134th Street from Amsterdam to Broadway

As I wrote the title to this post it dawned on me that there was more to 134th Street on the other side of the IRT tracks. I was thinking that it was just one short block but it did continue on. At least in my era it did.  Now that other side is completely gone.
501 is the only building whose residents I can remember for sure. There was the O'Reilly's, Jimmy, Phil and Mary, who was my age. Mary and Molly Torres went to high school together and last I knew Mary was married to Philip Vicente from 135th St. The Broderick's were there. I could always count on Billy to be at the St. Patrick's day parade on 5th Ave. No matter what time I got there, Billy was already there. He had a younger brother, Robby who would join him on occasion and he had a sister, my age, Patsy. I also recall a guy, Richie Miller, who I think lived in the building. There was a dentist in the building, Dr. Ross. He was not one of my favorite people. I never did like dentists.  Another guy comes to mind, Porky Shatuk (?). He was friends with Billy Devlin and his mother was always chatting with Mrs. Devlin in her candy store. 501 had its own candy store, the name I recall was Blackie Bartolini. I may have been in there once or twice. It wasn't my candy store and I don't remember it being a hang out like Devlin's was. There was also a laundromat in the building and I think Theresa McCarthy ran it. It was a life saver for me because after grammar school my Mom told me that my laundry was my responsibility. Theresa not only washed and dried but she also folded. It was something like sixty cents a pound.
Moving around the block, one of my favorite families was the Newell's. I just mentioned Billy Broderick always being at "the" parade. Well Maureen Newell was also there. She absolutely loved the parade. Maureen was very active in the production of the Vinegar Hill Gazette and the guys loved having her on the staff. Maureen had a sister Nancy and two brothers, Tommy and Joe. Joe was in my class. He must have been a little older that me. One time I borrowed his draft card so I could get served down at Rockaway. While I was down there I landed up getting a ticket for littering the beach. I had missed the garbage can when I flipped the lid from my beer container. When I met Joe on Monday morning to return his draft card I also handed him the ticket.  I used his draft card for identification. I promised him I'd take care of it and I had to appear in court,  back down in Rockaway, to pay the ten dollar fine. Mrs. Newell was a big lady and she was one of the last people to move from the neighborhood. She just didn't want to move and because of her size she never had a problem. We lost Maureen a few years ago and last I heard, Tommy, Joe and Nancy were all living in Palisades Park, N. J.
There were several Donohue families on the block. One family was all girls, and one all boys and I think there was a third family. I remember a freckle faced girl who I think was a Mary Donohue. Anyway, the all girl family was Anne, Maude, Madline and Mary. Mrs. Donohue worked in Heinick's Department Store on the corner of 133rd St. Now I have it in my  head that Maudy went to a prom with Mike Cassidy from my building. I have run into her a couple of times down at the shore. One time my wife and I were part of a group doing a set dance demonstration at a St. Patrick's party in Maudy's community. Mary is now Sister Mary O.P. She is in the same order that we had at Annunciation. I understand that she is the principal of a school up in Peekskill, NY. The other,all boy Donohue family, was Donold and John.  John was in that 1947 basketball team picture. I understand that he went to All Hallows and then Niagra. Donold was on the NYPD. A group of my friends used to follow an Irish trio led by Jimmy McPhail. We went to see him up at Irish Eyes on 212th and B'Way. As I walked in the door who was sitting there but Donold. I hadn't seen him in years. Sadly, since that time Donold has passed on.
The Quealy family was there. Mrs. Quealy had some of the bluest eyes I can ever recall seeing. They were beautiful and she always had a lovely smile on her face. The Quealys were Mike, who became a priest and was mortally wounded in Viet Nam, Grace and Theresa. Theresa was my age and she did inherit her mothers smile and she had these great big beautiful eyes.
The Bosser family was there. That would be Edie and her brother Billy and her cousin Millie lived with them. I remember that when we were all starting to get our TVs, Edie's parents had the extra expense of getting a converter. It seems that some of the buildings on 134th St. only had DC electrical service and so you had to buy a converter to change the DC to AC. Then you could run your TV. The TV? oh yes, it was black and white and had a twelve inch picture tube. It was a big deal getting a TV. My dad bought ours at Davega's on 125th St. and the payments were twelve bucks a month for a year.
The Keenan sisters were there, Kathleen and her sister Margaret. Also the Moore's, which would have been Kay, Margie and their brother Stevie. There was also the Caraisco's, Georgie, Marie, Louie, Tommy and Jimmy. For some reason when Mr. Caraisco came home from work he would walk up 135th and then down the avenue to 134th. He always had a big brown bag under his arm which I suppose was loaded with goodies for the kids. Benny Beackum and his sister Anne were there along with their dog, Teddy. The reason I remember Teddy was that one day when we were horsing around one of the guys pushed me into Teddy. It looked like I was going to fall on him so he took a good healthy bite of my leg. Joan Dowd was in the same building they were in. Joe McNamara and his brother John were there. Joe was one of the Regis guys. As I recall he married Kay Taggerty. I didn't know that Kay had a sister and at one of the parades I started chatting with this girl who was with the Vinegar Hill crowd and she turned out to be Kay's sister.
Father Mike Gannon was there with his brother Pete. Pete always stood out in my mind because he was always impeccably dressed. From the time I was a little kid I can remember Pete walking to and from the subway and always sharp as a tack.  Frankie Byrne and his sister Mary were there, too. I think Frankie was about 23 or 24 when he passed away. He had a bad cold and the next thing we knew he was gone. Mary married Jimmy Whalen from 136th St.and last I heard they are living in Florida.
Eddie Duran and his sister Margurite were there. Eddie always impressed me with his knowledge of all things sports. Junior Mc Govern and his sister were there. There was also Arthur Baker. 
Mary Purcell and her brothers, Pat, Joe and Bill were there and then they moved to 136th off B'Way. I remember walking Mary home a couple of times and her mother would always make me tea and toast. She was a lovely lady. I got to visit with Pat and his wife, Simone down here in Fl. and Pat tells me that Mary is in the process of moving to Texas to be near her grand children. Tommy Sheehan was there, he was one of the Xavier guys with the uniform. For some reason the only other guy I can recall going to Xavier was Bernie Harrigan and I'm sure there were more guys from the hill who went there.
Joe Connaire, whom we called Canary, was there and I didn't realize until years later that he had a brother whose nick name was Pigeon. Pigeon wrote some great articles for the Vinegar Hill Gazette. Joe married Anne Coughlin from 135th St. The Gibbs boys were there too. Marty was a year younger than me and he had a few  brothers, George and Ray and Coley. Billy Hackett was also there. I understand Billy had a great career in advertising. It is amazing how many things those kids from Vinegar Hill accomplished. Marie Swift and her brother Tommy were there. Tommy's daughter sang some beautiful solos and some of the reunion Masses. There was quite a few Spanish guys who moved into the neighborhood from Puerto Rico. Some of them were new to the English language and they had a tough time at Annunciation. I can remember working with Henry Correa, Joe Costa, Andrew Saintz, Harry Cruz. They all lived on 134th St. Tony Paleyo was there too, but he didn't have a problem with English. Tony almost got me thrown out of Annunciation one time. He decided to carve my name into one of the pillars in the church in like two inch high letters. Of course I got called on the carpet and fortunately Sr. Euphemea believed me when I proclaimed my innocence. They never did find out who did it.
134th Street did have a couple of bars on the block. Of course Gallagher's, didn't they also call it P and Gs? That was right on the south west corner and directly across the street, just below the park, was Bradley's. I recall that Bradley's was the first place in the neighborhood to serve Pizza. None of the other bars sold it. It was like a new food and we all went crazy for it. I still love my pizza. The thing I remember about Gallaghers was Mr. Trabold, the baker. He had a German Shepherd and whenever Mr. Trabold was in the bar the dog, Wolf, would be sitting outside waiting for him. No leash, or chain or any restraint, the dog would just wait there until he came out.
No sooner will I post this and I'll think of six more names from 134th St. This is enough. It's fun to wonder through the memories with you. Even when I am not always correct. Please don't hesitate to correct me. Let me know at tomyread@aol.com

I got some more great mail since the last post.

