Very few neighborhoods get named after a bar but ours was one of them. Because the bar was at the top of the hill on Amsterdam it would be easy to assume that years ago that hill must have been called Vinegar Hill. Most of us know that is not the case. When New Yorkers are talking about where they are from most of them will cite a particular parish, St. Joes, Our Lady of Lourdes, etc. I'd say most of us don't say Annunciation but instead reference Vinegar Hill. I'm writing this blog under the title Vinegar Hill but I guess I should have titled it Annunciation since I am trying to cover the whole neighborhood. Broadway, from 138th St. down to 126th, was part of Annunciation. Of course if you lived on the hill you had to go down the hill to get to Broadway. Broadway is where we went to get the IRT, either at 137th St or 125th St. It was also where you went to get the Fifth Ave. bus line. on 135th Street.
From 126th St. to 135th St. on the east side of Broadway there was no residences. It was only used car lots and automobile show rooms and abandoned buildings. Curry Chevrolet and a used car lot off 133rd St. are the only businesses that I recall. The used car lot was actually on the site of the original Manhattan College. Manhattan moved in the early 1900's to their present location up on 242nd St. The only other remnant of Manhattan in the neighborhood was Jasper Oval on Convent Ave. That was named after Brother Jasper and Manhattan sports teams are still referred to as the Jaspers. Curry Chevrolet moved up to Westchester.
At the Southeast corner of Broadway and 135th Street was a very ornate empty white marble building. At the very top of the building is a clue as to what it may have been in its heyday, a movie camera. I stumbled upon this website a couple of weeks ago. Just double click on the blue highlight. It runs a little over four minutes and it is a little boring but at the very end there is the building of which I speak in all of its former glory.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=37d-RjVkhtI
On the west side of Broadway going up the hill from 125th Street I don't recall much except a few gas stations until you got to 132nd St. There was a Buick dealer on the north corner and then there was a few apartment buildings along the avenue. On the corner of 133rd Street was Lyons bar and across the street was The Big Four.Down the block on 133rd St. was the garage for the Fifth Ave. Coach Co. Many of the drivers would, on the way to work, stop in and have a couple of beers and balls and then go to work. Many more would stop in after work for a few libations. I hung out at the Big Four for a short spell with Mike Reynolds and Frank Gannon. A guy named Marty was the bartender. From 133rd to 134th there was 2 or 3 apartment houses and there was a house on either corner of 133rd Street. The guys I remember from that area would be John Keegan, Thomas Crimmins, and Tommy Van, who went to Regis with us. If I remember, they made Tommy leave half way thru his senior year on some technicality. I think he graduated from Cardinal Hayes and went on to be very successful. Also from that area was Albert (Jr) and Andy Rodriquez, Louis Zappata, Frank Gannon, Norman and Vincent Lane, Frankie Donaghy and his sister Anne. There was a Russian kid there, I think his name was Albert. He was in the cub scouts with us and his dad helped make some of the neatest stuff. Mostly I remember he made a paper mache Micky Mouse. It amazed me that you could do that. I think I bought it either from him or at one of the fund raisers.
Getting back to the Big Four and the bus drivers. For years the Fifth Ave. ran double decker buses. If a bus came out of the garage at 133rd St. he had to turn right when he got to Broadway because the subway, which became elevated at 135th St. had a bridge that was too low for the bus to pass. Every now and then a driver would forget that he had a double decker and shear off a good piece of the top of the bus. I often wondered if the driver of the bus wasn't one of the guys who was at the Big Four. Those double decker buses were great and in the summer they had open air ones that were only used during the summer months. And the fare was only a nickel then.
On the corner of 134th was Acey Oldsmobile. It was just a big corner storefront and there was only room for like 2 cars. Down the block was Cascades Swimming pool. I never went there. Mom would get furious if I hinted at going there because of the polio epidemic. She had no problem with me going to Palisades but never to Cascades. Remember when the Jehovah Witnesses would have their mass baptisms there, 3 and 400 people at one dunkin? The Jehovah's would also canvass the neighborhood looking to rent rooms for people coming to their mass rally at Yankee Stadium.
