My Old Neighborhood in the Bronx Remembered - Shorter Version
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- Author Avery Corman recalls neighborhood life in the Bronx of the 1940s and 1950s. This is the short version that doesn't have Avery talking about all the locations. It is adapted from his memoir, "My Old Neighborhood Remembered," published by Barricade Books. Available from booksellers in hardcover and ebook editions.
My grandparents lived down the street from Yankee Stadium in the late 60s and into the mid 70s. They kept having to move to a safsr part of the Bronx every 5 years because the crime just kept getting worse. They finally moved to NJ in the mid 80s. I was so disappointed because I looked forward to my visits to NYC as a child and young teen.
Thank you Avery. As a 70 yr old guy I was born in the OLD LINCOLN HOSPITAL. I LIVED IN THE BRONX TILL 2005. ONCE AGAIN THANKS FOR THIS INFORMATIVE WALK THRU HISTORY
I remember PS 33 and the Muffin Man game, too. I was there in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Your memories parallel mine. I still have my First and Second Grade class pictures, taken in the auditorium. I never thought I’d feel nostalgic, but I do.
Nostalgic because they were wonderful times. AC
Born in 1946, many memories overlap. In the background of the first location is the building that was once Alexander's Department Store. Its opening was a seminal event for the Fordham/Grand Concourse shopping area. Saw JFK give a campaign speech on the SE corner. My high school graduation ceremony was held at the Paradise theater. Many movie dates followed at the Valentine and Astor. My mom was the bookkeeper for the Florsheim shoe store across the street from Alexander's. Rode the #20 bus past Poe Park on the way to high school. Wish Mr. Corman would have mentioned Jahn's ice cream parlor at Kingsbridge Road and Fordham Road where a group of 12 could enjoy the infamous Kitchen Sink sundae.
Thank you. It was such a modern building for the time.
I played STICKBALL but one thing added to street play was SKULLY, great times
It's amazing how safe my old neighborhood used to be. There's so much history in that area that unfortunately many people living there now may not be able to appreciate & even be aware of.
You’re absolutely right. It’s a shame. Just hearing about the parades makes me wonder if the same sense of culture and community still exists in many areas in The Bronx.
@@bronxkies nope. The great replacement happened
White people ran off the replacements seem to accept crime and lots of filth be careful the Bronx is full of violent crime.
Kids today have no clue what it meant to have a bike and stickball bat...played stickball in the street or off the school yard wall, PS 108..PS 83.
I grew up in the NYC metro area and as late as the 1970s we had air raid drills in school. Absolutely terrifying for a young kid!
Great presentation. Thank you
(Bronx resident 1965-1974 GC to Co-op City)
Thank you! AC
77 to 92....saw the crack epidemic on its first day....the weed dealers were shouting out...got that jumbo....that ment the bigger vile of crack..
Awesome!
Great story just a little before I was born. Went to P.S. 33. , new every corner of the Paradise theatre. Me and my brother went all the way up the red carpet stairs to look at the man in the film projections room!!! It was a magical place for children. Also the lobby had a gold fish pond . But the best was the ceiling with clouds and stars.
It's been restored but unfortunately not open to the public. A great theater.
I walked from 205th str with my girlfriend in the late 50’s early 60’s. PS 56, PS 80 and Evander Child’s . How bout Freedom Land ? Orchid beach and city island. Thanx for waking up the old gray matter.
I remember taking the bus to Orchard Beach. It was like an adventure.
Avery, thanks for the video!
Sorry so late in getting back to you. Thank you for your comment.
Born in 1939 ,relate to much of what says V.E day , V.J day went to P.S 74 now Grace Dodge Voc. H.S. Then P.S. 45 ,finally Theodore Roosevelt H.S. It was a different world then lived on Beaumont Ave. and 187th. Street until I married in 1961. Much of my generation is gone now ,many many memories.
In the early 50's on Andrews Ave, by Burnside, we played a spalding/chalk game called War. To play with 5 kids a circle on the sidewalk was divided into 4 countries - England, France, Germany, Italy. Each round one kid was somehow assigned to each country, and the 5th kid got the ball. The kid with the ball would raise the ball hand in the air and dramatically proclaim "I declare war on .....ITALY!" and slam the ball down on the chalk circle. All the other kids scattered;the kid who was Italy retrieved the ball and hunted down one of the other kids, tagged him, and then the tagged kid would have the ball for the next round.
Ah, I too played War. Nice reminder. I forgot about that game.
Great New York story a generation earlier. Proves human nature doesn't change.
Amazing!
my high school graduation was at lowes paradise thearter wondeful stories
Thanks for troubling to write. Loved The Paradise AC.
In the 1950's the Yankees played a lot of day games, and admission was free after the top of the 5th. After school I sometimes walked to the stadium and watched a couple of innings. There was a recreational field next to Yankee Stadium so when I had to wait for the gates to open I practiced handball, or played a pick up game. My last visit to Yankee Stadium was Game 1 of the 1963 World Series. Koufax vs Ford. I played hooky and paid $2 for standing room, underneath the overhang just inside the left field foul line, next to the visiting bullpen. I can still hear the clang of Tom Tresh's home run, which Tommy Davis would have caught had it not nicked the overhang. Drysdale was warming up in the bullpen for Game 2 at the kid and expressed some choice words at Koufax's loss of a shutout, but Koufax completed a then record 15K performance in a 5-2 win.
there was no overhang from the YS grandstand that would prevent a homer. the stands were set too far back PAT BONNER
@@kathleenbonner4146 Is that right? My memory must be wrong. I also remember Maury Wills stealing 2nd but just looked at the box score and see that it was actually Willie Davis. For sure it was a thrill.