Bernie Donovan writes:
I've attached the picture I mentioned. Or at least I think I have. It's from about 1950 in a place I think we called Pops on the west side of Amsterdam between 135th and 136th. It shows - from left to right - Paddy Magner, Billy Briody, Danny Doherty, me, Paddy Clancy, Gerry Magner and Pete Mugan. Thanks.
Bernie Donovan
 

Click on the picture to enlarge it

Ed's note: What a great picture. Bernie says he thinks it was Pops. I think it was John's Luncheonette. Anybody have any other recollections? It's a terrific picture and I thank Bernie for taking the time to send it in.
John O'Rourke writes:
Tomy
I enjoyed your latest blog as always. Seeing the basketball team photos, I searched my files and found the attached photo of the 1956-57 Annunciation basketball team. I will try to identify all in the photo; your readers are invited to send in any corrections.
Top Row (left to right): Stanley Prinston(?), Thomas P. Murray (later played for the varsity team at Rice HS), John O'Rourke (I think they let me play in one game), Dennis O'Brien, Phillip Meehan, _______?
Bottom (left to right): John Reynolds, Joseph Rodriguez, Jack McGrath, Dennis Meehan, Tom Sullivan.

Tom Sullivan and Phillip Meehan were clearly the stars of the team.




John McKenna writes:
CALL 9.I-1 ... WAIT, THAT'S YEARS AWAY



The late afternoon was darkening towards early evening as I walked with three friends along Convent Avenue towards


home and supper. We were all about age 10 and I'm not sure where we were coming from.


Tony Diaz was a few steps ahead of us and was first to spot the man leaning against the lamppost- As we reached the


comer, we could see the man's light colored slacks were slashed around the side pocket. Sorneone said, he's been


robbed .Just then the crime victim , lvho was a dark-complected black man, probably in his 40's, tumed towards the


light and we saw he was bleeding from several stab wounds. f'm sure my friends were like me? about the violent scene


we had come across. I felt very sorry for the man and what happened to him, but there was also an air of excitement


surounding the entire incident.


I told my buddies, "I'm going to call the cops", and began to run to the nearest phone. I could hardly believe my ears


when the man said, in a sad, almost crying voice,


"be good boys". As I ran to the pay phone, at McCarthy's candy store on Amsterdam Avenue, I thouglrt, is this guy


uazy? Does he think my friends and I would ever stab and rob someone?


I remember being glad about how fast I ran non-stop the nearly two blocks to McCarthy's- I stepped into the phone


booth near the back of the store and dropped my nickel (this was a long time ago) into the slot and dialed the operator.


When she answered I told her I wanted the Police Department. Almost immediately the Police call-taker was on the line


and the conversation was as follows:


Operator: Police Department


JMCK: A man's been stabbed and robbed at hun thirty frfttr and Convent.


Operator: (Confirms address)


JMCK; Yes, hun thirty fifth and Convent...that's the 3fth Precinct


Operator: ok maam...


JMCK: I'm a boy!


Many years and many life experiences have passed since that sad and exciting crime scene. All the boys who helped


turned out fine... no stabbing... no robbing...


For more than 15 years, I worked as a fire departrnent dispatcher and never called a ten-year boy "maam ..." at least I


don't think I did.

Ed's Note:  John, I appologize. For some reason my copy got corrupted and this is what I landed up with. Your format was much neater.

Barbra Olsh writes:
Hello Tom Read,
I just stumbled upon your blog and absolutely loved reading the wonderfully well-told stories of your old neighborhood. Although my main interest was in the most recent entry, after I discovered how warmly you created life of the kids of Vinegar Hill, I have read all of them.
About two weeks ago, I was going through my late mother's collection of family photos and clippings and I found a very, very faded March 29, 1949, Catholic News featuring the Archdiocesan CYO 1949 Basketball Champions. One of the group caught my eye. Over the image of one of the boys in the photo "Annunciation, West Manhattan, CYO Junior Champions" my mother had written,"Billy." That was my cousin, Billy Regan. I googled a bit and finally tried: "Annunciation school" and "Billy Regan" and came up with your Vinegar Hill blog and the photo of the team from a different year. (Thank you for including the higher resolution image because I now have a beautiful 8" x 10" print.)
My family here in rural Maryland lost touch with Billy after his mother, Helen Regan McMahon, died in 1952. I was delighted to find that your neighbor Noreen Cunningham Carberry's husband also Identified Billy Regan and added the information about his being a FDNY "Battalion Chief." Sadly I think I may have found Billy Regan's Obituary. There is an article and photo at: www.parsippanyfuneral.com/visitations/View.php?id=53
Perhaps the Carberry's will be able to say for sure if this is the same "William J. Regan."

Editors note: I hate to be a fatalist but after reading the obit I'd have to say that it is  his obituary.
If someone knows otherwise, please let Barbra know. Her email address is toward the end of this letter. This is such a lovely, loving letter with some great pictures that I didn't want to wait any longer before posting the letter. I hope I haven't offended anyone by my quick judgement. Tom
I have attached several photos of Billy & family when they lived at 517 West 131st St. where Billy grew up.

Photo #1: Billy Regan, first communion (c1940)

Photo #2: Billy in the neighborhood with his stepfather, Eddie McMahon (1942) Eddie was a bartender - at one time he was a "singing bartender." Aunt Helen also sang in local clubs from time to time.

Photo #3 Billy (c1951) on the roof of 517 W. 131st St. with his cocker spaniel, Ginger

Photo # 4 & # 5: Billy's high school graduation photos c1951 or 1952 (I don't know what high school he attended)

Photo #6 Helen Regan McMahon, her brother Capt. John Z. Olsh (my father) and Eddie McMahon
Barbara Olsh
springud@gmail.com

I loved the knickers in the second picture. When I made my first communion I had to wear knickers.

We just recently celebrated the feast of the Annunciation, March 25th. Here in Florida all the "Jersey Girls" pick a day to have a house party. My Maureen told me the days that were available and one of  was March 25th. I commented that it would be the sixty fifth anniversary of my first communion. We had the party on the 25th and all the girls came in white outfits. Snowbirding is just like summer camp, nothing but fun.

l.to r. Maureen Read, Mary Bigley, Maureen Donahue, Peggy Buckley, Me(with my new prayer book) Terry Lombardi, Nancy O'Rourke, Anne Dunn, Betty McIntyre

Last month there was a mini Florida Vinegar Hill Reunion, all 10 of us up in Palm Beach Gardens.


l.to r. Janet Harrington, Tom Sakel, Artie Lamarch, Rosemary Lamarch, Tom Read, Helen Francisco, Joe Aguayo, Simone Purcell and Pat Purcell.

Walter and Margie Wheatley stopped by one Saturday for our village's weekly cook out. It is always great to see old friends.

If anyone has Eddie Kneafsey's phone number could you email it to me?  tomyread@aol.com   I got an interesting email from a lady who must  be related to the Kneafsey's and she found my mention of his name in one of the blogs.

That's it for this edition. I am not sure where I am going next but I have some ideas kicking around in my head. As always  I'd love to hear from you. Comments, suggestions, corrections are greatly appreciated.
God Bless

