Missing from Long Island (Islip, Babylon: buyer, schools, gym)

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by Escape_From_NY

My parents moved out from the city to NB in 1962(?) and bought their first home on Marcy St for $13,500. I left NB for Smithtown in the middle of 8th grade in(I think?) 1973 or 74, so yes, I did the full K-6th grade thing at Belmont but only 1 1/2 years at RM Jr High. Class of 75, so it looks like we lived and grew up mere blocks from each other and probably know some of the same families. I guess I'm 2 years older than you.

Same story for my parents. They bought their first house over by Belmont Elementary for $13K in 1959. My dad sold it in 2007 for $417K. Nice profit.

You may have been in some of my classes, as I graduated in '75.

Teacher Lineup:
(Belmont Elelmentary)
K: Mrs Pufall
1: Mrs Weis
2: Mrs Johnson (aka Moonlady)
3: Miss Couteau (sp?)
4: Miss Finkelstein
5: Mrs. Weinstein (not sure about name?)
6: Mr Saffern

gym: Mr McFarland
music: Mrs. MacMillan
nurse: Mrs Curtis

(Robert Moses Jr High)
7th: section 7.5
math: Mrs Chatfield
science: Mrs Pomperantz
art: Mr Deely ("You dunderhead!)
SS: Mr Levine
can't remember others!

[LIMAMA4]

I don't know if this was mentioned, but I miss the old Mineola theater on the corner of Mineola Blvd. and First Street. It was torn down in the late 70's. Another icon of my childhood that is long gone is McGinnis Amusements in Garden City Park. It was a small amusement (I can't even call it an amusement park) park that my mother used to bring my brother and I to when my father worked weekends.

[Samrai309]

Originally Posted by LIMAMA4

I don't know if this was mentioned, but I miss the old Mineola theater on the corner of Mineola Blvd. and First Street. It was torn down in the late 70's. Another icon of my childhood that is long gone is McGinnis Amusements in Garden City Park. It was a small amusement (I can't even call it an amusement park) park that my mother used to bring my brother and I to when my father worked weekends.

I forgot this place. My parents used to take me there all the time when I was younger. Nothing has been developed on its land. Its all abandoned now but you can still see some remnants of the place. They had a rollercoaster caterpillar or soemthing like that. Ahh..memories.

[Lancet71]

Originally Posted by jfkIII

Sigh...for me it was 33&1/3 vinyl albums...most which I still have today...and the best deals were at Korvette's (West Islip.)

I liked the one in Queens

[atypicalLIer]

Originally Posted by Samrai309

Cracker Barrel would be a gold mine. That place is great.

More uber chain mediocrity.

[atypicalLIer]

Originally Posted by sickofnyc99

We called them beer balls and yes they still exist as far as I know. Southampton College wouldn't allow kegs on campus so we'd just get beer balls. oh and when they're empty you could punt them across the quad.

Or spray paint them and make them into giant Christmas ornaments...

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by atypicalLIer

More uber chain mediocrity.

I can't believe how many people's memories are comprised almost entirely of fast food chain restaurants....that's really weird to me.

This will also probably be weird to most people, but one of the biggest things I miss is the old abandoned Republic-Fairchild factory in East Farmingdale. My dad would take me out there all the time when I was a little kid and we would roam around the ruins and watch planes take off. His father worked there when he was a kid and he could describe everything so well that I could imagine it all taking place right in front of my eyes.

The original incarnation of the Cradle of Aviaton museum. When I was young it was just a hanger full of old planes and old men who either built them or flew them in WWII. Truly an awesome place, I'm sure the new one is cool but it appears to have lost it's intimate vibe from years passed. The new American Airpower Museum is somewhat similar, really cool place.

There was an antique car museum in Freeport that I also payed many visits to. It was tiny but had a neat selection. There was also an Alfa-Romeo dealership nearby....and I remember being very impressed with the Spider Quadrifoglio and Milano/Alfa 75 sedan which were still in production at that time. They looked like nothing else on the road, and back then it was very uncommon to see really high-end cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis like you do now.

Cheap used record stores: Slipped Disc in Valley Stream, None of the Above in Levittown, Empire Discs in East Garden City, Utopia in Hicksville (still around....not sure if they sell music or just bongs and buttplugs now). Nothing like the smell of a dusty crate of records/CDs. Most of my collection came from those few places....and Looney Tunes which is (aside from the exclusively hiphop/rap Cop Shop in Smithtown - also great) the lone indie music holdout on LI. Along the same lines, I really miss all the rinky dink clubs, dive bars, warehouses and basements that hosted countless punk rock/hardcore shows while I was in high school. These never lasted long and are much too numerous to list, but some of my best memories are sneaking out of my house late at night and walking over to a place called Ground Zero in North Bellmore to catch the punk matinee. Crazy times at that place....other notable ones were the Ethical Humanist Center in Garden City, Club PURE in Mineola, Levittown VFW, Commack Bowling Alley, some church in Wading River....some other really weird church on Ocean Avenue just north of the LIE.....Castle Heights in Jackson Heights....

