St. James Park (Bronx), late 1960s (New York, Yonkers: co-op, felons, home)

[Songbird42]

Elvira, I once knew a guy that lived at 20 East 190th St. across from the Walter B. Cooke Funeral Home on the corner of Jerome Ave. back in the early 60's Johnny Gorman was his name, my friend has been looking for him for 10 yrs now, he sang with a group called the Zirkons, went to Creston JHS and then Gompers........ring a bell? Maybe you knew him from the neighborhood?

Knew the area fairly well, had a friend that worked at Forde's Chophouse (bar)
on Kingsbridge Rd. the owner was Mickey Forde, last I saw it was a nail salon
remember the skating rink? Used to go there also, now its part of a college
last I heard. St. James Park back in the day was safe, a great place to sit on the swings, used to walk throught the park to get to Alexanders also.
Do you remember Krums on the Concourse? It had a fire in the 60's then reopened, then closed.

I loved to go to the Paradise with there stars and clouds on the ceiling, and the fish in the lobby.....remember one of the guys that worked there Eddie Swartz......nice guy, great kisser, hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Went to the RKO Fordham, remember seeing Dion there with Murray the K in 1962. Orchard Beach, fond memories. Arthur Ave., the Blue Moon Pizza, Our Lady of Carmel church......the guys from the pool hall, hmmmmmm.

Yes, the Bronx of our youth is long gone, we have our memories to hang on too, I have been back several times, and I cry........because I remember what it once was......in my mind it will always be my home......I still have the pictures in my mind to take be back, in a blink and a nod, I can close my eyes and be on the Concourse, or Alexanders or Cousins Records, or Howard Johnsons and can be sitting eating one 35 flavors of a sundae.

I too hope that the Bronx sees better days, but they won't be the same as my time in the Bronx..........that's just my memory.

[Stanford]

Originally Posted by Songbird42

Elvira, I once knew a guy that lived at 20 East 190th St. across from the Walter B. Cooke Funeral Home on the corner of Jerome Ave. back in the early 60's Johnny Gorman was his name, my friend has been looking for him for 10 yrs now, he sang with a group called the Zirkons, went to Creston JHS and then Gompers........ring a bell? Maybe you knew him from the neighborhood?

Knew the area fairly well, had a friend that worked at Forde's Chophouse (bar)
on Kingsbridge Rd. the owner was Mickey Forde, last I saw it was a nail salon
remember the skating rink? Used to go there also, now its part of a college
last I heard. St. James Park back in the day was safe, a great place to sit on the swings, used to walk throught the park to get to Alexanders also.
Do you remember Krums on the Concourse? It had a fire in the 60's then reopened, then closed.

I loved to go to the Paradise with there stars and clouds on the ceiling, and the fish in the lobby.....remember one of the guys that worked there Eddie Swartz......nice guy, great kisser, hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Went to the RKO Fordham, remember seeing Dion there with Murray the K in 1962. Orchard Beach, fond memories. Arthur Ave., the Blue Moon Pizza, Our Lady of Carmel church......the guys from the pool hall, hmmmmmm.

Yes, the Bronx of our youth is long gone, we have our memories to hang on too, I have been back several times, and I cry........because I remember what it once was......in my mind it will always be my home......I still have the pictures in my mind to take be back, in a blink and a nod, I can close my eyes and be on the Concourse, or Alexanders or Cousins Records, or Howard Johnsons and can be sitting eating one 35 flavors of a sundae.

I too hope that the Bronx sees better days, but they won't be the same as my time in the Bronx..........that's just my memory.

Songbird, I clearly remember the Walter B. Cooke on Jerome. As a naive kid, I had no clue what the place was. I only knew that it was an elegant place where I always saw people elegantly dressed all the time. I also remember that a few blocks down as you approached Fordham Rd., there was a large supermarket. I don't recall if it was a Grand Union or a Bohack's. How could I forget the Loew's Paradise on the Grand Concourse or eating hot dogs on Fordham next to the RKO, and buying 45 records from the Woolworths? I was lucky enough to savor the goodies from Krums. Do you remember the Schraffts candy store on Fordham right off the corner of Jerome?

[Elvira Black]

Songbird:

Haven't been here all that long, but the Paradise has just been renovated and is being used for concerts, etc. The rest of what you mentioned is pretty much just a memory now, I think...

