Wednesday, July 13, 2011

136th St.from Convent Ave. to Broadway

Only one side of the street had housing. Lewisohn Stadium ran from Convent to Amsterdam on the north side of the street. From Amsterdam to Broadway on the north side was the Hebrew Orphan Asylum or, as I recall, Army Hall. For the most part the people who had apartments facing the street had open space across the street. That was a plus to the value of your apartment. The people who lived in the front apartments facing the Stadium had the added attraction of seeing all the summer entertainment free of charge. Before the advent of air conditioning, Carnagie Hall shut down for the summer and moved their schedule to Lewisohn Stadium. It was known as "The Concert Under the Stars".  I can recall seeing quite a few pillows propped on the window sills that faced the Stadium. Once the music started all the pillows were occupied by onlookers. There was a lot of people peering over from the roof, too.  A bunch of us worked in the Stadium selling stuff, Ice Cream, Soda and  Beer.  We were called hustlers and some of the guys could really hustle. I recall that when I went to get a job there, the lady, Marie said I would need a Social Security number. Back then it wasn't necessary to get your Social Security card until you went out and got a real job. So I just made up a number, one of the guys told me it had to have nine digits,  so that is what I provided. And to think we carry on about all those guys from South of the Border and their phony cards. Marie was like the merchandise boss in that she kept tabs on how much you  sold . The big boss was Mr. Sklar. He always had sunglasses on, never said anything to us and reminded me of one of the Mafia guys.We didn't know about them until years later. There was another guy, I think his name was Sidney. He was Marie's boss and was always giving her a hard time. We got thirteen per cent commission on what we sold. Considering that a bottle of beer sold for thirty five cent and so a case went for eight dollars and forty cents, we made a dollar and nine cents for a case of beer. On top of that you were supposed to be eighteen years old to sell beer. As we walked out of the storeroom Marie would say, "Hey, how old are you?" "Eighteen, Marie, eighteen." We had to wear a hat and  on it was a sign indicating what you were selling and the price. The hustlers always raised the price from thirty five cents to fifty cents. The Guggenheim family were big benefactors of the concerts and Minnie Guggenheim would often attend the concerts. She loved to drink beer and would always give the hustler a five buck tip. What I thought was the toughest sell was the seat cushions for the concrete  grand stands. The cushions were heavy to carry around and they rented for fifteen cents apiece. To make a buck you had to move fifty cushions. If you had a sharp eye there was always a lot of celebrities to be seen. The guys would pass the word, so and so is in section ten. I remember there was a permanent refreshment stand on the 136th St. side of the stadium. A couple by the name of Flo and Katz used to run it. Some of the guys I remember working there were Eddie Seranno, Hermie, Jimmy O'Donnell, (Reily), Leo Rooney and his Dad, Mr. Rooney, Timmy Cleary, Louie Caraisco, Tommy Caraisco. Mr. Rooney was a ticket seller.
The entertainment at the Stadium was terrific and in the mornings anyone in the neighborhood could just walk in and watch the rehearsal for that nights performance. It was amazing to be able to just sit there with all those talented performers.
City College used the field when the concert season was over. The season would run about six to eight weeks during the summer. The rest of the year CCNY used the Stadium for all their varsity events. They had a foot ball team, and a la crosse team. I don't remember baseball but at one time they had one of the best basketball teams in the country.  The guy who coached the la crosse team was an Indian and so of course his name was Chief. These guys played la crosse with the original leather wrapped sticks and the basket at the end was made of rawhide strips. The CCNY team colors were purple and black and they were known as the Beavers. The school cheer? Give a cheer, give a cheer, give a good substantial cheer. Rah, Rah, Rah.
From about 1950, the stage and all the dressing rooms were in a permanent structure  on Convent Ave. Prior to that they would construct this big canvas covered stage and temporary dressing rooms every year. The Stadium opened in 1915 and they tore the whole thing down in 1973. A new part of City College was built there.