Across the street on 134th was a Mobil gas station and then on the corner of 135th St. was a Pontiac dealer, I think it was Chief Pontiac. I recall they sponsored a team called the Pontiacs. Next to the dealership was the Fifth Ave. Coach starters office. He was the guy who made sure all the buses were on schedule and that the drivers got their reliefs.
Most of the area from 133rd St to 135th St. going toward the viaduct was torn down to make way for a big Mitchell Lama housing project. I think it was called Riverview House. The Mitchell Lama contract is up now and the rents are going for $1500 and up. They say the building is a wreck since the original owner knew he was pulling out when the Mitchel Lama contract expired.
Across 135th St there was a luncheonette on the corner. That corner was the bus stop for the #4 and #5 Fifth Ave Coach. There was a guy, a numbers runner, who would stand in the door way of the luncheonette and take your bets. One time there was a crackdown and he was not there. He had a beagle that was always with him and the dog was standing on the corner, alone. If you were one of his customers the beagle would lead you to the doorway down the block where the guy was hiding. He was the smartest dog I ever saw. Some of the guys who lived on this part of 135th St were, Michael Paraiso, his step brother Robert Mina, Eli Santiago, Randy Crespo and Freddie Suriano. Down at the end of 135th St. at Riverside Drive, the building on the south side of the block was rehabbed a couple of years ago. It was turned into a condo and they were asking one million dollars for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit with river view.
Moving along Broadway, up from the corner of 135th was a bar called Tormacks. It had a reputation for serving anyone who had the money in their hand. We checked it out and sure enough, we had an eighth grade graduation party there. The proof I had was a drivers license that I had typed in all the information. It had no official stamp but that didn't seem to matter. He checked some of the other guys and we found out if you said you forgot to take it with you he would tell you to be sure to bring in the next time. I think the oldest guy with us may have been sixteen. Most of the stores in this part of the neighborhood were unknown to us as we had our own stores on Amsterdam. I do remember Brooks bakery between 136th and 137th St. Us foodies always know where the good stuff is. Brooks had the best walnut pound cake. They had good rolls but not as good as Trabolds and they were a penny more. Down from Brooks was a bar and pizza joint called the Stadium. This was another place where age was not too important to get served. I hung out there with Jimmy Magner, Gerry Wenz, Fanny Fallon, and Hughie McVeigh when I was 16. When I turned 17 I went into the service. They never once asked to see my proof. They made a great pizza there. The waiter in the restaurant was Manny and the one guy behind the bar was Frankie. We thought he might be the owner.
One the north corner of 137th Street was the subway station entrance. The store in the corner of the building was a Bickfords Restaurant. It was one of those places where most of the food was cooked in a big commissary and it was put together at the restaurant. Sandwiches and eggs were made at the restaurant. Jerry Magner worked in the Bickfords commissary while he was going to college and one day he was making a big batch of mashed potatoes. When he went to put in the salt the top came off the jar and a good amount of salt was poured onto the potatoes. Jerry figured nobody would notice and off they went to one of the stores. The next day he got reassigned to another part of the kitchen. Bickfords had another store on the corner of Broadway and 145th St. and another one on Dykman St and Broadway. It was always a great stop at 2AM after a night of drinking. They moved out of NY years ago. In the middle of the block was a bar known as the HiLight. After the Liberty turned into a fancy Lechonera it was our last hang out on B"Way. I was hanging out with Jimmy Corcoran, Jimmy Bradley, Bart Mugan and Vinnie Nyholm then. I'm talking the era of 1960- 1962. That was like the end of it at The Hill as those guys parents all moved up to Inwood. My Mom refused to move and I stayed until 1965. Mom was burned out in 67. Fortunately she was unscathed in the fire but she lost a great collection of photographs from the old neighborhood. Some of the people who lived on that side of Broadway from 135th to 137th Street were the Donovans. That would be Bernie, Vinny, Billy, Evelyn and Geraldine. The Purcells moved to 136th from 134th. Pat and Mary were from my era and there was a couple of older brothers, Joe and Bill(?). Billy Richmond was there and I think Ellery Pichardo.