[Songbird42]

As the years have passed and I became an adult, I started to think back on my life and longed to go back to my roots, my first return in 96 was a horror
I stopped to look at my old house and was immediately surrounded by black woman wanting money, I was the only white person on the block and immediately got in my car and drove away. I returned again in 2001, I walked the streets, visited my old school, which was much smaller than I remembered, the school was all hispanic with hispanic teachers, the area surrounding the school impoverished with low income families, barely able to pay tuition at the school. Went down Fordham Rd. which looked like a outdoor flea market, so many junk stores. Alexanders long gone, the Paradise was boarded up, although now open for Latino concerts, boxing events, they say that the inside was renovated to its glory days and they kept the ceilings as they were. The Armory on Kingsbridge that I remember boat shows, car shows, the circus, the rodeo........now just a memory.
The Armory is suppose to be turned into separate schools or stores.
Walton HS I heard was closing. Roosevelt HS was closed in June and will reopen with several different schools in the building. That seems to be the new thing for the public schools, there take a school and break it down into several smaller schools within the building. I think Clinton did that also.

They say you can never go home again, how true.......but I can close my eyes and I'm back on the Concourse or where ever I want to go in my mind.
With a blink and nod I can see my friends standing on the corner, I can be sitting on the stoop and the neighbor ladies will be sitting at there windows watching the kids play potsie, or off the point. I can hear the Mr. Soffee truck coming down the block, and running and yelling up to mom, mom, throw me down .15 cents for a ice cream. I can hear the man coming down the block with a horse drawn cart, I cash clothes he would yell.

Times have changed, the Bronx has changed........yes, I remember Sutter bakery, Schrafts who could forget........Gorman's hot dogs......Jahns where you could get a monster Kitchen Sink, that I think 4 people could eat.
The German meat store on Jerome Ave. across from PS 33......Grants on Fordham Rd. near Jerome......where I first heard The Impala's singing I ran all the way home. Sears on Webster Ave. now closed. Fordham U, such a beautiful campus, where my cousins all went.

You can take the kid out of the Bronx, but you can't take the Bronx out of the kid

[baylovers]

Bohack's.... wow there's a memory flash. Walking home with mom under the Kingsbridge underpass with all those packages.

A nice long walk would bring you to the Botanical Gardens on a nice autumn day. Or waiting for the bus on Fordham Rd to take us to Orchard Beach. My cousins used to go to "tar beach".... anyone remember that?

[Stanford]

Originally Posted by baylovers

Bohack's.... wow there's a memory flash. Walking home with mom under the Kingsbridge underpass with all those packages.

A nice long walk would bring you to the Botanical Gardens on a nice autumn day. Or waiting for the bus on Fordham Rd to take us to Orchard Beach. My cousins used to go to "tar beach".... anyone remember that?

Baylover, tar beach would be your rooftop. We did that too!

I remember there being an A&P supermarket on Kingsbridge Rd. near the corner of Creston Ave. and right before the D train underpass. For some reason, I always remember going in there as a kid on rainy or snowy days and trying to kick-up the sawdust they would spread across the market floor to avoid people slipping. A simple memory as this warms my heart. Do you remember the green stamps? My aunt once was able to get a complete set of beautiful dishes with the stamps she had collected.

[yodel]

Please don't take offense to my question, but if you loved the Bronx so much, why didn't you stay and fight for it? Maybe you were all too young to make the decision, but the Bronx wouldn't have gotten to the point that it did if such a huge amount of the longtime residents didn't leave. I'm sorry if I sound rude and I know I wasn't there at the time, but I have a hard time understanding. On this board I hear so many people looking for an inexpensive place to live, but people steer them away from the Bronx, from the neighborhoods that most need the stability. Crime has gone down so much and new people are moving in and trying to bring the neighborhoods back, and they have improved, but many places still have a long way to go, and the Bronx has so much stigma to overcome. The Bronx has so many great things - Bothanical Gardens, the Zoo, great parks and parkways, little Italy, beautiful architecture... I hope that in the future more people will appreciate it for what it has, including the people who live there. Quite honestly, I was surprised by all the strong feelings I'm hearing on this thread, and all the love that's out there from you former Bronxites. I wish there was a way to harness it and make it more meaningful for the future of the borough, and not simply the past.

[Songbird42]

I love the Bronx, it is my birthplace, my folks and grandparents were born there, as were great grandfolks......I think my folks would have stayed in the early 60's if our house wasn't sold out from under our feet and the new owner didn't raise our rent 100%. We moved to NJ where for a brand new house custom built they paid $12,000 and there mortgage was $99.00 a month. A far cry from the money the new landlord wanted. I was back nearly every year in the 60's and much did not change. My friends were still all there and the area's were still decent. In 1975 had to come into the Bronx on business, Tremont Ave. things were changing, we drove over to the zoo and the animals lived better than the people. Webster/Southern Blvd looked horrid. I've been back many times since then and while some area's
are not that great, Fordham Rd. oh my gosh......the apts on the Concourse
all washed and clean look decent, Jerome Ave. yuck........not so great.
Was to the zoo, and I can only remember the original buildings that sit empty
the rest is nice. So many places that I remember are long gone.

