I'll start my Amsterdam trek at the northeast corner of 135th Street. That is where Read's Camera Store was located at 1519 Amsterdam Ave. Dad bought the store in 1942 at the beginning of the war. We were living in Jackson Heights at the time and to eliminate a commute we got a three bedroom apartment across the street at 500. The rent was $50 per month. I was three years old and my brother Harry was four. Business was great during the war. Everything photographic was rationed so whatever he sold it was at a premium. Eastman Kodak would only sell it's products to authorized dealers and he got his share of what they allowed. After the war, rationing was eliminated and discounters were everywhere. E. J. Korvette's and Master's come to mind. They were selling film for half the price that Dad was selling it. He didn't believe in selling on credit. His attitude was photography was a hobby and you shouldn't go into debt for a hobby. Good ethics, bad business. Dad was also a master photo finisher.Bad health and demands for quicker service by the public took its toll on him. By 1956 the store was finished and so was Dad. He passed away in October. I was already in the service.
Next door to the store was a Puerto Rican Evangelical Church. They had services three or four nights a week and always had musical accompaniment, an out of tune piano, a bass drum and a tambourine. It drove Dad crazy. He had perfect pitch. Next to the church was Pete the shoemaker. He was a nice man and a very good shoemaker. Pete had a great collection of Canaries in the store.Nowadays you have to look far and wide to find a shoemaker but we had two of them. There was Pete and over in 500 W 135th was another. Because he was in our building that is where we took our shoes. I think his last name was Zuinga.
Going up the block was the entrance to 1525 Amsterdam. It was the only building on that side of the avenue with an entrance. It was sandwiched between 499 on 135th and 498? on 136th. Buddy Clancy wrote a great article on 1525 in the April 2002 edition of the Vinegar Hill Gazette. I shall repeat it here.
THE HOUSE ON THE HILL
1525 Amsterdam Avenue
by Buddy Clancy
We all have our memories of Vinear Hill where we grew up with family and friends. What do I remember about living in an apartment in Vinegar Hill?
Well, there was the door with clean crisp curtains and shiny brass knobs leading to the foyer. The inside entrance door was lettered "Ruthette". There was a directory with the names and apartment numbers so you could buzz a particular tenant. Then you had the mailboxes. There were two mail deliveries, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The buildings were beautiful! There were awnings on the windows and many people had flower boxes. The superintendent mopped the halls and stairs and you could smell the disinfectant. Most apartment buildings were walk ups. You had people above, below and beside you. Apartment #1 had the McCarthy's, who owned the candy store below Guy's bar; McGoldrick's #21, Nyholms #23, Sullivans #33, Owens #34, Nicholsons #42, Cogavins #43, Bergins #44, Clancys #51, Nugents # 52, Smiths # 53, Mustins # 62. If anyone is left out let me know.
There was the smell of food cooking from the various apartments, some good and some not so good.
You had the dumbwaiter in the kitchen and you would be buzzed to put your garbage on the dumbwaiter.
Everyone had a clothesline - this was before washers and dryers. Clothes were washed with the use of a scrubbing board and brown soap.
This was the time before TV antennas and computers. Your entertainment was going out and playing and there was always something to do and it didn't cost anything. Halloween was a big day with the chalk and the flour in the stockings.
I remember on Thanksgiving in my backyard, you had someone playing he violin or accordion looking for money which people would drop from the windows. (sometimes hot!)
In the courtyard between 499 and my house, you heard many conversations, some yelling and arguing and also laughing. I enjoyed hearing Pete Campbell's beautiful voice as he sang in the apartment in 499.
A lot went on in my backyard, including the man who would come around to sharpen knives and fix umbrellas. It was another world.
Now many people live in their own homes, myself included, but the bottom line is we will never forget what it was like to live in an apartment and all the wonderful people in Vinegar Hill. They were and still are the best!
Moving up the hill there was Baily's plumbing store. I remember Louie Caraisco working for him. From here on up I don't recall the order but I think next door to Baily was where Nellie Miller opened her bakery and frozen custard store. Next store up I recall Epstein's Paints and Supplies. I remember going there to get some benzine for my dad and he had it in a fifty five gallon drum sitting on a cradle. Obviously there weren't too many fire regulations then. He also sold turpentine that way. I think Jim's cleaners moved into what was Epstein's. Jim and his wife were Japanese and I think that even though the war was long over, there was still some resentment toward the Japs. They were lovely people and had a successful business for quite a while. There was a grocery store run by a Spanish fellow who had lost both arms in the war. It was amazing to see how well he could use his prosthetic arms. He was innovative in that he was the first guy in the neighborhood who sold frozen vegetables, Birdseyes. Yes, back in those days, frozen vegetables was a novelty. It was something new. Most of us still had the refrigerators that had a little compartment for 2 ice cube trays and a little space above the trays for maybe 2 boxes of frozen vegetables `or, even better, ice cream. If you didn't use the vegetables or the ice cream within a couple of days you had to chisel them out. They were stuck in that little compartment, frozen solid.