You are so RIGHT about how people didn't root against their local ball clubs.
I remember that if your team lost, you'd ask how did the other team representing the area did, wishing them best.
Nowadays they fist fight and jump each other in the stadium rest rooms, and knife each other out in the parking lots.
the good old days in the Bronx is gone forever. it will never be the same ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
In 1960 we held our version of the olympics . eastburn ave vs weeks ave some of it on the construction site of the cross bronx expressway
Ah, 1960. Not possible in later years. Thanks for watching.
My great aunts lived on Grand Concourse and my grandparents lived on Parkchester Blvd (now Rd for some reason). But that was back in the 40s and 50s. Bronx went downhill after 1964 and gets worse each decade
STRONGLY disagree. In my experience, the low point for the Bronx, and for many neighborhoods in NYC was the late 80s/early 90s....the crack epidemic, as real estate values seemsed to bottom-out. Since then, in MOST NYC neighborhoods, there's been some form of revitalization: apartment buildings renovated, some new homes rebuilt, and new businesses, many owned by new immigrants. It may be a bit "boring", with (arguably) too many chain and franchise stores taking the place of the old "mom and pop" stores, mostly owned by white ethnic people, but the education stats., job growth numbers, are not really arguable...as my city reaches 9 million....10 million people, and crime stts. are at their lowest in decades. People seem to be getting along.
That is true. If anyone remembers the late 70s and 80s the south Bronx was shell. Compared to the moon by the president at the time. I was a sanitation worker. We built bunkers of dirt along the sidewalks so people could not dump out. It was a site. I couldn’t find an apartment building occupied if I could even find one standing upright! Today well it isn’t the most desired places to live by many from that day and era. It is 100% functional, and occupied And the rents are not cheap.
@@glennfromthebronx how that’s going
Friend of Gary Weintraub - Love your Book on The Bronx!! Daniel DeNapoli
Hi Daniel ,are you the same Daniel thats on pictify?If not ,sorry to bother you.If you are him ,get cracking ,this place is a great venue for artists.Way more exposure than pictify.Ciao!
Daniel DeNapoli Ah, a reader. Thank you, and regrets for the lateness of this response. Only just looked up responses to the video.
Avery, did you ever go fishing in Van Courtland Park? The moon shines on Mosholu Parkway.
Please tell more stories, I had to Google all through this story just paint the picture, I can literally listen to your stories all day long.
In the 80s on university ave.we played skelzies...bottle caps filled with wax and shot like marbles on a drawn board on the concrete....i also played marbles in the north bronx family service center after school.... From 77 to 92..i will never forget my upbringing in the bronx...
Lovely commenataries, thank you for your information.. When it comes to the teaching profession, I beg to differ from you, dear friend. Teachers ARE still the BEST crowd of ppl...it is not true that we go into teaching bcc we cannot do anything else..that is a downright lie. Many of us LOVE CHILDREN, love teaching. Thank you !
+Rita La Cantadora Much thanks. I love teachers and the teaching profession. I wasn't suggesting people go into teaching for anything but positive reasons. But in the 1940s and 1950s, the period I'm referring to in the video, people from minority groups often went into teaching because they were barred by unfortunate prejudice from working in corporate America.
Yes, I was aware you were mentioning.a "now gone" crowd.. Though similar conditions apply nowadays.... For ex. myself (others I know.. Ppl who in their country were an MD, and they come here and become Biology teachers)... Accent, etc.. Other (usually pretty ridiculous and superficial reasons) make some of us gravitate towards the teaching profession
However, - and in general- teachers (exceptions existing as they do in EVERY profession) are a pretty smart lot..we get lot so bad rep. I know.. Unfair, totally unfair
Yes!! Daniel DeNapoli on Pictify!!! The Bronx!! My Home also!!
My home too! 😢
I had the same experience with calling it the "Low-eez" Paradise as opposed to "Lows", which was pointed out to me by one of my girlfriends later on in life, thus making me feel like a total jerk.
Don't feel like a jerk! I always called it "Low-eez" too. I still do and do not care if it is wrong.
Bronx born 1941. I remember the end of war sttreet party. And FDR on the radio. We played that form of stick ball too. And thge other games.
I went to PS 33 in the early 70's, lived on Walton Ave.
Ah, PS 33. It's expanded quite a bit, taking over the schoolyard for classroom space.
Terry Tucker I was at PS 33 in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s.
@@averycorman7888 How about S.P.S31 on the Grand Concourse 141st street.
That's funny 😂, I was told I will never work in America too 🎉... pretty stuff, mass health insurance.... welcome back.
This man looks like the Preacher character in the John Wayne movie "The Alamo"
Amazing when I think of it, actually could hit the Spalding straight down the street with that thin bat?..once in a while had to lean over a car hood to catch it!..
When you go back, you see that "two sewers" doesn't seem so far. AC
1:14 red light. BUSTED
Everything is upside down today.
i am looing for foto of fenway theater movies bronx ny and ps42 school I lived across the street and I am looking for foto of the building
What Street by E Tremont
TOMATOES ARE NEITHER A FRUIT NOR VEGETABLE
I'm surprised he didn't get mugged standing there. Now it's the capital of shit.
the area went to shit a long time ago. In the 80s My mom and I used to take the bus to go to Alexanders and I never felt safe.
So sad my friend. That world is gone away. It was a great place till the liberals destroyed it.
If you ever come to the Bronx I invite you to come with me and see it today. The times may have changed the demographics may have changed but it is just as beautiful and just as sacred a place, I assure you.
975 Walton Avenue