Growing Up in
Laurelton
by Bill Lederer
Growing Up In Laurelton
I grew up in the house my grandfather built, in 1924, at 231-18-129th Ave. I
livd there from 1944 to 1967. All around my house was new home construction.
Well, about 90% of the new homebuyers were Jewish, this lead to interesting
developments. Not going to public school with the kids around us, my brother
and I only had friends from St. Marys. There were kids whose back yards
bordered ours, but we still never played with them.
We were Cub Scouts for a number of years. The Pack was from the Lutheran
Church on 130th Avenue. After Cub Scouts, my brother became a Boy Scout. By
the next year, when I was old enough to join, he stopped going, so I never
joined.
One good friend of mine was Dennis Egan. He was in my brothers class. Dennis
back yard bordered on Montefiore Cemetery. His house was on130th Avenue, down
past the Lutheran church. I remember spending many pitch black nights roaming
around the graves. Being scared to death when I inadvertently stepped on a
fresh grave and sunk into the soft dirt. Thinking something from below had
grabbed my leg. The lights of the security guards truck coming down one of the
interior roads, way off in the distance. Not knowing if we should hide or try
to make it to the fence. The not so nice times we would shoot at the rocks
that people put on the head stones, with our bb guns. Then there was the year
my brother and I dug up an azalea bush from next to one of the tombstones and
gave it to our mother as an Easter present. I remember when Montefiores most
famous resident, (Arnold Schuster), was buried.
Arnold Schuster (1927-March 8, 1952) was a Brooklyn clothing salesman and
amateur detective, known for his involvement in the capture of bank robber
Willie "The Actor" Sutton and the subsequent victim of a gangland murder by
the Gambino crime family.
A longtime Brooklyn resident, 24-year-old Schuster recognized wanted bank
robber Willie Sutton while riding on a New York subway in February 1952.
Following Sutton to a garage, Schuster quickly notified police of Sutton's
whereabouts, resulting in the robber's later arrest as Sutton was changing a
dead battery from his car which had stalled in the street.
Receiving a modest amount of publicity from New York City press, and an
appearance on the hit TV show, I'VE GOT A SECRET, Schuster himself was
murdered outside his home after being shot twice in the groin and once in each
eye on 8 March 1952. Although a manhunt was quickly organized by police, their
search failed to apprehend any suspects. Eventually, Frederick J. Tenuto was
arrested for the crime. Tenuto, an associate of Sutton's, was also a member of
the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list and positively identified by witnesses leaving
the scene of the crime.
Several years later, government informant Joe Valachi claimed Albert Anastasia
had ordered Schuster's death after witnessing one of his television
interviews. Although Sutton had no connection with the Gambino crime family,
Anastasia was reportedly angered by Schuster, stating "I can't stand
squealers! Hit that guy!" and had Tenuto killed to eliminate any links to the
criminal organization. It has been speculated that the negative publicity from
Schuster's death may have been one of the factors contributing to Anastasia's
murder in 1957, by mobsters who believed the New York mobster to be out of
control.
It was said that after Willie Sutton was caught, he said that he had cased the
Ridgewood Savings bank, in Laurelton, but decided not to rob it. He didnt
think it would have had enough money in it.
Speaking of the Ridgewood Savings Bank, it was on the southwest corner of
Merrick Road and Francis Lewis Boulevard. It was always cool inside. You had
to be on good behavior because Mr. Gatty, the tall thin security guard would
be watching you through those black-framed eyeglasses. When it was your turn,
you would give your green passbook to Mr. Quinn, the cashier. You gave him
some money and he would write the amount in the big book and in your passbook.
Then stamp it with the inkpad. Besides normal saving accounts, we had special
"Christmas Club" accounts, where we would save money all year and take it out
in December to buy Christmas presents.
On another day, Dennis Egan and I planned to make our own gun power to make
firecrackers. We bought some potassium nitrate from the drug store. We didnt
have any sulphur power so we bought a box of paper matches. We proceeded to
cut the heads of the 100 books of matches, so as to collect the sulphur. We
then placed the two ingredients into a tin plate and mashed them together. We
were in Denniss basement and the plate was on a table. Dennis lit the mixture
and it started to burn. It got so hot, it melted the tin plate and pretty much
wrecked the table. The biggest problem though was the smoke. The entire house
filled with smoke. His mother came running down stairs. We did get into a bit
of trouble over that. The funniest thing was, we had a radio playing. Guess
what was playing? You guessed it, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, by the Platters.