I don't remember who lived in what building but I kind of remember who lived on what side of the Avenue. Amsterdam to Convent only had three buildings. Other than the two bars on either corner there was no other businesses there until you got to Broadway. The Reynolds were there, Mike was the oldest and then his sisters, Kathleen and Ann and two brothers, Tom and John. I recall a story, I don't know how true it was but it went like this. Mike had one of these aunts who used to buy raffle tickets and put the names of her nieces and nephews on the tickets. St Judes on Dyckman St. had a big raffle every year and as I heard, Mike won a car. The only problem was that the aunt had the winning ticket, not Mike. The aunt got the car. I hope I am not opening a can of worms, even if it was fifty years ago. Jimmy O'Donnell was there. We always called him Riley and for the longest time I never connected  Riley with O'Donnell. I thought they were two different people. The Meehans were there, and also the Mahers. That would be Margie, Billy, Peter, Dennis and I think I'm missing some. One night I got a call out, on my job, at two in the morning for some equipment at Lederle Labs in Pearl River. As I pull up to the gate the guard says to me, "Read, what the hell are you doing here at this hour?" It was Dennis Maher who had retired from the NYPD and was doing security at Lederle. As I recall there was two John Connolly's there. One of them, a red headed fellow from Ireland and the other John Connolly was definitely there. He was one of the smoothest guys I ever met. He was always just so cool, calm and collected. The McKenna s were there Jimmy, Eileen, John and Bobby. To this day I can still remember what Mrs. McKenna, and Mrs. Reynolds looked like. They were great ladies and they were ageless. Richie Diaz and his brother Tony were there. So were the Fuentes', Louie and his sister.
I forget her name but recall that she had a beautiful singing voice. I recall one time I was walking in that area with Walter Wheatley. Walter had a great voice too. We passed Louie's sister and Walter stopped her and said that he had heard that she had a great voice. He then asked her to sing us a song. She did and I can remember being all goose bumps. She was a natural. Lenny Whelan was there. He was a great basketball player and Margie Maher said she thought he played in the pros. I know for a while he sold trucks for International Harvester and then went to the Bell Systems. We always called him Lenny but he now goes by Jimmy. He married Mary Byrne from 134th St.and they now live on the west coast of Florida. Rosemary Martin was there. Artie Lamarch told me. I think I remember the Martin  name but I didn't know Rosemary when we were growing up. I'm not sure if the Mustins were from that side of 136th St. or 1525 Amsterdam.
On the other side of Amsterdam going down to Broadway there was scads of kids. If only I could remember them all! How about the McGraths. Bart was in my brothers class and Bart was one of the happiest bus drivers I ever knew. He had several brothers  and sisters and they all had a great resemblance to each other. You looked at them and you just knew that they were a McGrath. The Burke's were there, that would be Betty, Jimmy, and Francis (John). I think there was another sister also. Mary McNicholas and her brothers Marty and I believe another brother were there. Jimmy Silva was there.
Jimmy's Mom was a cub scout den mother along with my Mom. Once a month all of us good little cubbies would meet down in what we called "The Home".  It was that building between 135th and 136th on Convent Ave. I think in the end I was expelled from the scouts. Cookie and Chickie Dietrich were there and as I've said before, I never knew their real name. Jimmy McDevitt was there as well as Anna, Harry and John Scott. Two guys whom I relate to 136th Street although I never was sure where they lived are Eddie Serrano and Hermie, can't recall his last name. Eddie is one of the funniest guys ever. The Lynch brothers were there. That would be George, the good looking one, Jimmy, the skinny guy and Jimmy, the little guy. There was a guy on 135th St. that we called Tex, and someone told me at one time that he was a Lynch also. For some reason I think they all moved to California when the Devlins went there.  How about Chiro Ruiz? What an athlete! Speaking of athletes, how about Joe Cavanaugh and also Charlie Ortiz. Was it the Thomaser's or the Thomas's. That would be a father and son. As I  recall they were very active at Annunciation. 135th had a Jack Hayes and so did 136th St. John Mulrane was there also. Bobby McKenna reminded me of Mrs. Norton and her son who were also from 136th St.
I know that I am missing a lot of people but I just can't conjure up the names. At the bottom of the hill on the south side was a restaurant that my dad always referred to as "The Greasy Spoon". That didn't stop him from sending me there to get him something to eat. He never regarded John's, the luncheonette on Amsterdam,  as a place for food. Across from the Greasy Spoon was the White Tower. For years it was boarded up. The story was that some guy was killed there. When it reopened it was very popular. One of the few places that my brother would eat from. I don't believe that in our time they sold french fries, just hamburgers and canned soup. I always had to stop for some clam chowder  after leaving the Liberty. What a great neighborhood! We never lacked for something to do. When my kids would say "I'm bored" I could never understand it. We lived in the greatest of times.
I still have more to come but in the meantime here are some of the comments I have received:
Art Lamarch writes:
Hi Tom,