There was a old Black guy, John Lewis. He lived down from Bickfords and he always rode a bicycle. John would do janitorial work in my fathers store and once a year he washed the windows in our apartment at 500. He really saved me one time. I had gone down by the docks at 125th Street. Some of the older guys were down there swimming and doesn't a couple of them see me and pick me up and now they are going to throw me into the river. I get the old and a one and a two and with the three coming up doesn't one of my shoes come flying off my foot and into the river. As an act of mercy they don't throw me in and just let me go. Now I'm on my way home with one shoe on and doesn't John Lewis come riding by on his bicycle. I hollered to him and he took me all the way home on his bike. I forget what I told my mother but I got away with it. I think I was around nine or ten. Up until a few years ago my brother Harry corresponded with John and Harry had him out to his house in Massapequa one time.
When I was in kindergarten at PS 192 there was a girl in my class from that side of B'Way. Her name was Nancy Cummings. Her dad must have been one of the local political hacks as I remember going to a couple of birthday parties at the Democratic Club on the other side of B'Way and 137th St. One time I saw his name, Tommy Cummings, on an electioneering poster. My mother was always telling me to be nice to Nancy. There was a Jewish kid there too, his name was Sol and his dad owned the luncheonette next to the entrance to the Delmar movie theater. Now Sol I was nice to. I guess you could say that the Delmar was at the north end of our neighborhood. I'd say on any given Saturday morning you would find at least half of the neighborhood at the Delmar. For 25 cents you got at least a double feature and a serial and a newsreel and a cartoon. Our parents knew where we were for four hours. If you were smoking you could go thru a half a pack of cigarettes and come out with the brown tobacco stains all over your fingers. When you got home you ran into the bathroom and tried to wash it off. We always said lemon juice would take it off but who of us would have lemons in the refrigerator? Later on I found out it didn't work, anyway. From where the Delmar was, across the street was park of sorts from 138th to 137th St. It was triangular and one side was B'Way and the other side was Hamilton Place which ran from 137th St. up to Hamilton Square on 143rd St. and then into Amsterdam Ave. At that junction I remember the Corn Exchange Bank which is where my dad did his banking. Getting back to 137th St and Hamilton Place I recall a horse trough for watering your horse if you had one. It actually worked and there was a few work horses in the neighborhood. Remember Krammer and his vegetable cart and a couple of rag guys that would be hollering "I buy rags"? Zinnzi the junk man down on 126th off B'Way owned them.
On the east side of Hamilton Place was the A and P. By todays standards the store was tiny but it was a goldmine in its era. My Mom would not shop there as well as many Moms on the hill as it was a grueling trip to walk down the hill and then have to trudge all the way home up the hill with your purchases. A lot of the guys would hang out there looking to carry groceries home but that fellow Gene had a lot of people sewed up and rightfully so. It was his livelihood. The A and P was the livelihood for a lot of guys in the neighborhood in that it got them thru school. Next to the A and P on the north side was a chicken store. I think it was Plymouth Rock Poultry. Chickens were like 25 cents a pound and when the guy gutted your chicken if there were any eggs he would leave them with the chicken. On the south side of the A and P heading back toward 136th St. was a big fruit market. There was also the entrance to the stairway up to the neighborhood pool hall and the Tioga Democratic Club. If you hung out at the pool hall, even if you never touched the stuff, you were branded as being a junkie. I never got involved in politics so the only time I was in the Democratic hall was when I was in kindergarten. Continuing on there was the Liberty Bar and Grill. This is where I hung out before John sold it and it became a Lechonera. It was a wacky place. It still had a 5cent juke box and the only thing John ever cooked was spaghetti. It had an unusual set of characters. Professor Bush, was it Walter and Irene? The mute who would try to get you into a conversation with him. Jimmy Buckly, one of the bartenders would remind you of one of Jackie Gleasons characters. He had the big white apron, tied high at the waste and always a big stogie stuck in his mouth. If you ordered anything other than a beer or a boilermaker or a high ball he would just ignore you like you weren't there and then if you got on his case about it, he would tell you to go across the street with the rest of the A rabs. Around 1961 John sold out to a Spanish guy named Matos. The guy completely transformed the place into a very high class restaurant and never closed down during the transition. Die hards that we were, we just kept going there. Oh, did I mention the little senorita he put behind the bar? Unfortunately, with all the change and niceties that he put in the place failed.