If it was Saturday, (movie day) back in 1957. I would be heading up Francis
Lewis Boulevard, first past the little record store and the barbershop and
then past the luncheonette on the corner. First it was called Pollicks, then
it was Lil Eds, then Bert and Daves. I would then head west on Merrick Road,
past Safrans Kosher Deli, (checking out the hot dogs permanently being grilled
in the window.) Then past Stanleys Toy store on the corner of 230 St. One more
block to Woolworths, (going in one door, past the soda machine, and out the
other door. Cross the street and another block.
First stopping at Raabs to meet up with the gang. Also to check and see if
anyone had one of those colored flyers the movie gave out. If you matched the
color with the one hanging up in the ticket booth, you got in for free. Never
in my life did I ever get one. Now to the candy store to get some treats for
the show. You never got any in the theater, it was way to expensive. Now past
Wedgewood Studio and we are at the itch, the affectionate name for the
Laurelton Theater. For 25 cents you spent the whole day at the movies. First
newsreels, then a string of cartoons, then two full length movies. The second
was usually a cowboy movie.
Lets see, the theater had a marques that overhung the sidewalk. The ticket
booth was on the left. You bought your ticket and went through the glass
doors. Up the inclined vestibule to the one open door where they collected the
tickets, (usually all the way on the right). Now, on the right were the seats.
The first section was the smoking section, then the large middle section and
then on to the childrens section. The Matron made you go to the childrens
section.
On the left was the soda machine then the candy counter. The Bon Bons and
other ice creams were on the left, then the candies and then the popcorn. The
popcorn was never fresh popped; it came in large plastic bags that were stored
in the room to the left of the screen, in front of the childrens section. Then
it was put in the glass box with one light bulb to heat up the popcorn, ten
cents for a bag. To the right of the candy stand was the door to get into the
stand, then the water fountain, then the large stairway upstairs.
Upstairs was a long hallway, nothing on the right side. On the left was first
the girls bathroom, then Mr. Bells office, (the manager), then the projection
room, with the bright arc lights of the projector and large metal containers
the film came in. Walter Nathan was the projectionist. He had two sons, Alan
and David, finally the boys bathroom all the way at the end.
Now if you really wanted a treat, take the Q5 bus into Jamaica and walk down
Jamaica Avenue to the Valencia Theater. What a grand place that was, with the
suits of armor, ceiling full of clouds and stars and an upstairs balcony. Dont
forget the pond full of gold fish. After the movie you walked down to the end
of the block, made a right, then a half a block to the bus terminal. If you
had any money left, you played a couple of games in the arcade at the
terminal. Then outside to catch the Q5 bus that took you back to Laurelton.
If you didnt like what was playing at the Valencia, you could go across the
street to the Merrick Theater. Then there was the Alden, about two blocks down
and the Savoy about four blocks past the Alden. The Sutphin Theater was a lot
further, down on Sutphin Boulevard.
I remember when the 1957 Chevrolet came out. We went past the Reid Chevrolet
dealer on Merrick Road and 218th Street, (the same place wife Cathy would work
years later). They had the cars covered, so you could not see them until the
official announcement day. You could see the outline of the big fins on the
back fenders. Cars really had distinctive shapes then. Not like today, where
they all look alike. A few months after they were out, Kevin Keough and I were
walking alone Springfield Boulevard. A car carrier came down and tried to go
under the train bridge that went over the road. He didnt quite make it, and
made the first 1957 Chevrolet that was on top, a convertible, that steel
bridge peeled the top clean off.
We played down around the Springfield railroad station often. The station was
elevated and we would go inside the waiting room to get warm. We would climb
down onto the tracks and go under the station. A few times we would place a
penny on the tracks and wait for a train to run over it and squish it.
Mostly, we hung around the school, sometime playing cards. We did play
handball a lot. The best place was in the blacktop parking area between the
church and against the side of the new school. Winning was fun, loosing wasnt
so nice. We would usually be playing Asses Up. If you lost you had to kneel
down by the wall, with your butt sticking up. The winners would then rear back
and fire the spaldeen balls at your butt. It was a good place to pitch pennies
against too.