Tommy Read

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The Seasons of Our Time

When we were kids we didn't realize it, but everything has it's season. Yes, it's baseball in the spring and summer and football in the fall. What about all the other activities we had? How about water pistol season? All of a sudden on warm day in the springtime and every one has a water pistol. The season just evolved but it came around every year. I remember one year Marty Gibbs got the best of me and I was going to get my revenge. Instead of putting water in my little gun I ran "up the house" and put vinegar in my trusty little water pistol. I thought Marty was going to kill me when he realized what I did.
How about oil cloth gun season?  Sure as spring, it came every year. Someone would throw out a big piece of linoleum, we called it oil cloth.The next thing you know everyone is making oil cloth guns. There was two pieces of wood nailed together, a barrel and a handle. You fashioned a release of sorts and the rear of the barrel and nailed a big rubber band at the front. A spring loaded clothes pin always made a good release.To make it work you pulled  the rubber band to the release and put a one inch square under half of the rubber band. Releasing the rubber band would send the square of oil cloth flying at your intended target. Some of the guys were pretty ingenious and made some pretty neat guns.
After we tired of the guns it was time for pea shooter season. All of a sudden the candy stores had a supply of pea shooters and we just had to go to war. What did the pea shooters shoot? Peas! Of course, dried peas. Brady's grocery, between 134th and 133rd sold bulk peas and you could by a days worth of ammunition for a dime. You'd put the pea shooter up your sleeve and the peas in your pocket. At lunch time, after we were released at the corner of 131st St. war would break out and a mouthful of peas got you passage home for lunch. The neighborhood was covered in dried peas, thousands of them.
Come summer time it was scooter time. All you needed was a milk crate, one skate, a two by four and two small pieces of one by two and you had the makings of a scooter. If you wanted a fancy scooter you would nail bottle caps in some elaborate or cryptic design on the front of your scooter. Storing the scooter was always a big problem as it did take up a bit of space. Some how the guys that had them always managed. Esposito's fruit market was a good source for the wood you needed. They always had all the vegetable crates. Two by fours came from the suppers in the neighborhood. They were always patching up the buildings and would have scraps left over. Milk crates were always falling off the milk trucks so you always knew where to find them.
Checkers had it's season too. No, not the red and black ones with the checker board, real checkers. The checker was a bottle cap with either a piece of orange peel and a good hunk of tar that you got off the road. When the weather got warm the tar in the road got nice and soft. Melted crayon made a good filler for the checker, too. The checker board was an arbitrary size of four or five feet square. It was either painted on the side walk or marked off in chalk or crayon. If I remember correctly there was thirteen boxes. 1, 2, 3, and 4 were in the corners, 5 and 6 were side by side as were 7 and 8 on the opposite side. On the other two sides in side by side boxes were 9 and 10 and 11 and 12. In the middle of the board was home with number 13 in the middle. There were very definite rule of how you started a game and what the rotation was. The object was  to get your checker into all twelve squares and then to win you had to get into the thirteenth square in the middle without getting "killed " by landing in the zone that was around the thirteenth square. We used to play for hours on end. Some of the "boards" were in the middle of the road because the blacktop made a smooth playing surface. It was not uncommon to stop traffic while a guy was shooting.
Roller skating also had it's season. We never heard of in line skates and even the wooden wheeled skates with the fancy shoes.  All that we knew was good old "Union Number 5's". They were good solid metal skates and they had ball bearing steel wheels. They just fit right over your shoes and tightened to your shoe with a skate key that you  would keep on a string tied around your neck. If your wheels wore out you could buy just new wheels. The neighborhood hardware stores were the source for the skates and the wheels.
Chinese hand ball had it's season too. It was amazing how many different games we had with the Spaulding. (Or was it spauldeen?) There was stickball, box ball, stoop ball. Someone always had a ball.
How about food?  It had it's seasons, too. Halloween always brought jelly apples and all the candy stores had them. I've never had a jelly apple as good as the ones we had when we were kids. Do you remember Charlotte Russes? They had a season too. I believe it was in the spring before it got too hot. A Charlotte Russe was a white cardboard tube about two inches round and three inches high. At the bottom was a little piece of white cake and the rest was this wonderful whipped cream. Now they were not kept refrigerated and so when the candy stores got them in they usually sold out pretty fast. I guess because there was no refrigeration there was a short season for them. Speaking of candy stores and refrigeration, how about bulk ice cream?  You could get a half pint, pint or quart. It was always debatable as to who packed the best ice cream. I can remember my Mother saying," if so and so is working there in Devlin's , go across the street to the drug store. You'll get more ice cream packed in the container".
In the fall we always had Chinese Apple season. No, we didn't call them pomegranates, all we ever knew was Chinese Apples. They were just as messy to eat then as they are now.
It was on Mother's Day that there would be a guy standing on the corner of 133rd and Amsterdam on the Northeast corner. He was selling carnations and there was a color you wore if your mother was alive, another color if she had passed and another if she was away. The guy was there every year only on Mother's Day and we always bought a carnation from him. He  knew how to position himself so he caught everyone going to Mass.
Marbles was another game we played. Normally we only played the gambling type. One guy had a cigar box that had cut outs in the front of it. The cut outs were just big enough to let a marble in. Over the holes a pay out was indicated. Usually, it was just one marble, if you got your marble in the hole you got two back, yours
and one for getting it in. If you didn't get a marble in the hole, you lost your marble to the guy who had the cigar box. The other way of playing marbles was on a dirt field. A circle was drawn in the dirt and a bunch of marbles was put in the center of the circle.I think you had a shooter marble and the object was to use your shooter to get as many marbles out of the circle. Father Mike Quealy was the "Parkee" one year, when he was still in the seminary. He taught us how to play the game in Annunciation park. The Daily News and the Daily Mirror ran Parks Department tournaments and when you won in your local park you won a tee shirt. I was determined to get a tee shirt and Fr. Mike helped me win it. Mike was the best "Parkee" we ever had. It was such a tragedy to loose him in Viet Nam.
Another seasonal opportunity that we had was "itchy balls". I guess they were some kind of seed pod that grew on the maple trees that were in all the parks. You'd get an itchy ball, break it up and take the stuff that came out of it and put down the back on someones shirt and then rub it in.  The stuff would make you very itchy. 
Do you remember spinning tops? A top looked like a small turnip. It was "wound up" with a string and then you threw it to the ground as hard as you could. With the string unraveling as you threw it, it started spinning. Most of the points on the tops looked like the end of a nail. One of the games we played with them was making someone put his top in the middle of a circle and then you would launch your top at the one laying in the circle. The object of the game was to split the top that was laying on the ground. As often as we played, I never saw a top split.
I think it was in the fall that we had yo-yo season. Duncan yo-yo's were the best and for some reason I think McCarthy's candy store, up by Vinegar Hill, had a lock on Duncan's If you wanted one, you had to buy it there. I do remember the Duncan rep showing up every week at McCarthy's  and he conducted contests and gave out prizes. (yo-yo's). You had to be able to walk the dog, rock the cradle, go around the world and then the really hard tricks began.
All of this that I just mentioned was all "guy" stuff. Girls had their own games and I just remember a few. There was one with the girl bouncing a spauldeen and reciting a limerick. " I won't go to Macy's  any more, more, more. There's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door. The limerick went on forever.  Then they had jump rope and double Dutch. Another game they excelled in was that paddle that had a small rubber ball attached to it with a rubber band, a paddle ball, I guess. That same little rubber ball was used in the game of Jacks.  We had our checkers painted on the ground and they had their "potsy". All of a sudden when the weather got nice and we all played outside all of the girls started speaking a different language. Was it "Ibe"? I never could figure it out. How did we all survive without all the electronic gadgets and toys that the kids have today. And I didn't go into all the sports teams that were in the neighborhoods, just the games we played. And speaking of sports, all that we has was basketball, football and softball. We had no soccer, roller hocky, la cross and we didn't have turf covered  fields to play baseball. We just had asphalt covered fields to play softball. But we did have a ball.
Next up I think I'll wander down 134th Street. I'm not to up on where everyone lived on the block but I do remember a ton of great families.
Thanks to John McKeveny, Pat Purcell, Billy Corcoran, Bernie Donahue and Noreen Cunningham Carberry for your help in identifying the guys that were in those two team pictures from my last blog. Here is the updated version:

Front row:  Jim Walsh, Billy Corcoran, Joe Coughlin, Timmy Bowe and Tommy Lynch.
Back row:  B. B. Blanco, Bernie Donavan, Bill Reagan, Ray Tully, Marty Chambers, John Donahue, John Padian and Coach Bareas.

Front Row: Tom Skihill, John McKeveny, Sonny Buonocore, Tony Diaz and Bill Monahan
Back Row:  Tommy Carr, Buddy Duncan, Joe Cavanaugh, Eddie McCabe, Sean Maloney, Bobby Cunningham, George Duke and Hugh Boylan

Bobby Duncan writes:
Re: Annunciation Basketball team. On the top row second from the right is George Duke who lived at 1512 Amsterdam Avenue. It's amazing that Jimmy Corcoran (or was it Billy) remembers all those people. He went to school with me. Those guys were 2 yrs. ahead of us. My mother had that photo for years but I never saw it after my brother died in 1960
People come and go and sometimes we never get to say goodbye. So I'll say it now: Miss You Barbara Musolino nee Blake and Anne Harkin. Barbara's husband was a doctor from Italy and a very charming man. I had heard that her daughter went to Italy and became a doctor like her father. Anne Harkin worked for years as a nurse and was about to retire when tragedy struck in the form of a brain tumor. I last saw her at my sister Florence's funeral in Yonkers several years ago.
Recently I've lost three of my former work buddies at young ages: Julio was 42. Robert was 57 - both died from cancer! Hilda died last Saturday - heart problems. She was 51 or 52 and very sassy. Must be that red hair!
So Tomy you render a valuable service in letting people know what's transpired since they left the neighborhood. Say hello to Harold for me. I hope Baby, Peter and Abigail Henriquez are all well. To Janet Fuentes "hi" if you're still with us. We lost Edgar Rodriguez but is his sister Dorsey alive and kicking!
I know one day we'll all meet in that other neighborhood and have a grand chuckle about the things we did while safely living in Vinegar Hill. They just don't make them like they used to - except for West 46th Street where I lived for 36 years.