This finishes my ramble thru Broadway. Next up will be just odds and ends of the neighborhood and some more of my reminiscing .
Got some great letters after my last blog.
Bob McKenna writes:
Now you are in my 'hood. Sorry to be long winded . In the last house down the block, you had the Reynolds family....Mike, Kathleen (a nun) Tommy, Mike and Ann. The Briody family including Tommy and Sissy. Sissy married a Skehill . I think Joe Cavanaugh and his sister Pat lived in the next building going up the block. The Faheys also lived there. Edddie and John. John was one of the longest serving cops in nyc and, as mentioned previously, one of his sons is the Publisher/President of National Geographic. Jim O'Donnell (Riley) always had a perch out his window keeping watch on the block. His father was very Scottish and a plumber like Riley. The Martins also lived in the building and I recall they lost a son, Topsy at a very young age. Jackie Martin went to school with my brother Jim. Jack was very smart. Mike the other brother was very cool and had a birthmark white stripe of hair which resembled Johnny Desmond. Unfortunately the incursion of drugs in the fifties found him as a victim. In my building, you had the Meehans, Kathleen, John, Denis and Philip who were fraternal twins. Mr Meehan lived to over 100 and lived in three centuries. He worked well into his eighties. Connie Wenz lived on the first floor and was continually taking pictures in the neighborhood. I tried to obtain the files after he died, unfortunately withhout avail. Anna Connolly and her sister Kay and the "Scotch" Connolllys, John and Agnes also lived in the building. Negro and Eddie Ortiz and Claudio Rivera also had apartments. John and Harry Mustin lived in the building. Harry became a priest and John a cop. Harry has since married and lives in Florida near his brother. Our close friends the Mahers, Dennis, Pete, Billy and Margie also were in the building. Billy and Dennis were both cops. Unfortunately, Dennis and Pete have since passed on.
At the top of the hill there was Tom, George and Emma Sakell. There were two other sisters and unfortunately I can' t remember their names. It must have been a lucky building because Chiro Ruiz and Tommy both married beautiful redheads, Kitty Stack and Nancy Green. Raate and Butchie Bocanegro, Janet and Louis Fuentes and Herbie Santiago rounded out the residents. Notable in the building was Mrs Wringer, who was politically connected and the person to see for a post office job. Mrs Carlson and Uncle Charlie were the supers and Aggie, Vera and Johnnie were the Carlson kids.
More about Lewisohn Stadium. You were right about Marie.........a real screamer, she was Italian....married to Abie, a Jew. They fought continuously. They reported to Leo, who always looked like he was going to have a heart attack. He reported the Mr Klar who, you were right, looked like a capo but in fact was a multimillionaire through his various concession businesses. The Stadium had a great economic effect on the neighborhood. I can remember opening cab doors for nickels and "minding" cars for 50 cents. Like you I worked selling soda. I also remember Mr. Boylan who had the job of guarding the Stage Door. Attendees went to the local bars and I remember one guy ordering a Martini from Tommy Barrett. All that Tommy carried was Wilsons Whiskey.....great Martini !!!!
Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, The Gershwins, Louis Armstrong , Jack Teagarten,
Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Baily, George Shearing etc all appeared also most of the greatest classical performers notably including Van Cliburn on his return from Russia, Ezio Pinza, Mario Lanza and Marion Anderson. They had Gershwin Night, Rogers and Hammerstein Night and Jazz night. The greatest night we would all remember was Harry Belafonte at the height of his career. Sold the place out. Of course one of the most noteworthy performances include this star:
This attached publicity shot must have started with "find me the kid with the dirties knees" This pic was taken as a local shot and was picked up by AP and circulated around the world. My folks heard from some guys overseas in the Army that they had seen it in a local paper. My audience inclludes, Louis Fuentes, Richie Diaz,Duke Frascatti, Joe Torres (Richies cousin) Joe Gonzales and Frankie Nieves. This picture wound up in the window of Willoughbys with the title Street Urchin and my father had thought about a lawsuit. Needless to say my ballet career ended that day!!!