I miss really simple things, too....I miss when Deer Park Avenue and Ocean Parkway were defacto drag strips, I miss riding my Mongoose BMX bike and building jumps in the woods, fishing in Twin Lakes or Brady Park..... some of the best times were hanging out all night at Wantagh Park with nothing but a few friends, a boom box, a few 40 ounces of Budweiser and maybe some special cigarettes I believe this is a phenomenon native to Long Island, there was actually an article in the NY Times a few years back about kids hanging out in parking lots on LI and how weird it was. Always seemed normal to me!

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

I can't believe how many people's memories are comprised almost entirely of fast food chain restaurants....that's really weird to me.

This will also probably be weird to most people, but one of the biggest things I miss is the old abandoned Republic-Fairchild factory in East Farmingdale. My dad would take me out there all the time when I was a little kid and we would roam around the ruins and watch planes take off. His father worked there when he was a kid and he could describe everything so well that I could imagine it all taking place right in front of my eyes.

The original incarnation of the Cradle of Aviaton museum. When I was young it was just a hanger full of old planes and old men who either built them or flew them in WWII. Truly an awesome place, I'm sure the new one is cool but it appears to have lost it's intimate vibe from years passed. The new American Airpower Museum is somewhat similar, really cool place.

There was an antique car museum in Freeport that I also payed many visits to. It was tiny but had a neat selection. There was also an Alfa-Romeo dealership nearby....and I remember being very impressed with the Spider Quadrifoglio and Milano/Alfa 75 sedan which were still in production at that time. They looked like nothing else on the road, and back then it was very uncommon to see really high-end cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis like you do now.

Cheap used record stores: Slipped Disc in Valley Stream, None of the Above in Levittown, Empire Discs in East Garden City, Utopia in Hicksville (still around....not sure if they sell music or just bongs and buttplugs now). Nothing like the smell of a dusty crate of records/CDs. Most of my collection came from those few places....and Looney Tunes which is (aside from the exclusively hiphop/rap Cop Shop in Smithtown - also great) the lone indie music holdout on LI. Along the same lines, I really miss all the rinky dink clubs, dive bars, warehouses and basements that hosted countless punk rock/hardcore shows while I was in high school. These never lasted long and are much too numerous to list, but some of my best memories are sneaking out of my house late at night and walking over to a place called Ground Zero in North Bellmore to catch the punk matinee. Crazy times at that place....other notable ones were the Ethical Humanist Center in Garden City, Club PURE in Mineola, Levittown VFW, Commack Bowling Alley, some church in Wading River....some other really weird church on Ocean Avenue just north of the LIE.....Castle Heights in Jackson Heights....

I miss really simple things, too....I miss when Deer Park Avenue and Ocean Parkway were defacto drag strips, I miss riding my Mongoose BMX bike and building jumps in the woods, fishing in Twin Lakes or Brady Park..... some of the best times were hanging out all night at Wantagh Park with nothing but a few friends, a boom box, a few 40 ounces of Budweiser and maybe some special cigarettes I believe this is a phenomenon native to Long Island, there was actually an article in the NY Times a few years back about kids hanging out in parking lots on LI and how weird it was. Always seemed normal to me!

Good point.


Im gonna throw a few relics up.


Islip Speedway.

Suffolk Meadows.

Goodskates

LI Arena

Dowds Beefalo.

Gracies Hot Dogs

Rocky Point Drive Inn

Malibu

Mothers Music

Play World

PWAC

VOODOO/Caffeine

crooks

[dman72]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

I miss really simple things, too....I miss when Deer Park Avenue and Ocean Parkway were defacto drag strips, I miss riding my Mongoose BMX bike and building jumps in the woods, fishing in Twin Lakes or Brady Park..... some of the best times were hanging out all night at Wantagh Park with nothing but a few friends, a boom box, a few 40 ounces of Budweiser and maybe some special cigarettes I believe this is a phenomenon native to Long Island, there was actually an article in the NY Times a few years back about kids hanging out in parking lots on LI and how weird it was. Always seemed normal to me!

Hanging out in parking lots goes on everywhere in the US. In all honesty, there isn't anything really unique about LI, but our own experiences are unique to each of us. Kids in Europe hang out in Pedestrian Malls in their towns...same thing really.

[hotkarl]

I really miss drive-ins. My fav was Westbury. Since it closed, I think I've gone to the movies maybe 6 times. Now I just wait for everything to come out on DVD.