Artie Lamarch writes:
Reading about the teams from the neighborhood made me go into the old editions of the Gazette. I remember we put out an edition in April, 2000 and the lead article was "Athletes Of Vinegar Hill". Thought I could help you name some of the players in the basketball photos as I have seen them ,in the past , and with captions.Unfortunately, we used one of the photos, but only captioned it with the year (1950). The article which was written by John Murray, (531 W 135th) who graduated Annunciation in 1936,was mainly about the teams and players of his period. The article did name neighborhood teams as well as Annunciation, High School, College and Professionals, who from the Hill played for them.
The little I can add to your recent blog is the team on west 136th St was the Mohawks, and their colors were red and gold. I remember this from John Mulrhane, as he used to wear a red baseball cap with a gold "M" for Mohawk. He once explained to this 5 or 6 year old that we were Mohawks and those kids on the other side of Amsterdam Ave were the Rebels. I believe I ran home thinking there was going to be a war on 136th Street.
When we were moving to Fl in 2008, I gave all the extra copies of the Gazette, and any photos I had, to Tom Sakel for safekeeping. You may want to contact him or Jim Cavanaugh if you need material. I can make you copies of the one set I kept, but they would be xerox copies. I also have two professional photos, one of Jasper Oval, 1920 and the other is a view from Convent Ave at 136th, looking toward Amsterdam, 1923. My wife bought them at a Street Fair on Sixth Ave. I may have showed them to you at our luncheon last year.
Billy Blake writes:
Hello Tom, how are you enjoying the warm weather in Fl. Just like to say you certainly are a world of knowledge about VH and enjoy reading all the things that I have forgotten but it all comes back once I read your e-mail's. Unfortunately, my Sister "Joan" who was married to "Bernie Owens" passed away on Jan.7th 2011 from Cancer. My Sister always loved life,but ever since her Twin "Barbara" passed away in 1999 she felt lonely and missed her very much. They use to do many things together living not too far from another in Fl. I live in Hilton Head, SC and would drive to the" New Port Richey " Fl often to see her and spend time since she was diagnosed with Cancer back in May of 2010. I have to say in all honesty spending "New Year's" with my Sister was better than any "New Year's I can remember. It felt so good to be there with her while she was feeling a bit elusive. The next day she went on morphine, rested and waited for "God" to call her. I miss her very much as I do my Sister Barbara, but so happy I was there before she closed her eyes and waited to be called.
On another note. Billy Bradley lived with his "Grandmother and Grandfather" in 1508 while his Father "Wes" lived in "Iwood" Hiram "Baby" Rivera Brother's name is "JOE" and he use to play the Gungas tall "Bongos" with "Tito Quenta" band. Well, God Bless and enjoy your time in Fl.

Mary Jane Heinrich writes:
Just reading the blog & figured I better send this while I remember the names. The Coogans lived in 1504 Amsterdam when I was little. The Rochford family lived there too! Ellen & Vincent(I believe) were the parents. I think I remember 3 kids then-Eddie, Tommy, and Linda. Then they moved to 136th St had another little boy and another girl. Can't remember their names-even though I was in their house a lot. Then they moved to Long Island and we lost touch with them. As for the Rochford's - May and Dennis, the parents-children- Thomas, Donald, Ann, Raymond, Sheila and Stephen. As for us, The Cavanagh's from 1508--Mary & James(parents) children-Betty, Jimmy, Mary Jane & Peggy. We moved when I was a sophomore @ St. Michael Academy on 33rd St(the diocese just closed it this past June.) We moved to 231st St in the Bronx. I went on to Hunter-Bellevue for Nursing. I married Bobby Heinrich from 504 W.136th St. His parents were Mary(Mazie Darcy) & Bill Heinrich, he has a sister, Eileen. His Aunt Maggie & Uncle John Lennon NYPD lived in that building also with their daughter Margaret Mary (Maggie). Maggie married Henry Espinosa from 1492? Amsterdam(same building as the Buonocors). Henry is a professor at CCNY for many years. They reside in Ravena, NY. It's a long commute.
Well enough for now- I am coveting that cruise,but so glad for you to get out of the snow! My sister Betty & her husband John (retired FBI) are permanent residents now of Stuart, Florida. Haven't been there yet, but there is talk of a cousins' reunion sometime this winter. It has been quite cold here in Arlington, TX & no NY teams in the Super bowl to cheer me up. Go Green Bay! This city will be rockin' in a couple of weeks!! Thanks for all the memories--Mary Jane Heinrich -Annunciation Class of 1962.

Noreen Cunningham Carberry writes:

Tom, I grew up in Vinegar Hill but moved while in high school. We lived on 135th St. - The Cunningham's, Mary, Eleanor, Robert and Noreen. Good friends with the Boylan family from 513. Recognized Hughie Boylan in the photo - he looks the same except for grey hair. His sister, Eileen, and I have remained friends through the years. My husband, Bill Carberry (University Ave) was a fireman in the Bronx, Ladder 27, and he recognized one of the fellas from  the basketball photo with Fr. McSherry. His name was Billy Regan (Standing) third fella in from the left of Fr. McSherry)  He was a Battalion Chief in the fire dept.  Hopefully, he is correct as he said he was a dead  ringer for him (same smile).  Also, Peggy Henry lives here in Goshen. Her father owned the candy store in the old neighborhood. Ran into her on a trip and not knowing her just saw a fireman's charm on her necklace and commented that my husband too was a fireman. Next thing we get talking and found out we had a lot more in common. Small world.   Glad to read about the old neighborhood. Enjoy Florida.  Noreen Cunningham Carberry

John McKeveny writes:
Tom, The picture that you have posted is the 1950 8th grade CYO team.
The names are as follows: (seated) Tom Skehill;John McKeveny; Sonny Buonocore; Anthony Diaz; Bill Monahan.
( standing ) Tom Carr; Buddy Duncan; Joe Cavanaugh; Eddie McCabe; Sean Maloney; Bob Cunningham; George Duke;
& Hugh Boylan
I hope that this helps you in your quest to ID the guys. This is the picture that I sent to John Scott 10 years ago when he was publishing the Vinegar Hill Newsletter.
Not bad for a 74 year old guy remembering the names of people whom I knew 61 years ago.
It was nice talking with you and reminiscing about the “OLD” neighborhood. I enjoyed reading the article about the various teams.. I was a member of the Bluejays and had a blue & white jersey.
Good luck with you endeavors !!!
All the best, John McKeveny

Anne Rochford writes:
Hi Tomy,
I really enjoyed your blog. Just wanted to let you know who lived in 1504 Amsterdam Ave. The Rochfords, Tommy, (my brother) Donald, Anne, Ray, Sheila and Stephen. The McCabes, Eddie, Mary, Pat,Bobby (Snoggy), Jane and Michael. The Coogans, Eddie, Tommy, Linda, Gail and a younger boy but I can't remember his name. The McGuckins, Catherine, Rosemary and Claire. The McClellands, Billy, Judy and Diane. The Conways or Conroys, there was Eleanor and that is the only one I remember. Of course you know about the Henriquezs, Abby and Peter who Tommy and Bobby McCabe hung around with. Tommy did tell Jane and I how Bobby got the name Snoggy but I can't remember the whole story. I will ask him and find out. I enjoyed reading Bobby Duncans memories, he was so good to us when his Sister Bernadette, Annie Harkin and I used to drive him crazy with our problems. Hope this helps with 1504 Amsterdam Avenue.
Anne Rochford