Bob also sent this along:
A rainbow over Vinegar Hill.
Jack Murphy sent this along,
I'm sharing it with all but Jack wanted it sent to the Guy grandkids. I think we will all enjoy it.
I don,t know if you are Artie or Eddie ,s grandson but I can give you a little bit of info.
My name is Jack Murphy what I can tell you about Eddie is not a whole lot or maybe it is ,I don,t remember a time when he didn,t have a great big smile on his face, he had a hearty laugh.
About Artie I can tell you more .
When I was 8 years old my dad died ,I met Artie at a cousins graduation partie a year later ,in those days it was in their apartment pn 131st.He befriended me and told me if I ever wanted to stop in the bar and watch the ballgames and have a soda that I could ,well naturally I did ,he was,kind of like a hero in the neighborhood,I remember it seems like many times that I heard stories of him pulling someone up from the subway tracks who had fallen down there ,of course he was thereafter the bar closed.I remember one time I was in the bar looking at the game and a guy at the end of the bar was swearing ,Atrie told me I had to leave ,when I left I heard him scolding the guy ,I was on the Amsterdam ave side , I walked up to the corner and saw him throw the guy out the side door .My mother used to tell the story about coming home from work ,and going up to the bar to find me ,the other women asked her where she was going and she said up to get her man ,they thoght she had a boyfriend ,when she said it was me ,we all had a good laugh.
He was very nice to a young boy that needed a man to look up to..Later in life I was a truck driver and used to bring acid to the sugar house in Yonkers , I would always stp to see Artie , one weekend when I was ayoung man I was at the bar I was using profanity after 2 or 3 times ,he reminded us how many times we said those words ,needless to say that was all I needed to hear .When they had that reunion to honor him it was the first reunion that I went to ,when I walked into the church and met hi m,I didn,t think he would know me ,but Artie ,said Hi John,I felt pretty good .
I believe that there will be a reunion Mass on October 1
Bernie Donovan writes:
HI TOMMY:
I started hanging out in the Vinegar Hill bar when I was 15. I was in there almost every day until at 23 I married and moved to Washington Heights. There are so many stories but too many to remember. The one I sometimes think of involved an older man called Pete the Scotchman. He would drink too much and then start mouthing off to one and all. One day Artie had enough. He took Pete's arm and started towards the side door. Pete pulled his arm away, straighted his jacket and said "I came in the front door and I'll be thrown out the front door'. Being a gentleman, Artie obliged. Flying out the front door he went.
BERNIE DONOVAN
Bobby Duncan writes:
I had no idea that Louis Fuentes' sister Janet had a great singing voice. By the way, Louis had 3 sisters, the oldest was Mary. I went out with Janet a couple of times. She and her mother moved to the Bronx after Louis died. Herbie Santiago lived in their building. He's been living in Sweetwater FL for over 20 years. Rosemary LaMarch lived in the building next door I believe.
That is Frankie Harkins in Art's photo. James, his brother, had dark hair and was older. He's married and lives and works in Ireland.
Tony Caro writes a very touching note:
Dear Tom
Although I have never met you, I feel a certain bond with you. Most people go to a “Fortune Teller” or “psychic” to predict the future. In your case you were blessed with ability to remember the past.
And it’s with that in mind that I look forward to your blogs. But, first and foremost let me wish you a quick and successful recovery from your recent surgery. Good Luck.
To get back to your blog, it is with a bittersweet taste that I felt with this particular one, Bob McKenna wrote about the Nieves family. That Frank was the last surviving member of his siblings. This is what hit home.
Rosemary (Cuchie) Nieves and I were teen sweethearts, she was 15/16 years old and I was 17. Needless to add, her brothers were very protecting of her. Paying me separate visit to check me out. Boy, was I scared stiff.
So, when I heard the news, it left an empty feeling and a bit sad. Soon after Rosemary and I broke up, the next girl that I met and dated turned out to be my wife and loving mother of our three children. I know that this was over 50 years ago, but it feel like just yesterday.
Thanks again and keep them coming.
God Bless
Tony Caro