Next to the grocery was Theresa McCarthy's candy store. Theresa was a big girl and a great lady. She always took good care of us. I believe later on she sold the store to the Coffey Brothers. I think there was a store that sold mirrors and picture frames next to her. Finally on the corner was the Vinegar Hill Tavern. What ever happened to all those trophies that were in the bar? There certainly was a lot of them there but I can't picture anyone keeping them. I imagine that everyone of us has some kind of a Vinegar Hill story. I never hung out in the Hill since most of the guys my age were across the street in Al Scotts. I recall a certain hierarchy of hanging out. You started out at a candy store and then moved on to a place like John's Luncheonette. John's had a juke box and serious food like french fries. Finally at age 18 (or there abouts) you moved on to one of the bars, Scotts if you were just starting out and Vinegar Hill if you were older. Many of us had places where we practiced for our debuts at Scott's or the Hill. Mine was at the Stadium down on Broadway. I drank there from when I was fifteen until I went into the service at seventeen. We celebrated many an eighteenth birthday at the Stadium. I'm also sure that a lot of underage guys never practiced and went right to Scott's or the Hill to start their drinking escapades.
On the west side of Amsterdam I'll start with the drug store on the corner of 135th St. I've mentioned it before as being owned by Louie Englesburg. Before him I believe the guys name was Stern. If I remember correctly, that name was inlaid in little tiles at the entrance doorway. Moving up the block was Bill's Delicatessen. He actually had two stores, next to each other. The one you never saw was his kitchen, where he made all of the goodies that he sold. Other than the bolognas and hams, Bill cooked or prepared all the stuff himself. That would be the roast beef or turkey, the meat pies and fish cakes and all the salads. He was a great cook. Bill lived in Hackensack New Jersey and used to commute "all the way" every day. Next to Bill was originally, at least from my time, Joe's candy store. That subsequently became John's Luncheonette. That was owned by John Keskes and his son Chris. Bernie Donovan had sent in a picture that was taken there and Bernie thought the name of the place was Pop's. Next to that store was Mary's vegetable market. Mary was the sweetest little Italian lady you would ever want to meet. She always had a smile on her face. Her boys, I remember Joe and John and Sal.They had this great big truck all nicely painted with the name Esposito Brother's Fruits and Vegetables on the side of the truck. I understand that, on the weekends, they used to take the truck and park it alongside one of the highways up state and sell their wares as if it was their farm down the road.. All the wares came out of the Hunt's Point Market. I think there was an empty store next to the fruit market and then came the entrances to 1524 and 1528.
There was the Nieves family, I remember Johnny and Frankie and I remember a little girl who may have been their sister.Cootchie is the name that comes to mind. Frankie is still in the neighborhood and is still active in local politics. The Espositos lived in the building too. On the top floor was the Grays. That would be a sister, the oldest, whose name I forget, then John and then Eddie. John was always in some kind of dilemma. One time, and nobody knows how he did it, but in climbing over fence to get into Lewishon stadium John managed to impale his thigh on one of the spikes on the fence. The only way to get him off was to lift him off. He was not a lightweight and he was about ten feet up on this fence. It took a lot of cops and firemen to get him down. And why was he trying to get into the stadium? More than likely to see what he could steal. Joe Perry lived in the building, too. How he got the nickname GeeJoe I'll never know, but it sure did stick with him. GeeJoe was a great athlete and a heck of a nice guy. I can't think of her last name but her first name was Lydia and Bobby Duncan had mentioned her in one of his letters. She live in 1524.
Next door, in 1528 there was the Kirbys, Jimmy and Charlie. Also, there was Edgar and Dorsey Rodriquez and their Mom and Dad. He was a stout fellow and Mrs. Rodriquez was this tiny Little lady. Jenny Clancy grew up in the building before she married Buddy who lived all the way across the street. Her mom used to work in the dried fruit factory that was in the building. The evangelical church that I wrote about moved across the street to where the fruit factory was. One of Mae Sweeney and Dinky Devlin's friends lived there, too. Was it Kay Kellker? I also remember a fellow there, his name was Gene and he was handicapped. I don't believe he worked for the A&P but he was there six days a week ready to carry your groceries home for you. He lived on his tips and he earned every penny of it.