Bernie Donovan writes:
My name is John (Bernie) Donovan. I lived at 521 W. 135th Street and 622 W.136th Street. In 521 we lived next to the Callahans and below the Magners. A friend - Danny Doherty - who has lived in Virginia for many years, e-mailed me your latest publication partly because I'm in the picture of the 1947 basketball team.
I have tried to find John Scott's book "The Boys From Vinegar Hill" in a number of book stores, Barnes and Noble etc., They didn't have it and didn't have any record of it. My brothers Bill and Vince, and my sisters Evelyn and Geri would also like to read it. Vince hung around Tony's with John. Could you please tell me where I could purchase copies of it. I'd be grateful.
I have a picture of the guys I hung around with. It was taken around 1950 and includes Buddy Clancy. I'm sure Buddy and Jenny would enjoy seeing it. I'm not very bright about computers so I'll have to get my kids or grandkids to help in sending it. Would we somehow attach it to an e-mail to the above e-mail address or is there another way?
Thanks for your help.
and then in a reply Bernie writes:
TOMMY:
Thanks for the information on Amazon. I figured out how to order (Lord God another miracle), and today I received a notice that my order has been shipped. After I read it I'll pass it on to Bill, Vinny, Evy and Geraldine.
You asked if Danny Doherty was the redhead from 134th. No. Danny lived in the 600 block of 136th. He was part of a large family. One of his brothers - Buddy - was deaf. His sister Eileen married my brother Vinny. Sadly, she passed away in November of '07.
About the 1947 team. I still have an 8x11 glossy given to us by Fr. Mac, so I'm able to see the faces clearly. The guy kneeling by Fr. Mac is Joey Wall. I believe he lived on 136th between Amsterdam and Convent. The guy to the left of Timmy Bowe is Tommy Lynch, Pete's younger brother. I don't remember the name of the guy standing next to Fr. Mac. I believe the guy on my left is Billy Regan. I don't remember the name of the next guy. I believe we called him Whitey and he was from 138th street. The guy to the left of Marty Chambers is Johnny Donahue. And then Jackie Padian.
I found that picture I mentioned. I shows Paddy Magner, Billy Briody, Danny Doherty, me, Buddy Clancy, Gerry Magner and Pete Mugan sitting at a soda fountain in a place across the street from your parent's store.. I think we called it Pop's. One of my sons said he'll help me send it to you the next time he's in town. That should be soon.
It's great to be reminded of the guys, girls and places of the Hill.
Thanks again.
BERNIE DONOVAN
PS.: For the past 42 years I've lived in Milford, Connecticut



In the words of Porky Pig: "That's all, folks!"

Vinegar Hill: The land of organized and disorganized sports.

Greetings from the sunny, beautiful, warm land of Boynton Beach, Florida. Maureen and I left the north just before the big storm predicted for last Wednesday. We took our time and got in on Friday. This Sunday we leave for a seven day cruise to the Western Caribbean. Enough of rubbing it in.
In putting all my stuff together I found a list from the October reunion of all those people we lost in 2010. I am copying the names as they were written on the sheet that was passed out at the Mass.

               ANN HARKIN
               MARIAN LYNCH
               MAY CONNOLLY BRADY
               EDGAR RODRIQUEZ
               STELLA BOWMAN
               SHEILA STACK BURNS
               TERRI CRAWFORD
               TOM PADIAN
               UNA (MALANAPHY) MESKELL
               DELLA MC GLYNN
               JOHN CLARKE
May they rest in peace.

One of the unique things about Vinegar Hill was all the sports teams that we had. Every block had at least one team and they played what was in season.  It seems that every generation had their teams. The first team that I remember was, of course from 135th Street, the Winged Foots, or was it the Wing Foots. I kinda recall the likes of Sonny Grosso, Red Foley and the guys who hung around Tony's Candy Store. I think their colors were red and white with a winged foot on the front of the jersey.  In that same generation there was a group of guys from 134th Street who called themselves the West Sides. Green and white are the colors that I recall.  It was very important what colors you chose. Later on, from 135th Street was the Blue Jays. Some of the guys who fit in that era would be: Billy Corcoran, Joe Coughlin, Georgie Asfendis, Donald Bergin, Denis Hurlihy, John Finn, Pete Clark, Bernie Owens, and a lot more. Their colors were blue and white. In my era we became the Blue Jay Cubs. Our jerseys were blue and white. Across the front was CUBS and on one sleeve was the image of a Blue Jay. It made sense to us! We got the jerseys from Marty's Sporting Goods, down on 125th Street. Marty had a great business just from all the different neighborhood teams. That was also where all the bats, balls and gloves came from. The gloves used to cost between five and ten dollars. Being that I usually played left out, after losing my first glove I never bought another one. At the end of the inning you would just borrow the glove from the guy who was playing your position. The guys on the Cubs were: Junior McGoldrick, Jimmy Bradley, John Sullivan, Jackie Hayes, Harry Read,Tommy Burke, Vinny Nyholm, Jackie Murphy, Bart Mugan, Jimmy Corcoran and a few more. We had enough to field a softball team but not enough for a football team. 136th Street had a number of teams. Was it the Mohawks or the Mohicans? I'll go with the Mohawks. There was also the Rebels and the Buccaneers. Before my time I believe there was a team called the Eagles. Was that where the Eagle Rocks name came from? I think the Rebels were blue and gold but I don't recall what colors the other teams had. The Buccaneers were a great football team.
Down on the other side of Broadway there was a team called the Pontiacs or was it the Chiefs? The Pontiac dealer on the corner of 135th and Broadway sponsored them. (They payed for the jerseys) I recall at one time when I was hanging out at Devlin's candy store, a couple of us went down to Curry Chevrolet, on 133rd and Broadway, and tried to get them to sponsor us. They hit us with all those logical questions like: Who's your coach? What sport are you going to play? Where are you going to play? Heck, we didn't have any answers, we just wanted someone to pay for our jerseys. We never became the Chevrolet's.
The bars in the neighbor hood also sponsored teams. Number one was of course Vinegar Hill, what great basketball and softball teams! Green and white were the colors I recall. Castle Hill Bar, between 134th and 135th had a team. I think Bradley's on 134th and Amsterdam had a team. Remember going through the hole in the fence to the back window of the bar to get the containers of beer? Teams always played for a keg of beer. Never any worry of a DWI. Nobody had a car. I don't recall any other bars having  teams but that doesn't say that they didn't have them.
I'm saving the best for last. The seed for all these teams and the inspiration came from our wonderful parish teams. Annunciation School, The Big A. Walter and Margie (Maher) Wheatley sent me these pictures. Some of the greatest teams of their eras. The top team is from 1949 or 1950. The bottom team is from 1947. I need help with some of the names. tomyread@aol.com  (click on the picture to enlarge it.)


Front row seated: ?, John McKeveney, Sonny (Vincent) Buonocore, Tony Diaz, Bill Monihan
Back row standing: Tommy Carr, Buddy Duncan, Joe Cavanaugh, ?, Sean Maloney, Bobby Cunningham, ?, Hugh Boylan




Left to right, Fr. McSherry, kneeling, ?, Billy Corcoran, Joe Coughlin, Timmy Bowe, Lynch,
Standing ?, Bernie ? Donovan, ?, ?, Marty Chambers, ?, Tom Padian, Coach Bereras.
( question marks are names I couldn't come up with. Billy Corcoran helped with some. If you know who they are please let me know and I'll update the picture in a later post.)




Joe Cavanaugh  and Bobby Cunningham

The generation behind me started getting fancy. They may have had jerseys but what I remember is the sweaters. I am referring to "The Knights". Their colors were black and white. There was a group of guys on 135th Street who called themselves "Los Diablos". Their colors were red and black.
The girls weren't organized like the boys but they had their colors also. There was Chatruse and Fushia. I recall the "Jets", May Sweeney, Dinky Devlin, Kay Kelker but I'm not sure if they were green or pink.
The 'hill" didn't lend itself to football because there were no grassy fields around. In order to play we would go down to Riverside Drive and hike to 120th Street. Between Grant's Tomb and the West Side Highway was a great field we called "Greenie". It was kind of first come first served when it came to getting field time.
None of us had a full compliment of equipment, some had helmits, some had shoulder pads, and some had nothing. We rarely got hurt and always had a good time. Sonny Buonocore was a great quarterback and a fierce competitor. I also remember a girl playing with us and she was very good also, Chicky Dietrick. She had a brother, Cookie. I never knew either of their first names. Oh, Sonnies first name was Vincent and he had a sister, Sissy (Frances).
That's it for my recollection of the teams and sports we played. There is more to come, there is still a lot of stuff rattling around in my brain.

Here are some comments from last months posts:
Bobby McKenna writes:
After the recent snow storm, there was a lot of tv coverage of kids around the city on their plastic sleds and tubes going down their bunny slopes.
I was testing out a new camera lens today and decided to get nostalgic in Vinegar Hill and specifically wanted to share this photo of our sledding hill off of St. Nicholas Terrace by the Music and Art High School. This was not a hill for wussies.