In the summer some of the guys that lived toward Laurelton would go to PS 156.
They had some sort of summer programs going on. They had knock hockey and ping
pong tables. It was a lot cooler in the school than outside.
When I was around 10 or 11, we would swim in a stream that ran on the east
side of the Belt Parkway. We would take turns sitting on the shore watching
for water rats. When one jumped into the water near our friends, we would
yell, Rat! as load as we could, so the rest of the guys could scramble out of
the water. The stream was rerouted underground when the parkway was widened.
Another swimming place was the under the fence at Idelwild Airport. I actually
believe it was part of the airport sewer system.
We went out to Valley Stream State Park a few times. You could pay to swim in
their little lake. Its been closed to swimming for probably 50 years.
Now a days, kids only swim in filtered chlorine filled water. It makes you
wonder how we ever survived.
A lot of days between 1955 and 1958 we would hitchhike down to Rockaway beach.
We would meet up at Beach 35th Street. They had a big wooden boardwalk full of
food and other concessions. The boardwalk started at Beach 19th Street. I dont
really know where it ended. I can remember the smell; I always thought the
ocean smelt like creosote. It was just the coating they put on the wood, to
preserve it. The other smells were from the hot dogs frying on the grills.
Then the best was the Italian ice place. They squeezed fresh lemons and
oranges. You could smell them a block away.
Quite a number of times, my mother would drive my brother, Johnny Newell and I
out to Jones Beach, on the weekends. We would swim at the pool and take a dip
in the ocean.
A number of times my mother would take us to Idelwild airport to watch the
planes take off and land. The terminal, at that time, was a single story
wooden building with an observation platform on the roof. You could put money
in the telescopes to get a close up view of things. Also, they had speakers
that you could pay to hear the air traffic control talking to the pilots.
Other times we would go into Manhattan and go swimming at the pool in the St.
Francis Drake hotel. It was open to the public. I remember the hotel was down
near the Brooklyn Bridge. A couple of times we walked across the bridge and
back.
If it were winter, we would go sleigh riding down at the parkway and 130th
Avenue. It wasnt a very big hill, but this is Queens, not much elevation
anywhere. There was a fenced in park at the bottom of the hill. You had to
roll off the sled before you hit the cement around the park. If you pulled to
the right, you could make it to the parkway. A couple of times I slid out onto
the highway. There wasn't much traffic back then.
This spot was also the best place, in the summer, to collect puddy beans off
the trees. They were just the right size for having puddy fights with. We got
the puddy blowers at Stanleys, for 5 cents.
A number of times my brother, Johnny Newell and I would walk to Hook Creek
Boulevard, south of Rosedale, and go horse back riding at Whities Stables. You
were only supposed to walk the horses along the trails. We figured horses were
meant to run, so we just wanted to help them out. Once when galloping along,
Johnnys horse cut too close to a big tree and Johnny hit his leg. He was
limping for quite a while after that.
Another fad when I was around 12 or 13 was roller-skating. Larry and I would
take the bus to the rink on Merrick Road, just past Farmers Boulevard. We had
our own skates and would spend the entire day at the rink. There was a morning
session and an afternoon session. We would stay for both.
I mentioned earlier that I had a Press route. My route was Francis Lewis Blvd
to about 237th Street, then 121st Ave to 129th Ave. I lived on 129th Ave, two
doors east of FLB.
I would pick up my papers on 233rd Street and Merrick Road, behind Sterry's.
Then fold them against that whitewall, pack them in the big basket, on my bike
and peddle to my route. I remember delivering the Sunday papers way before the
sun came up. Sometimes pulling them on my slid, in the snow. I remember coming
off a curb, just north of Merrick, and breaking my front axel, (an
occupational hazard because of the weight of the papers). A kind milkman
helped me. Loading my bike and papers in his truck and taking me home.
My route was a little over 100 papers. I think I made a penny a paper and two
cents on Sunday. I had to collect the money from all the customers. That was
not easy, with my route almost all Jewish. Most were nice, but some would
always try to jip me out of the money. They would say, I thought I paid last
week. I always kept meticulous records.
My next job was at the Laurelton Bagel Bakery. I worked there when I was 14.