I get a weekly newspaper The Riverdale Press, and I read there crime reports
cars robbed, people getting hit in the head with rocks, near Fort Indepenance
gangs, Kennedy HS kids rioting..........where is the respect? The people doing all these things they act like animals.........do they think they have it coming? Some one on one of the threads said that people being impovished act like this......sorry but in my days, 60's we were taught to respect everyone, property and not do half the crap that goes on. The people themselves let this happen. And while there are sections of the Bronx that are still good, I'm sure that they take it into there own hands to keep the area safe for everyone.

I would love to go back to the Bronx, have even checked out real estate there and while I cannot afford a $600,000 home, maybe a condo, but I hesitate. I have to be honest while I love the idea of living there, everyone I once knew is now out of there, the pockets of Jewish, Irish, German have been replaced with PR's, Dominicans, Blacks and that scares the hell out of me.

I hope that the Bronx continues to thrive and become a great borough, I hope that the people now there take pride in there homes and businesses
and I will continue to close my eyes and remember the way it once was
the Bronx is always in my heart and no one can take that from me.

[Stanford]

Originally Posted by yodel

Please don't take offense to my question, but if you loved the Bronx so much, why didn't you stay and fight for it? Maybe you were all too young to make the decision, but the Bronx wouldn't have gotten to the point that it did if such a huge amount of the longtime residents didn't leave. I'm sorry if I sound rude and I know I wasn't there at the time, but I have a hard time understanding. On this board I hear so many people looking for an inexpensive place to live, but people steer them away from the Bronx, from the neighborhoods that most need the stability. Crime has gone down so much and new people are moving in and trying to bring the neighborhoods back, and they have improved, but many places still have a long way to go, and the Bronx has so much stigma to overcome. The Bronx has so many great things - Bothanical Gardens, the Zoo, great parks and parkways, little Italy, beautiful architecture... I hope that in the future more people will appreciate it for what it has, including the people who live there. Quite honestly, I was surprised by all the strong feelings I'm hearing on this thread, and all the love that's out there from you former Bronxites. I wish there was a way to harness it and make it more meaningful for the future of the borough, and not simply the past.

Yodel, you're correct when you say that I was too young to make the decision to stay in the Bronx myself. I was only 13 when my parents decided to pack and leave. That decision was a very difficult one for my parents, as they witnessed the beginning of the massive decline in the neighborhood they loved. In the early to mid 70s, the particular areas we lived in became riddled with drug dealers. Having a family of 4 girls, I suppose my father felt it was too dangerous a place for him to raise his young impressionable daughters. The vestibule of our building became a hangout for young pot smoking punks. From our bedroom window overlooking Jerome Ave., one day we actually witnessed a switch blade fight between two men that in the end resulted in lots of blood loss. This was just too much for my parents to endure. Neighborhood groups were non-existent. My dad became a member of our building association to no avail. A complete disregard and no respect from the new tenants coming in just helped him make the decision to throw in the towel. Even at the point that we did leave, it still was not as bad as when I saw it last. A few of the buildings had burned down leaving behind empty lots. I don't blame a young couple wanting to leave this violent environment, especially when they have 4 young children who may be easily influenced by all this negativity. Call it selfish or whatever you will. The Bronx will always hold a dear place in my heart, and I continue to frequent some of the places that maintain a stronghold of my childhood memories, that being the beach area, City Island, the zoo, Yankee Stadium, and of course, Arthur Avenue.

[baylovers]

Spring 1977.. I was 11 years old, so I did not have too much to say about the situation either. But for my family it was the best thing. While most of the Irish people we knew from Our lady of Refuge were moving north to Pearl River, Mahopac & Yonkers, we moved south to Rockaway. It was like paradise in comparison.

We could no longer play with our friends in the schoolyard or in Poe Park. There were almost daily shootings and stabbings. Drugs had taken over many of the streets in the neighborhood. It was no place to raise a young family if you had the option to leave. 1977... it was time to go. I can't believe it was 30 years ago.

I remember one night being awakened by gunfire. I called to my parents who said that it was fireworks or maybe I was dreaming. The next morning we awoke to a slew of detectives and crime scene tape on the rooftop that my bedroom window looked out to. It was time to go. I remember my father had caught two separate burglars in our 6 story walkup within a few months. Then it was our turn.... one night after a visit with relatives we came home to find our apartment was ransacked. All my mother's jewelry was gone along with anything else valuable they could stuff in a pillow case. It was time to go.

Yodel, times and places become stuck in a pendulum. It would be difficult for me to explain how bad it became right after we left. We had moved only 3 months prior to the blackout. Areas like Kingsbridge were never the same. I recall Channel 2 News doing a report about areas with the highest concentration of convicted felons & people on parole in the mid 80's. The nuber one spot area was Briggs & Bainbridge Ave between 194 St & 198 St. It was time to go.... but maybe the pendulum is coming back again. I hope you enjoy some of the good times we fondly remember.