You first got some traction to run with your Flexible Flyer and leapt on the sled, heading down the hill as fast as you could....head first. Watch out for the rock outcroppings, the park benches, the lamposts and the other people coming up the hill.....who would bomb you with snowballs.
At the bottom, totally exhilarated, you now had to walk all the way up and try it again! It was wonderful although I remember blood on the snow.
Hope you all have a great New Year.
BOB McKENNA
Hey Bob, What about 136th Street from half way down to the bottom on Broadway. That was a great hill if you could get someone to stay on B'way to stop the traffic while you were coming down. One time I had a six foot Flyer that I inherited from my cousins. The runners were about a foot off the ground. Coming down 136th St. a bunch of guys piled on top of me and the runners collapsed. That was the end of that sleigh.. Also what about Snake hill that ran from Riverside Drive down to the botttom of the viaduct? There was always some "pink snow" at the bottom of that hill.
Molly Torres Kafes writes:
Dear Tommy,
May you and your wife have a Blessed & Joyful Christmas & New Year.
Reading your wonderful blog brings back
so many memories of some of the kids I
knew. I remember that Mary Burke was
truly the smartest in our school. Among the photos I sent you recently there were
pictures at Easter time outside our church
& a photo of one of the Blake twins (I think it was Barbara) & Angela Alfafara, Kathleen Padian & one of the Flanagan twins and other girls at an outdoor event on the grounds of Annunciation Girls' School. As I read your blogs so many names are familiar. Tommy what a great job you do with these blogs.
As I mentioned to you before I grewup on
131st St. between Amsterdam & Old Broadway (which was the original site where Manhattan College was many moons ago). I lived at 521 W. 131st on the
ground floor. I only remember 2 or 3 families in that building, the Corkerry(?) family, Mr. Hosten(?) a widower with his
son Raymond (passed away a fairly young man) & Mr & Mrs Menotti and their 3 children who were much older than I.
The other buildings on my block had families by names of Galleghue( John(a priest),Heen, Pat(nurse) & Billy. The Gallagher family, Barbara my age & her older sister, Pat married a fellow from Ireland in late 1950's & I went to the wedding; they also had 2 older brothers.
Another close friend was Patricia Murphy
family live on the large corner building on
131st which also faced Amsterdam. Pat had an older sister, Ellen & 2 older brothers that maybe some of you guys may have known, Charlie & Tommy Murphy(really nice young men). The LeBlanc's also lived in that building. There were many other families, Dugans, another Gallagher family,
Davilla & there was a liquor store by the corner building where Pat Murphy lived which was owned by 2 fellows from Ireland
& one of them was named Red Barry(had
beautiful bright red hair). There was also the McCarty family, Alvenitas(Greek family
Karacapas(Greeks also). The Big Torres family lived across from Annunciation Boys'
school, I knew Laura & Gloria.
Well if you know of anyone that knew any
of these famililes I sure would be interested
in hearing about them.
All I remember is that Billy Hackett had a
great mop of hair & I hope he still has it.
Take care of yourselves,
Love,
Molly


James Stundon writes:
Hello,
My grandfather grew up at 504 135st after moving to New York from Limerick in 1939 (he was born in 1926). His name was Jim Stundon and he moved there with his brother John and sisters Maureen and Brenda. He also went to Annunciation, then Commerce (?) before enlisting in the Navy. I know that puts him a few years ahead of you, but I remember him talking fondly of his days in Vinegar Hill, which is what caused me to find your blog. Although I never had a chance to read it my dad remembers the Vinegar Hill Gazette coming to the house, and every time he was in New York he always had to make a trip to the neighborhood before coming home. It was good to read some stories about the neighborhood because I know that it held a special place in my grandfather's heart even though he had not lived in the city since the early 50's. Thank you.
James 
Bob McKenna writes:
Baby had an older brother who was an electronic genius for the time. I had bought an Electric Guitar in the 50's thinking that you just plugged it into the wall for amplification.....duh. He rigged me a speaker in a milk crate with the cloth in the front. If you remember milk crates, the weighed a ton empty, so I had to drag this god awful box all over the place to play......needless to say my career in music never soared!!!
Jim McCaffrey became a Human Resource manager with a NY company after he left college. His responsibility was Labor Relations and one day he was scheduled to meet with the Union reps and who walks in but Baby......who insisted on being called Hiram!
Bobby Duncan writes:
HI Tomy -
Some corrections to your blog: My sisters are: Florence (deceased), Jacqueline and Bernadette. My brother was not involved in any Claremont fire - he was too strung out on heroin. Tis a shame since he won a basketball scholarship to Bishop Dubois!
The Blake boys were Sonny and Billy. The Stacks had 2 girls: Catherine and Margaret (deceased back in the 70s from a car accident). The Blake twins were Barbara and Joan. Joan lives in Florida. I thought the Coogans (related to the Cavanaughs) lived on 136 St. I rhink Eddie (?) Coogan went to school with me. Shortest kid in the class!
Billy Bradley lived with his father Wes in 1508.
If I recall anything else, I'll let you know.

Keep those cards and letters coming in. tomyread@aol.com




































































































































































































Some corrections to your blog: My sisters are: Florence (deceased), Jacqueline and Bernadette. My brother was not involved in any Claremont fire - he was too strung out on heroin. Tis a shame since he won a basketball scholarship to Bishop Dubois!
The Blake boys were Sonny and Billy. The Stacks had 2 girls: Catherine and Margaret (deceased back in the 70s from a car accident). The Blake twins were Barbara and Joan. Joan lives in Florida. I thought the Coogans (related to the Cavanaughs) lived on 136 St. I rhink Eddie (?) Coogan went to school with me. Shortest kid in the class!
Billy Bradley lived with his father Wes in 1508.
If I recall anything else, I'll let you know.

Bob McKenna writes:
Baby had an older brother who was an electronic genius for the time. I had bought an Electric Guitar in the 50's thinking that you just plugged it into the wall for amplification.....duh. He rigged me a speaker in a milk crate with the cloth in the front. If you remember milk crates, the weighed a ton empty, so I had to drag this god awful box all over the place to play......needless to say my career in music never soared!!!
Jim McCaffrey became a Human Resource manager with a NY company after he left college. His responsibility was Labor Relations and one day he was scheduled to meet with the Union reps and who walks in but Baby......who insisted on being called Hiram!
Bob McKenna

Amsterdam, from 135th St. to 134th St.