That was in 1957. A number of my friends and I worked as packers. We called
ourselves The Bagel Brothers. There was myself, Jimmy Almer, Billy Flynn, Pat
Murphy, Billy Gentile and a couple of others I cant remember. Putting, I
think, about 13 dozen bagels in large paper bags. There were only two types,
Regular and Bull bagels. Bulls were larger and were sold to dinners. They were
delivered to a number of stores and dinners on Long Island. The bakery had one
delivery van. The driver's name was Jerry. He would deliver the bagels and on
weekends, bialys that we got from some other bakery. We never made them. The
owners were Harry Wexler and Benny Marshall. They were both good men. I do
remember one was better than the other though. We made $1 an hour. When the
better one would pay us, he would always round up. If I worked 23 hours, he
would give me $25. He would always keep the refrigerator full of fresh fruit
for us.
Back in those days they didnt have the retail store in the front. The only way
in was through the alley behind Wongs Garden. People would come to the back
door and buy bagels. Most of the money went to our beer and soda fund. Some
people would ask for the ones that fell on the floor. They said they wanted to
feed them to their dogs. We always laughed at that. Any bagels that fell on
the floor went back in the bins with all the others. Also, Sunday was the
really big day. It wasnt possible to bake enough bagels to meet the demand.
Extra bagels we made each night, during the week, and we would put them in a
number of freezers in the basement. On Sunday morning we would mix them in
with the fresh ones. No one ever knew the difference.
The oven was a large brick one. After they were "kettled", the bagels were
placed on wooden blocks, put in the oven, flipped once and then taken out on a
long wooden paddle and flopped into the bins. I do remember that oven being
replaced with a much smaller one. It was called a traveler oven. There were a
number of small shelves that revolved like a Ferris wheel.
I worked a couple of evenings, during the week and had to go in on Saturday
night and work until Sunday morning.
There were many stores on Merrick Road. I tried to document as many as I could
remember, alone with inputs form a number of other people that grew up in
Laurelton. We would exchange information on the Delphi Laurelton Forum.
Stores On
Updated on January 6, 2008
South Side |
North Side |
|
|
Bank |
Gas Station |
Hi Lo Bar |
|
Hardware Store |
|
Italian Ice |
|
218th to 219th |
|
? |
Reid Chevrolet |
Johnny�s Meat Market |
Tobacco & Candy Wholesaler |
John's Tavern |
German Deli |
219th to 220th |
|
Nickerson's Nursery |
Drug Store |
Nickerson�s Pet Store |
Candy Store |
Charles�s Taxi |
Emil�s Gas Station |
220th to 221st |
|
Shanley�s Home Improvement |
Nick's Coin Shop |
Deli |
Deli |
Liquor Store |
Luncheonette |
|
Gas Station |
221st to 222nd |
|
|
Safeway Supermarket |
Boars Head Tavern |
|
222nd to 223rd |
|
Luncheonette |
Tater
|
'The Rock' |
Tanbro Service Station |
Abandoned House |
|
Sonoco |
|
223rd to 224th |
|
Christopher Robbin Academy |
? |
Post Office |
? |
224th to 225th |
|
Chrysler/Plymouth (Laurel Motors-Geffner Motors) |
? |
Vic's Hobby Shop |
? |
Laurelton Bagel Bakery |
Tramintano�s Hardware Store |
Wong's Garden |
Silver's Candy Store |
225th to 226th |
|
Daisy Fresh Cleaners |
Atlas Rug Shop |
Laurelton Ambulance Service |
|
Bryne�s & Son Plumbing & Heating |
Kwikway Supermarket (Key Food) |
Krupnikoff�s Plumbing Supply |
Elton Plumbing Supply |
TV/Radio Repair |
|
Insurance Office |
|
Peter Pan Beauty Parlor |
Abe's Deli |
I Lenny�s Auto parts & Bikes |
|
226th to 227th |
|
Real Estate Office |
Charlie's Tavern |
Floor Covering Store |
Candy Store |
Democratic Club |
Chinese Laundry |
Samuel's French Cleaners |
Rosen's Deli |
? |
Riveria Restaurant |
? |
Striderite Children�s Shoes |
? |
Hershey's Travel Agency |
? |
Variety Store |
Homeier Ford ( |
Schwartz�s Drug Store |
227th to 228th |
|
Carmine's Pizza |
? |
Billy Brennen�s Law Office |
? |
Laurelton Theater |
Miller�s Candy Store |
Wedgewood Studio |
? |
Pet Store |
Safeway |
Sam's Candy Store |
Gurack Fur Store |
Mr. Murrays Beauty Parlor |
Zickerman's Hardware Store |
Raabs |
Marder�s Drugs |
228th to 229th |
|
Flemings Tavern |
Dr.