Glad to hear you are on the mend and hoping you will fully recover. Maybe next season when you are down in FL we will be able to play a little golf, but if not, there is always "Happy Hours" at Guannabana's or the Square Grouper.
Since you have come into my territory (136th St) I can't hold my tongue and have to give you my recollections. First off, Jim and Florence Shino were a wonderful couple. In addition to having the cleaning store , they were also our neighbors in 1532 and they lived in the back, one flight up, and had the little roof outside their apartment. The guys could bring in their suits after the Tioga Dances (Democratic Club) after we all drank too much and got sick on ourselves and he and Flo would not flinch. However, the only time I did see him blow up was on a Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church. He came pounding on the door, demanding to see my Dad. There had been a party at my house the night before, hosted by my brother, Al. (Tommy , you might have been there) Since my father was already at work, I woke up Don and Jim had us look out the back window at his roof which was so covered with bags, beer cans cigarette butts that you couldn't see the black tar paper of the roof.Jim demanded it be cleaned up immediately and since we couldn't rouse Al from bed and I was going to church, Don was the one who had to clean up the mess..
The bodega next to McCarthy's was owned by a Puerto Rican conglomerate known as the Rodriguez brothers. I kid about it but they were a very enterprising family. There was Bernard, the oldest who was married to Loida, a very pretty what I thought was Spanish woman. When I got to know the family better I found out she was Indian, east Indian. They met in California while Bernard was serving in the Army which I assumed was during the war. Next came Pablo , heavyset, with a mustache. He ultimately ran the grocery store until he had a stroke in his mid 40's and then had to slow down. Next came Carlos, with the prosthetic right arm. I don't know how he lost it, but I seem to remember it was the right arm only. He eventually ran McCarthy's after they purchased it and the store became known as Hook's. They also purchased Maxie's grocery store in 1960 when Max retired at age 70. Maxie had been in that store since 1926. I was Maxie's last delivery boy and they let me go soon after either because I wasn't family or they didn't want to pay minimum wage which was a $1 an hour. I also believe Bernard (and the family) had some real estate holdings in upper Manhattan.
Sorry to tell you but when I was in NY last summer I was told that Frankie Nieves had recently passed away. He was the last of his siblings, Johnny, Ray and Rosemary (Cootchie) as they had all pre deceased him.
You have good recall. "Moving up the block past the dried fruit factory, in no particular order", you had the order correct, leaving out one store. There was Greenberg the butcher, Maxie's grocery store, Drakett's Plumbing, entrance to 1532, Anton, the barber, Charlie Sing, Chinese laundry and Tallees/AlScott Bar.
As for the tenants of 1532, I don't remember Donald O'Hanlon living in the building, but his family may have lived there before my time (Remember, I'm a first generation baby-boomer). I remember the Smith's, the Harrigan's were our next door neighbors, but the McCaffery's lived in 502 136th St. Also in the building were the Penna's, Julie and Claudia, the Croke's, Jackie and Donald, Carl Kjellsberg ( these guys may be before your time).Some of the younger families were the Sullivan's, Theresa and Tommy, the Gaglione's, Vinny and Cassie and the Feeley's, Gene, Michael and Margaret. As a matter of fact I have a photo of a bunch of us kids on the stoop of 1532, taken around 1950. If I can copy it I will send it to you.
About my Dad's Studebaker. It was either the 1946 3-tone DeSoto or the 1952 Hudson.The 46 DeSoto was originally 2-tone, dark gray on the top and light gray on the sides. I remember my Dad buying some orange primer, saying that the rear fenders were a little rusted and he was going to prime and paint them. I remember him sanding and priming the car in front of Army Hall. He never painted it , so the car remained distinguishable (gray- gray- orange) until the day he junked it years later.
The 52 Hudson was like a tank, big, round and bulbous. The funny story with that car (all my Dad's cars came with funny stories)was my brother Al would not let him sleep one Sunday morning and kept pestering my Dad to borrow the car to go with a bunch of friends to Rockaway. Al didn't have a driver's license but Joe Connaire or one of those guys did and that person would do the driving. Finally my Dad relented , I think just so he could go back to sleep. When the car was returned it had no reverse gear and when the truth came out, it was my brother who drove the car , even tho he didn't know how to drive a standard shift. My Dad, always being resourceful, never let it bother him . For the years he had the car after that incident, he always made sure he parked on a hill so he could roll back or had one of us with him so we could push if he had to go back.
Keep up the good work. You have a lot of us going into the memory bank
Art
P.S. I keep quoting your expression and laughing when people ask how is retirement
"Retirement in Florida is like summer camp for seniors"
Art writes some more:
Tom,