Hello everyone,
I'm going to start at the South West corner of 135th and Amsterdam. My first recollection of the store on the corner it was a dry cleaner. Maybe Spotless but I'm not sure. After they moved out, Mr. Miller moved his liquor store from 1512 to the corner. Harry Scott and Wes Bradley were two of his clerks. There was also two guys who used to hang around out side of the liquor store. Jimmy Sullivan and the Weasel, who was also known as Patches. When we were too young to buy liquor and wanted some, for the cost of a very cheap pint of wine, either one of them would buy the liquor for you. No doubt, they were two of Miller's best customers.
Next to the liquor store was Coyne's and then O'Rourke's grocery store which I have mentioned before. Also next to them was Jimmy the Barber. That store eventually became a luncheonette.
Next was where the liquor store was. That became Herman's Toy Store. Business waned and he divided the store with the southerly half becoming Bill's Radio shop. Herman, of course we called him Herman the German, had a Renault Dauphine auto. It was the one that had the directional signal between the front and back door. A little arm would pop out depending on which way you wanted to turn.  The name Her Tone also sticks in my head.
Next was the stoop of 1512. 1512 held some great families. Most memorable of them for me was the Bradley's. Jimmy Bradley and I still get together for an occasional cocktail. Jimmy had a brother Jack and sisters Anna, Pat and Joan. Pat and Joan were both nurses. Jack was a great basketball player and later became a NYC school teacher, working down on the lower east side. Anna and Mary Mac from 500 were great friends growing up. I can remember Anna and Mary having conversations in the back yard with Mary out the hall way window in 500 and Anna out of the kitchen window in her apartment. Jimmy became a programmer and is now retired and living in Brick, N.J.
The Duncan's were there on the top floor. I don't remember all of them but I do hear from Bobby, via the blog, and later on I'll  post his recollections of 1512. Bobby had an older brother,Buddy, who I guess you could say was a bit wild. (We were not all angels) One of the rumors I recall hearing was that he was involved in burning down the Claremont Hotel. As you came off the viaduct going south toward Grant's Tomb is was directly in front of it on the hill. Just a rumor now! There was also Flo Duncan and Kathleen and  a younger sister, Bernadette. The Duncan's were related to the Lamarch's who lived up toward 136th. The Duncan's and the Bradley's were very good to a local neighborhood "waif" known as Warren Hoop. His real name was Warren Jordan and he lived in a hotel that was up on 142nd St. and Amsterdam. Although none of us knew it, he suffered from Turret's Syndrome. At least eight or ten times an hour he would holler out "Hoop" usually followed by "Hoop, God dam it." or "Hoop dee doo" His whole body would sort of shudder. Those two families always made sure he was fed and clothed properly. Warren, because of his affliction, could never hold a job and so he just "hung around". He was always ready to run an errand for you and that's all he did.
The Pappageorge Family was there. Two boys, George and I think Tommy. George got big into photography and he was one of my father's best customers for awhile. His mother bought him what ever he wanted.  There was a Guyanese family there, husband and wife, and they were great picture takers, too. The Stack's were there, I remember Mike and Jimmy and I think there was at least one sister. The Blakes were there, the twin girls, Barbra and Joan and brother Bobby and Billy. Also the Pagano's, Madeline and Patricia.  The Harkins were there, Winnie, Jimmy (Joker) Anne and I think an older brother.
Anne worked with me at Xerox for a time and then she became a nurse. Sadly she passed last year. I understand that Jimmy is living in Ireland. Winnie and her husband Hank, were living in Bergenfield but I think I heard that they moved. I can recall a guy who I believe lived in 1512 and the name Citron sticks in my head. He was a devoted Bongo player. When ever you saw him he had his Bongo drum strapped on his back or he was playing it on the stoop.
Moving down the block I have a little void about the next store. I think there was a store right next to the 1512 stoop but I can't remember what was there. The next store I remember was Matson's Butcher Shop. When he wasn't busy you could always see Mr. Matson sitting in the window reading his Journal American. If he knew you he'd wave to you. He always had a cat in the store, Blackie sticks in my mind. He was a big very well fed cat. Mom would send us to the shop and every now and then she's say, " and get twenty cents worth of liver for our cat". I think Blackie got a dollars worth. Could you imagine the Board of Health allowing a cat in a butcher shop, today?
Next to Matson's was Henry's candy store. There was Mrs. Henry sitting behind the counter eating her sunflower seeds. There was always a pile of shells in a little box in front of her. I don't think I ever saw that woman eat anything else. Henry's was good for a lot of things. They had Mello Rolls. It was a round cylinder of ice cream that fit into a specially made cone that held the cylinder side ways. They also had Hooten bars. Hootens were not wrapped and were bigger in weight than Hershey bars but they were short and squat. The big thing was that they were only four cents when Hersheys were five so you were able to buy an extra pennies worth of candy. Henry's always had great penny candy and they would wrap it up in a little wax paper cone. The other thing they had was Mission sodas. When we got finished playing over in the playground  we would always head over to Henry's, go all the way to the back of the store and dig into the cooler with the big block of ice for an ice cold Mission soda. Pineapple or Orange were my favorites and Cream was pretty good too!
The 1508 stoop was next to Henry's and you could usually find Tillie guarding the door. Jimmy Cavanugh,who lived up stairs, tells me that her real name was Clara Dara. I like Tillie better. She was a little lady but boy was she tough. Yes. as I said, the Cavanugh's were upstairs, Jimmy, and his two sisters, Betty and a younger sister who I can picture but can't think of her name. The Talty's were on the top floor and Joe was in my class. He had a bunch of brothers and sisters. I got to talk to John Talty at the last reunion and he tells me that they are spread out all over. The Burkes were high up in the building also. Mary was a brilliant girl and she was in my class. Her brother Harry, was also brilliant and he was in Regis and then went into the Seminary and became a priest. He was in a parish for a short while and then started teaching up at Cardinal Hayes. He has been there for many years. It's been about five years now, but I saw him helping to carry the Cardinal Hayes banner in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Another guy that lived in the building was Baby. That is the only name I knew him by for years. I later heard his name was Hiram Rivera.
On the south side of the 1508 stoop was Kaplan's Dairy Store. When the Kaplan's had the store I remember getting little miniature loaves of Bond bread. They were free samples that Bonds would give out. The Kaplans sold the store to the fellow who was their store clerk. George was his first name and his last name was something like Keoun (that's what I recall). George was the nicest guy. We always got our butter and cheese there. They were never packaged ,they were sold "in bulk" The cheese was in big wheels and the butter was cut from what looked like a fifty pound block. I have never been able to find an American cheese as good as what George sold. Around Easter time he always sold duck eggs and my Mother loved them. She'd have a big soft boiled duck egg and load it up with pats of butter as she ate it. Cholesterol a problem? Not for Mom, she lived to be 98. I also remember getting a package of Yankee Doodles on my way back  to school, after lunch break, for five cents. There was four cupcakes in the package and I'd have them finished by the time I got to school.
Next door to George was the Castle Tavern. I don't know too much about the Castle but I remember they were one of the first bars with TV. I can remember trying to peek in the window to see what was on. They were also one of the first to get an air conditioner. It was a big unit that sat right in the middle of the back of the store. The boys that hung out in the Castle were a hostile bunch. Many a night at two or three in the morning there would be a fight at closing time. They were great to watch in the summer time, peering out of the window. There was never any knives or guns, just good fist fights, somebody won and somebody lost.
Next to the Castle was Gus's meat market. Can you imagine two butcher shops in one block? Both of them were very good. If Mom got a bad piece of meat from Matsons the next trip to the butcher would be to Gus's. Both of the shops always had sawdust on the floor. I'm a little fuzzy on what was next to Gus but in that area I recall a Botonical shop that sold all kinds of religeous statues and incense and tropical  related stuff. They catered to the Spanish people in the neighborhood. Also somewhere in that area was the stoop for 1504.
What I think was one of the greatest nicknames in the neighborhood belonged to "Snoggy" McCabe. I have no idea where it came from but I'm sure someone around still knows.I never knew his real first name. Snoggy lived in 1504 and hung out with the Rochford brothers, Tommy and Donny. I think they had a sister, too. The Coogans were in the building also. Eddie was in my class and he had a younger brother and sister. They all resembled Mrs.Coogan very closely. Pete and Abby Henriquez were there. Abby always wore  these big eyeglasses. I think, fashion wise, she was way ahead of her time.
On the corner was Mantell's drug store. I have heard people say that he had a soda fountain but, if he did, it was before my time. I just remember a nice pharmacist working there and not much else. We complain about there being a Walgreen's or a Rite Aid on every corner now. We were ahead of out time. We had a drug store on the corner of 135th and one on the corner of 134th St. There was another one on the corner of 135th and Broadway.
If you wonder what the block looks like now, click on this link: http://www.viewofhouse.com?e=40.818589,-73.952482:299.07 To move up and down the block use the arrows in the upper left corner of the picture. The sign on the scaffolding says that the permit expires Jan. 2010 so I suspect this picture is at least a year old. Check out the grass that is in the playground now.