|
Chicken Delight |
Schultz's Candy Store |
Buster�s Mobil GasStation |
Esquire Cleaners |
229th to 230th |
|
Dr. Rothenberg, DDS |
Woolworth's |
Hair Pin Beauty Parlor |
Buster Brown Shoes |
Kollner�s Butcher |
Powers Fruit Store |
Jewelry Store |
Flo J�s Yarns & Notions |
Bohack�s |
Colony Card Shop |
Teddy�s Luncheonette |
Sharry's Bakery |
Schultz's Candy Store (Helen & Sam) |
Rael's Drugs |
Carwood Appliances |
Dr. Coon |
230th to FLB |
|
Harry's Fish Store |
|
Kosher Butcher |
? |
Sheppy�s Appetizing |
Estelle Peck's Dress Store |
A&P |
|
? |
Safran's Kosher Deli |
Harry's Men's Store |
L&N Grocery |
? |
Dilbert's |
|
Pollick's - Lil Ed's - Bert & Dave's |
FLB to 231st |
|
Mulvaney's Tavern |
Martin Paint ( |
Gogos Drug Store |
Dial Drugs |
House of Wong |
|
Carpi Restaurant |
The Town Depot (Joe & Ed's) |
Clover Deli |
? |
Alfred Gudel Liquor Store |
Casual Clothes |
Laurelton Florist |
Al Korn's Boy's Town |
Hogarty's Tavern |
Pompii Beauty Parlor |
231st to 232nd |
|
Grabor Real Estate |
Dr. Friedlander |
Atlantic Market (Wylers) |
Meadowbrook Bank (Dime Savings) |
Elsie's Corset Shop |
? |
Anne's Candy Store |
|
232nd to 233rd |
|
? |
House of Chang |
Charlie�s Barber Shop |
? |
Feldman the Kosher Butcher |
Dr. B. Harvey Weiss - Optometrist |
La Tosca Restaurant |
? |
Basso's Deli |
? |
Chow�s Chinese Laundry |
|
Lily Dobbs Antiques |
|
Kern's Bike Shop |
? |
233rd to 234th |
|
Sterry's Steak House (Garyowen) |
Parkway Diner |
Danker�s Pharmacy |
? |
Real Estate Office |
|
Harry Kipples Candy Store |
|
Kent Dry Cleaners |
|
Pet Store turned Laundry |
|
D. Rigsby & Son Signs |
? |
Zlotnick's Shoe Repair |
|
Army Recruiter
then
|
? |
234 to 237th and the
|
|
Wallgreens |
Colony Luncheonette |
Twin Ponds Bakery |
|
Cleaner�s |
|
Leonard's Hair Design |
|
Herman's Motors (Rambler Dealer) |
|
Gas Station (Reds) |
Rug Store |
In growing up, we almost never ate out. If
we did, the only restaurant we went to was the Riviera Restaurant, or as it was
commonly known, Tonys. The only thing we got there was pizza. It was on Merrick
Road between 226th and 227th Streets. Tony Roncollo, the owner, used to sit at
the end of the bar and seat the customers as they came in. The cooks were his
cousins Dominic and Rocky. One worked in the kitchen the other made the pizzas
in that little glassed in booth on the left, just past the booths. If we got the
last booth, we could kneel around and watch the pizzas as they were being made.
Funny how politics work, some time in the 60s Tonys son Anthony was elected
Congressman, from Nassau County. Within a couple of months, Both Dominic and
Rocky left the restaurant and became Clerks of the Court, in Nassau County.
Around 1967 Tony got hit by a car, as he was crossing Merrick Road. He survived,
but was laid up for almost a year.
The only other meals not cooked by my grandmother was, we would get take out
Chinese food, on Friday nights, from the House of Wong.
There are so many stores I can mention. Some along Merrick Boulevard are:
Twin Ponds Bakery was on 234th. This is where we would stop, on Sunday mornings,
after breakfast, to pick up goodies.
