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The Union Blvd strip was the hub of West Islip. Yes the P.O., you had to walk up a set of steps to get to the counter. I remember mailing my draft card info. off there in 1980. The Carvel was owned by the Holgosh family. The Long River kitchen was the best and so was the Pizza Place.
I rented my Trumpet from Amatos music store in 1974 & 75'. I can remember my parents cashing checks at King Kullen on the weekend before ATM machines came along in 1980.
Suffolk Stores was great, I used to buy those light wood planes that with the rubber band for the propeller. They had Christmas stuff too. The Movie theatre started off at $1.50 and I saw Grease, Rocky, Blues brothers, Alien & The Lords of Flatbush to name a few. The entire junior High would see what ever new movie was released on Friday nights.
I worked at the Pioneer diner in 1978 as a busboy and made enough money to buy my first car. The place was a blast at 3:00 in the morning when the bar crowd would start rolling in...What an education that was. There used to be this old scary broken down mansion on the opposite corner.
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Sally's bike shop and the unmistakeable smell of new rubber tires. I used to buy HO slot cars there in the late 60's..
Oh well, that was a whole other time ago,,,,
Ok so it's 10 years later now, hello NY! I see I missed a few posts over the years, great ones at that, and to the one above I start with yes! All of that! Most, anyway.
Long River, that was the place, best egg rolls to date.
Mike's Pizza, the best man, many teen dates and tomfoolery there. I think I meant Oak Neck Pizzeria in my OP, it's still there amazingly.
I had a ball with those planes, balsa wood, and the water rockets that sprayed the hell out of you and always landed on the roof. Then the Jumbo foam planes, broke apart just as easily!
I used Amato's too, thanks for telling me the name again.
Saw loads of films there, Jaws at the age of 9 being memorable early on. What parents take a 9 year old to Jaws? Mine! Man, the head rolling out haunted me for weeks. Of course by 11 in 1977 I had my sis and bf taking me to the Chainsaw/The Hills Have Eyes double feature.
And at last, the mansion. I recall it like yesterday, and the night my parents took me to see it burn. Were you there?!? They explained it like it was the fire dept intentionally set it, or so I recall at whatever age this was, but who knows. I stood right across the street and watched it burn, good crowd there, it was hot as hell across the road.
Cheers
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On the racist thing we had no blacks, still don't as I read, and only in WI. Wild. None in school though, so as a kid you only saw blacks in the city in the 70s. Where my parents grew up in a more racist time I ended up ok there, as most of you are now I'm sure. Point is I can't say how racist against blacks we were as none of us saw any through school, so in person who knows. When I moved to Miami, tons of all colors, I fit in well and frankly liked the mix of cultures and vibe.
The Jewish thing, hmm. As I recall my neighborhood was Italians, Irish, Jewish, some German, that's it. So I grew up with the Jews, the only joke was the whole no Christmas thing, but the "8 nights of presents" seemed a good comeback. Anyway that was Bayview, Beach St Jr, and a year or so of High School. So yeah I was by the bay, and this was who lived there. We were brats, no doubt. Nothing to do punky thugs who threw far too many eggs I'm sure. No one had race fights, or was out to get anyone for religious differences, very sorry to read this tale.
Also RIP to the bowling alley and roller rink, thanks for the memories.
On the racist thing we had no blacks, still don't as I read....
The Jewish thing, hmm. As I recall my neighborhood was Italians, Irish, Jewish, some German, that's it. So I grew up with the Jews, the only joke was the whole no Christmas thing, but the "8 nights of presents" seemed a good comeback. Anyway that was Bayview, Beach St Jr, and a year or so of High School. So yeah I was by the bay, and this was who lived there. We were brats, no doubt. Nothing to do punky thugs who threw far too many eggs I'm sure. No one had race fights, or was out to get anyone for religious differences...
Things are still essentially the same as they were back then. People today still call it "White Islip" when trying to be snarky, lol
My son went to the same schools as you from the late 1980s to early 2000s. You must have lived in the same development (off Snedecor/Anchorage) or one of the Bay streets on the west side of Good Sam? Back then there were two elementary schools right next to each other: Bayview and Captree. They eventually closed Captree by the way.