Here is Bobby Duncan's memory of 1512:
I'm astonished by so many names from the past. Liz Molnar and I were lindy hop partners at the Annunciation dances. For a girl of Hungarian and Puerto Rican antecedants she sure could dance around the best of them. "Baby" was Hiram Rivera who lived at 1510 or 08. He was buds with Pete Henriquez and Tommy Ruiz ("Mr. Cool"), The Taltys lived in Baby's building along with the Morans. The girl was Daisy but I don't remember her two brothers' names - much older than me. The older brother was an exec at Sinclair Inks. The Cavanaughs also resided I believe on the 2nd floor.            
You really must get into the buildings on Amsterdam Avenue. My cousins were the late Albert and Donald La March. And of course you know Artie and Catherine. 
1512 Amsterdam Avenue was a veritable melting pot. The Stacks were on the first floor. The second floor had the Mendoncas (Portugese Guyana), Mrs. Birnbaum (not sure of her first name); the Pappageorges (Greeks) (2 sons who went to either public school or Greek schools). The Third floor had the Bradleys. Joan was my nurse when I had my appendix out at good old Knickerbocker. I believe Mr. Bradley work for transit. The fourth floor is where the Paganos lived next door to the Harkins. Anne is certainly missed. Oh I forgot the Dukes - George was the son and Tootsie the daughter. At last on the top floor there was us, the Duncans and next door the Blakes - Sonny, Billy, Joan and the late Barbara.
The Rochfords lived at 1504 where Abigail Henriquez and her brother Peter also lived there.
Memory is a tricky thing. So many people have gone like Edgar Rodriguez and Lydia Melandez who lived in the same building next to the Pentecostal storefront church. Luis Fuentes passed away many years ago as a teenager but his family lived on 136th Street.
The Knights were the group that Baby, Pete and Tommy had aligned themselves with. The Rebels were more a 136th gang.
Robert Duncan

Bobby McKenna sent me this picture:

found this in my archive. taken at PS 192? on amst ave
mike pirrone, bob mckenna, charlie villegas, patty coughlin, ed brady, john lopez, bill o'rourke, pete markel (youth board worker), mike healy, anthony ricchio, jim harkin, audrey hills, andy rodriquez, duke frascati, tommy branchini, chips crimmins

Pat McKenna Woods wrote to tell me that the name of the store on the corner of 133rd St. was Heinicks. All the Donaghue girls and their Mom worked there at one time or another. Pat had a Christmas job  there one year and they paid her fifty cents an hour.
That's it for now. I still have a "million names" rattling around in my brain and before all the gray matter rots away I'll try to share some more of it with you.

The Sunny Side of 135th Street, 511 to 535

When the "City Father's" laid out the block pattern of the Manhattan Island 135th Street landed up being a double wide street. 125th and 145th Streets were also double wides. They were very commercial areas whereas 135th Street was basically residential. Being that we were on a hill the north side of streets always had abundant sunshine and the south side was always in the shadows. 511 to 535 were on that sunny side of the street.
I'll start off with Jimmy Boylen's recollections of 513:
I would like to share the following memories regarding 513 W. 135st., the building I was literally born in on a cold Jan. night in 1940. Some of the wonderful families who resided there include the Cunningham's, Mr. &Mrs then their was Mary, Eleanor, Noreen and Robert. The Ferick's, Mr. &Mrs. and the three sisters, Margaret, Eileen and Kay. The Norton Family including Mary, Billy and Eddie. You had big John Sullivan and his mother & father. Then there was the Gills, and the two boys Francis and Peter.. Some other families would include the Pomero's, the Browser's and of course our memorable superintendent Bailey and his brother-in-law John and his two sons Moose & Goose. I remember well the fathers on a summer evening sitting on the front stoop smoking their pipes or cigarettes and talking about politics or the "old country."
To that I'll share an anecdote about John Sullivan. A couple of years ago my wife and I were at a fund raiser held at Monmouth Racetrack. I noticed this one tall fellow ambling across the room and I said to myself, I've only seen one person walk like that and it was Mrs. Sullivan from 135th Street. I went over to talk to the fellow and sure enough it was big John Sullivan. He walked just like his mother.  John reminded me that he went to All Hallows after Annunciation on a basketball scholarship and then to Tulane.
I believe that Jimmy Boylan's dad worked at the Manhattan Savings Bank on 47th and Madison. That bank used to install an ice skating rink in the window of the bank every Christmas and at lunch time would put on a show. I recall seeing Mr. Boylan there. No, he wasn't one of the skaters!
Jimmy didn't mention them but he had a brother, Hugh, and two sisters, Margaret and Eileen. He also didn't mention that the Boylen's had frequent visitors from Ireland. One of them, Alice Sherry, a cousin,  is one of my wife's closest girlfriends. What a small world!
Moving down the block I remember the Alfafaras. This is a copy of one of Odette Alfafara's letters:
We lived at 517 on 135th Street. My sister, Carmen, always lived there until she moved to Washington, D.C., for a short while, then married Bob Leach (from Kentucky) who has since passed away. They lived in the Bronx, then Medford, Long Island. Growing up, Carmen dated Tommy Rehill who had a brother, Vinny. Carmen now lives in Cape Carteret, North Carolina.
My oldest brother, Jerry, also lives in Buena Park, CA. He was friends with Sonny Grasso. Always have enjoyed the "French Connection" and "The Seven-Up" knowing Sonny Grasso was a part of all this.
Regarding, my sister, Angie, and Bill Devlin - sadly, Bill passed away April 2006. His younger brother, Jimmy, passed away approximately two years later. Bill's oldest brother Buddy passed away many years ago. The youngest,his sister, Mary, also lives in California. Angie still lives in Buena Park, California, which has been her home with Bill since 1963. She is familiar with more people from the neighborhood than I am. She is not on the computer. I have printed some of your blogs and have sent them to her.


 I don't remember anyone from 519 and perhaps, gladly so. The building burned down and has since been rebuilt. Interested in moving back to the old neighbor hood? Take a look at this: (I clipped it out of a New York Times real estate column a few  years ago. Unforutatlely, I can't get it to enlarge by clicking on it)


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521 was loaded with kids. The Magners were there, Mr.Matt and Mrs. Anne. There were four boys, Paddy, Gerry, Jimmy and Tommy. Sadly, Paddy and Gerry have passed. I still get together with Jimmy and I'm in trouble. I didn't take Jimmy's picture and the reunion. He wasn't the only one I missed and he is not the only one who reminded me of not gettting their picture. Paddy's widow, Kaye,  has since remarried to another Vinegar Hiller, Benny Beackom. She loves to tell the story of being somewhere and someone overheard her say that she was married to someone from Vinegar Hill. She told them she was married to two of them. Interestingly, Benny never knew Paddy. Oh yeah, I didn't get Kaye's picture either.
The Mitchels were there. I still remember Billy walking his dog. Come to think of it, I remember a lot of people  walking their dogs. Don't know why that has stuck in my memory.
I believe the Vicentes were on the second floor. Philip was in my crowd and he had a younger brother, Julian. He also had two older sisters and I believe they both went to St. Vincent's nursing school. If I remember correctly, Mr. Vicente was a waiter in one of those high class downtown restaurants. I think he was from Spain and Mrs. Vicente was from Scotland. Yes, we were a multi-national lot. Weren't we?
The Callahans were also there, Joe and his sister Peggy.  Joe was a very dapper dresser and he and his best friend, Cookie Bowe (from 134th St.) were probably the best dressed guys in the neighborhood.
I have no recollection of anyone from 523 down to 535 where the "Bard of Vinegar Hill', John Murry lived. I don't remember John but I do remember the Whites. George White worked for Annunciation and he had a son who could have been his clone. The son was a true chip off the old block. I have another remembrance of 535. The building had a nice stoop and across the top of the wall of the stoop was a row of small spikes. No doubt they were there to stop people from sitting on the stoop. One day, when I was five or six, I  was down that way with Brendan Dunican and I decided to climb up on the back side of the stoop. As I reached over the top of the stoop I planted my arm firmly on one of those spikes and from there I was on my way to Knickerboker for some stitches.
I didn't mention 511 and I am not positive but I think that is where the Considines lived. I remember their dad, Tom and there was Jimmy and his younger sister Margie. I mentioned Jimmy when I covered 509. He lives up in Westchester now. Awhile ago, at one of  the reunions, he told us that in addition to his duties at IBM, he is also the organist for his parish. He taught himself to play. We always said he's brilliant.
I don't remember what building they lived in but Dennis Flaherty and his sister lived on the sunny side. Dennis' dad was a terrific handball player. Dennis was too. Last I heard Dennis was living in Ohio. A number of guys would love to hear from him. The Halpin brothers were on the sunny side too. There was Jimmy and Harry. I recall that Jimmy was very active with the boy scouts.
I also recall a lady who lived on that side, her  name was Betty and she was handicapped from a stroke. She had a dog, Teddy, and her boyfriend was Tex. He always wore jeans and cowboy boots.
That's it for my memory of the sunny side of 135th Street.
I've got some additions to some of my previous posts. I think he lived in 504. His name was Ruben Gomez (Ruby). He was a very small fellow and I recall hearing that at one time he was the "War Lord" for a gang know as the Maharaja's. They from around 104th Street.
Another guy I overlooked was Tommy Burke and his brothers. They lived in 499 and Tommy was on the NYPD. Tommy has always been a faithful attendee to most of the reunion Masses.
Next up I plan to cover Amsterdam Ave. from 135th to 134th Street.
As always, comments, criticisms and suggestions are always welcome. Send them to tomyread@aol.com
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