He had a warped sense of humor.
I grew up on the corner of Sheridan and Atlantic.
OH… I just remembered another grocery store we shopped in… Bohack! Wasn’t that on Fulton Street?
I went to PS 171 for kindergarten!
Peter… nope, no relation. But Vitale is a fairly common name.
I did have relatives named DiMarco who lived on Linwood Street (which is near the Embassy, I think).
Woodhaven. That’s definitely where his office was!
Peter… I was paid $1!!! They had me sign a release without asking my age… I was only 16. It was fun, though, because so many people were watching from inside the building on Park and 54th St. that I was stopped for weeks on the street. My hair was extremely long so I was “distinctive”. If you ever watch it again, you’ll see me. And yes… he falls into the fountain at the end!
Dr. Cascio was old, in my mind, in the 1960s. A little white-haired guy that my mother used to drag us to for Vitamin B-12 shots. The cocaine of its time, I tell you. We’d be FLYING after those shots! I remember not being able to sleep and thinking my heart was going to beat its way out of my chest.
I believe his office was on a street somewhere between Atlantic Avenue and Jamaica Avenue, on one of the numbered streets. (Didn’t it go Elderts Lane and then 75th St, etc… ?)
PKoch: I’m actually IN “The Groove Tube”. I was 16 and they were filming near my job in NYC. I’m the girl with the long dark hair in the last segment (the one with Ken Shapiro dancing in the pink suit to “Just Me, Just You”). I was walking back from the bank and they shot it, and then asked me to do it several more times. It was a blast.
I don’t know Dr. Catapano, but our doctor, Dr. Cascio, also had a office in his home and made house calls. I think he may have been in Richmond Hill or Ridgewood… not sure. I can picture his house as though it were yesterday.
~Marian
PKoch: Indeed! We used to go to Ridgewood too… wasn’t there a Jahn’s on Myrtle Avenue?
How funny! My cousin Dennis is doing fine. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife (a woman he met in Guam when he was stationed there). He has a few grandchildren, too.
I think 1974 or even 75 may have been the last graduating class from St. Michael’s.
What fun! Did you know Tina Suzdak? I think she, too, may have been in your grade.
Elaine: No, that wasn’t my Aunt Millie. She had Joseph, Linda and Cathy. My father’s name was Sal but that wasn’t him. My father was the mailman for the neighborhood, from Hill Street to Sheridan Avenue, on the side of Atlantic closer to Liberty.
My sister Loretta graduated from St. Mike’s in 1963 and my sister Corinne graduated in 1968. I graduated in ‘73. I remember Kenny’s because I used to buy my Barbies there! In the '70s, “Electric Lady” was a hip clothing store.
I also had cousins, The Walls, who lived in between the convents on Grant Avenue next to St. Sylvester’s. My cousin Dennis Wall may be about your age.
I was laughing about your movie stories. When I was 13, I was headed to the Earl to see “The Graduate” until my sister told my mother that it was “full of bedroom scenes” and she ran down the block to catch me.
Jack: No, not related to Masoni. My family lived on Sheridan, near the corner of Atlantic Avenue. And YES… the crumb buns were great!!
Elaine: My aunt Millie and cousins Joseph, Linda and Cathy may have lived on Forbell (or Eldert’s…not sure) on the side of Atlantic Avenue closer to Fulton St. We lived on Sheridan, on the other side of Atlantic, closer to Liberty Avenue.
I went out with Gregory Roman who lived on Forbell Street.
I think I saw that movie at the Earl too! I also remember seeing “House on Haunted Hill” and “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors” there, and running home in the dark, scared out of my wits!
I laughed when I read “Joseph’s Hair Salon”. Remember “Ben’s”? It was owned by Ben Gazzarra’s sister. Some other stores I remember on Liberty were Thom McAnn’s, Crystal’s, King John, John’s Bargain Store, Busy Bee (hamburger place), Bo-Peep (children’s clothing store), Haber Jewelry.
We went to St. Sylvester’s grammar school and St. Michael’s HS.
Love reading this stuff!!!
The best record store in that area was Jerry’s on Liberty Avenue near the split for 101st Ave. (in City Line, on the other side of Atlantic). It was way down the Avenue near Areola’s Bakery and the East New York Savings Bank.
Wasn’t there a bakery on Fulton Street that had amazing cheesecake?
Jack, I remember the Hamburg but not the contest!
And YES… Millie is my aunt!
Jack, if you lived on Autumn Avenue on the side of Atlantic closer to Liberty, my father Sal was your mailman.
PS to the powers that be on this site: It’s nearly impossible to find the “log in” link. I had to dig through the FAQs to find the page where I could log in!
Since I grew up on the “other” side of Atlantic Avenue (on Sheridan), we had the choice of The Earl (or ‘The Itch") or The Embassy.
The Earl was the low-rent option… dirty, buggy, loud… sometimes birds would fly around inside the theater. Saturdays were a free-for-all.
The Embassy had an adult side and a kids' side (you had to be 14 or over to sit on the “adult” side). You could also smoke on the adult side. There was a dress code: no shorts for girls. The matrons were wicked…they’d patrol up and down the aisles with their flashlights. So funny to remember that!
It was always The Earl or The Itch to me, and I lived in the neighborhood from 1955-1974. Never heard it called the City Line. If you sat in the last row, you risked getting roaches in your hair from the venetian blinds behind you!