Moving up the block past the dried fruit factory I remember, in no particular order, a meat market, Greenbaums, a grocery store, Max's , a barber shop, Anton's. Anton's was funny. At the end of the haircut he would always trim your sideburns and the back of your neck with the old fashioned straight razor and hot shaving cream. All through the hair cut Antons hands would be trembling (the shakes). Just before he shaved you he would go in the back room, have a little swig of the vino and his hands became steady as a rock. Maybe there was also a Chinese laundry but I'm not sure. Chinese laundries were all over the place and they all had the same sign outside. It was a rectangle with a red background and white letters. All that it said was "Laundry". Never any name or different color, all the same. Remember the laundry marks they put in the collar of your shirts. It probably drove them crazy if you moved and changed laundries. Somewhere , I think between Max's and the meat market, was the entrance to 1532. Joe Smith was there along with Donold O'Hanlon. Bernie Harrigan and his siblings were there. Jimmy McCaffery, Pete and Mike were also there. So was the Lamarch's. That would be Albie, Donny, Artie and Cathrine. I think Mr. Lamarch at one time had one of those Studebakers that you couldn't tell if it was coming or going. Donold O'Hanlon married Marie Caraisco.
Finally on the corner was Al Scotts Bar. Al was Al Scalzo and Scott was Johnny Scott. That's my recollection but I was never sure if am correct. Al was a court officer and I think he was married to one of the Scott Girls. I remember Anna and Harry and Johnny Scott and Joany Weisberger,who was married to Harry. One time I was on disability after wrecking a car and hung out at Scott's for five or six weeks, day and night. What an experience. Probably could have gotten enough material for a couple of books, all comedies.
That's it for now. Next up will be both sides of 136th Street, that would be Broadway to Amsterdam to Convent Ave.
This months mail brings:
Betty Hughes Keane writes:
hi tommy ! i have been reading ur blog 4 about a year now & really enjoying it ! was so glad 2 c u were heading for- 501 but then disappointed no shout out about my family the hughes. we lived on the 4th flr apt. 43 rear. my father christy,mother kathleen , sibs: snooky ( way b4 the jersey shore snooky) lol she was born 1937 & my father named her 4 the comic "lil snookums" she was christined catherine virginia but never called anything but snooky! next my bros. brendan & kevin (sadly all three deceased) my sis maureen & i live close by in pa. we left 134th st. in 1958 moving to darby pa. most cousins joined us & all live fairly close by. i remember all the names u mentioned . the barretts lived across the hall from us ,grandmother, mrs gray , daughter, madeline ( who my father always said was the most beautiful girl on 134) her 3 children, maureen, bobby & barbara. we have kept in touch with them & saw them last year at a party in ct., above us the tennyseons wth grandaughter, anne. we use to trade comic books on the hall steps with robbie broderick . i remember seeing my first white dressed bride on the stoop b4 going off 2 annunciation! i just cant rember if it was mary orielly or patsy broderick. the skeels also lived in 501 in fact charlie was my godfather. the candy store under neath us bartoleenies, had a grill on which their cat slept , until u ordered a hot dog(limited menu) & she would shussh the cat off & put ur hot dog on!! true story. but the best part: no onethought that strange! lol u mentioned eddie doran( my first cousin, also deceased) knowing sports , indeed he did.! he lived across the street in 500. with his sis. rita(dcsd) kay,rose ,marguerit & suzanne mulvihill. whenever my children &grandchldrn see old pics taken up on the roof (tar beach ) they ask why would we be up on the roof, i said easier 2 go up 1 flight than down & back up 4! please share this info & my email with ur other readers. email :irlnana@yahoo.com. i look 4ward 2 ur nxt blogs . such fun & good memories ! thank u . betty hughes keane
Kathleen McKenna writes:
Hello Tom - I am Kathleen McKenna from 135th Amsterdam Ave., My brother was "Pepper", My sisters are Winnie & Pat. I cherish all the memories from "The Hill" and Annunication.. I attended some of the yearly masses' and a dance or two.. I knew your Dad well and remember fondly his camera store Your reminencing is rejuvenating for so many of us... I do remember Tonys' Candy Store on 135th St., Chris's on Amsterdam Ave. McCarthys on 136th. and of course Henrys between 135 & 134th. on 136th . "Tawleys" Bar (I know Im not spelling it right) & Vinegar Hill Bar 136th. Every Summer of my life we spent in Rockaway 97th St., 94th. St.& 101st ST. St.Camilius on Sunday - Duddeys' Bakery for the bread & buns. McNultys' Bar was right next to McGuires on 109th.St., They had live entertainment for many years Rock N' Roll.. Great!! Anyway Tom I am so very pleased that you have passed on these wonderful memories/photos...Our Catholic Faith was instilled in us through our Annucation Parish. & "Those Nuns"..
No comments:
Post a Comment