I found the photo I mentioned in my letter the other day. We are guessing it was taken around 1951-2. Straddling the stoop is Drakett's Plumbing on the left and Anton's Barber Shop on the right, and Mrs Feeley standing in the rear.

Seated left to right is my sister Catherine, Vinny Gaglione, me, Michael Feeley and my cousin Bernadette Duncan from 1512 Amst. We think the kid standing on the right is Frankie Harkin, also from 1512.
Gene Feeley gave me the photo several years ago, taking credit for taking the photo with his "Brownie" camera which was a gift purchased at your father's store.
Art

Bob McKenna writes:
Some updates. Unfortunately, Frankie Nieves passed away last year. I met him at one of the reunions and asked about his siblings,Johnny, Ray and Coochie and he advised that they had all passed away.

Over in 1525 you also had the Gonzalez brothers; Danny, Joey and Mike. I think they all moved to California.
You were right about Scotts.....many stories....reminded me of Cheers. Mrs Norton and her crazy son would break out into screaming arguments during the afternoon in the bar. Some guy we labled as VO Pop sat down at the end, drinking his shots of VO, probably on a modest pension.
A guy used to hang out there who would draw your caricature on a pie plate.....but he would pose you in a coffin!!! When Tommy Barret owned the bar (before John Scott) the only people who would sell him liquor was Wilson Whiskey. (Wilsons Of Course) I remember a guy coming in from Lewisohn Stadium and asking for a Martini and getting it made with Wilsons.
BOB McKENNA

Rosemary Lamarch writes:
Hi Tom,

So glad that your surgery is over. Hopefully, you will heal quickly. I always enjoy your blogs & am amazed at your recall! As I read them things pop into my head - like the name of the funeral home on 131st St & Amst. I remember it being Elizabeth Smith's. The Church, if I recall correctly, between 135th & 136th was called "The Voice in the Desert, Inc.". I'm looking forward to your next one - that should be my block. Thanks for the memories.
Rosemary

Ralph Ramirez writes:
Ralph sent me a file that was a tribute to Danny Boy Murray. I am assuming that Danny Boy was related to John Murray of 135th Street. Danny Boy passed away. Unfortunately, the file had an expiration date and at this writing, it has passed and so I can't pass it on. If you want Ralph's address, email me at tomyread@aol.com  and I will send it to you.

Bob McKenna sent this on:

This is a link to an article in The New York Times a few weeks ago. Just click on it and the article will come up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/realestate/hamilton-heights-awaiting-a-bounce.html?_r=1

That's it for now, more to come.