Ironically, when my son bought his house (also in West Islip) it was in the 'zone' for Westbrook Elementary which was less than 2 blocks away. The week after my DIL found out she was pregnant the announced they were closing Westbrook, LOL. So they figured okay, the baby will eventually go to one of the others, not so convenient but oh well. Two months ago they decided buy a house in the same neighborhood my son grew up in, so now she'll be going to Bayview when she starts school. Talk about full circle, LOL. My son who was a student there at age 5 will be coming back as the parent of one.
They "moved" La Grange sideways on its original lot and turned it into something else, by the way. The building is still there but it doesn't look the same. There was all kinds of hoo-ha for a few years over its historic status, yadda yadda. It now shares that corner with a newly built CVS.
Ha, that's a wild story, ain't life grand! Bayview, though, is a great school to go to. The view alone, not of the bay mind you, but of the trees and picturesque surrounds. Ah the memories of staring out the window at nature and its wonder....whilst surely not paying enough attention, lol.
Yes, you got it, Anchorage it was.
Back then nobody used "White Islip", as it was all adjacent towns too, but it IS really odd how this has never changed. This must be uber-rare for any LI town now.(??) If this is true, that WI is the only all white town left on the Island, well, I feel a documentary coming soon! Netflix Presents "White Islip - Then, Now, Forever". - Michael Moore dives head first into the most bigoted town in NY state. A town where no one of color can get a mortgage approved, can pull a building permit, or even get gas safely if they are passing through...
Sorry, but I can really see Netflix and Moore being all over this... like white on rice.
I've always thought it odd that with all the small stores, shops, etc along Montauk Hwy, Union Blvd, Higbie and Udall, there was only ever that one bakery in West Islip as far as I know. (Bagel shops don't count as a bakery, sorry, LOL)
Theoretically I guess West Islip doesn't "need" one, because there was Wilhelm's in Babylon Village (which eventually became Torta Fina) plus during the 1990s a little French bakery opened up on 27A (just west of 231 as you come into the village.) I guess everyone in West Islip went to Wilhelm's after Mary Jane's closed.
I think the only restaurant that has survived in West Islip in it original form is Long River Kitchen (despite having moved about 1/4 mile down the street). Because the Carousel Diner on the corner of Union and Higbie is now a Brownstones that serves breakfast and brunch only, and Herman's Captree House has been a couple of different things since it closed. And of course La Grange is now offices or something.
The Captree Bowling Alley was what burned down in the early 1980s. It was replaced by a Stop & Shop which right now is being partially torn down and renovated into a "Super Stop & Shop"..
This is NOT CORRECT
Captree Bowl did not burn down. It closed down around 1988. It was not renovated into "Stop & Shop." It became a King Kullen. That building was torn down and is now a Dollar Tree and Wild By Nature.
The Stop & Shop was previously known as Grand Union. It's the same building but has expanded into what used to be called "Consumers."
I've always thought it odd that with all the small stores, shops, etc along Montauk Hwy, Union Blvd, Higbie and Udall, there was only ever that one bakery in West Islip as far as I know. (Bagel shops don't count as a bakery, sorry, LOL)
Theoretically I guess West Islip doesn't "need" one, because there was Wilhelm's in Babylon Village (which eventually became Torta Fina) plus during the 1990s a little French bakery opened up on 27A (just west of 231 as you come into the village.) I guess everyone in West Islip went to Wilhelm's after Mary Jane's closed.
I think the only restaurant that has survived in West Islip in it original form is Long River Kitchen (despite having moved about 1/4 mile down the street). Because the Carousel Diner on the corner of Union and Higbie is now a Brownstones that serves breakfast and brunch only, and Herman's Captree House has been a couple of different things since it closed. And of course La Grange is now offices or something.
The Bakery was called MAMIE'S BAKERY, right? They used to sponsor one of the Little League teams (the purple team I think)
They "moved" La Grange sideways on its original lot and turned it into something else, by the way. The building is still there but it doesn't look the same. There was all kinds of hoo-ha for a few years over its historic status, yadda yadda. It now shares that corner with a newly built CVS.
Captree Bowl did not burn down. It closed down around 1988. It was not renovated into "Stop & Shop." It became a King Kullen. That building was torn down and is now a Dollar Tree and Wild By Nature.
The Stop & Shop was previously known as Grand Union. It's the same building but has expanded into what used to be called "Consumers."
Hmm . . . . my brother told me that Captree did indeed burn down. I'm pretty sure that it was after it had closed. . . but oh well . . .
I do know 100% that it did not turn into Stop & Shop. That's on the old Grand Union spot :-)
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Bakery
Captree Bowling Alley