There were candy stores on almost every block. One was on 234th Street, it was
owned by the Kipple family. We would go there and look at Mr. And Mrs. Kipple,
they both had tattoos of numbers that they received in the German concentration
camps.
Sterrys Steak House was on the corner of 233rd Street. Just down that street was
a little Long Island Press office, this is where I would pick up my papers and
fold them against the wall between the office and Sterrys.
Across the way was Kerns Bicycle Shop, or Jippy Jakes, as we all called it. It
was owned by old lady Kerns, a heavyset, rather unfriendly woman. She had three
sons, a little older that I was. Also a bulldog, that always lay around in front
of the store. It really resembled the owner. It was said that her husband hung
himself in the back of the store, years before.
Zlotnicks shoe repair. They had a row of wooden booths, with swinging doors,
that you could sit in while your shoes were being repaired.
Atlantic Market. My grandmother would send me there to buy chopped meat. They
had sawdust on the floor.
The next block down was 231st Street, then Francis Lewis Boulevard. The stores
on the South side between them were Hogartys Bar, Laurelton Florist, A Liquor
Store, the Capri Restaurant, (I never ate there), The Clover Deli, The House of
Worn, (where my mother got take out almost every Friday), Gogos Drug Store, (Mr.
Gogo ran the store all by himself. He made the largest, least expensive
chocolate malteds in town, Mulvaneys Tavern on the end, Across from the
Ridgewood Savings Bank. I have pictures of my brother and Winnie Mulvaneys son
at Rockaway beach. Mrs. Mulvaney was another of my mothers Hibernian friends.
On the north side of that street, starting from 231st Street, was The Pompeii
Beauty Parlor, Al Korns Boys Town, (that is where you bought Cub and Boy Scout
uniforms), Casual Clothes, then the Depot Luncheonette, (they had model trains
that ran along the counter and delivered your food on it), then Dial Drugs. On
the corner was Martin Paint, (before it was Granadas Appliance store.
On the other corner of 231st and Merrick was Dr. Friedlander. He was our family
doctor. The office was in his home. His nurse was Mrs. Mills.
On the same block with the Bank was the A&P. It always smelled of fresh-growned
coffee, from the Eight Oclock brand coffee grinders in the front of the store.
Even though I never liked coffee, I liked that smell. In the early days, the
A&P, like all markets didnt have calculating cash registers. The clerk would jot
down all the purchases on the paper bag, with a black grease pencil, and then
manually add it up.
On the north side, on the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard was another
luncheonette, first it was Pollicks then LilEds then Bert & Daves. Most of the
time I lived there, it was LilEds. They made good egg creams. A variety of
stores filled the block, (you can see them on my list), then Stanleys on the
corner of 130th Street. Mr. Stanley was an institution. He sold every toy you
ever wanted. Spaldeen balls, model airplanes and cars, puddy blowers and all
sorts of other toys and games. Its too bad he was murdered in the store some
time after I moved from Laurelton.
This town had an abundance of small stores; every block seemed to have a candy
store, a drug store, deli or other single proprietor shop. Many of the owners
lived in Laurelton.
On the next block, going west was the 5&10-cent store. It was a large store with
wooden floors and a number of isles with flat wooden racks of merchandise. The
supervisor would sit on a balcony in the back of the store. She could watch all
the customers, I guess the employees too.
If there was one block that I spent the most time on, it was between 227th and
228th Streets. This was the block the movies were on. On the corner was Rabbs
luncheonette. A candy store where we bought candy for the movie, (a lot cheaper
than in the movies), That store also sold ice cream cones. One scoop was 10
cents and 12 cents with sprinkles, then Wedgwood Studio, where a big picture of
my Uncle Ed, with his full beard, hung for years and years. The movies were in
the middle of the block and on the 228th end was Carmines Pizza. We didnt go
there much, but I remember the neon sign in the front window, advertising a
slice of pizza for 15 cents. Like all the other places, a coke was 10 cents. In
all the luncheonettes, the soda came in a cone shaped paper cup, with a metal
bottom. So, a slice of pizza and a coke cost 25 cents. They had another neon
sign inside, it said, Eat pizza, live a hundred years.
Across from the movies was Zickermans hardware. My grandfather would get his
saws sharpened there.
When I was very young, there was an auto store on the southwest corner of 228th
Street. It was called Homeier Ford and then Dee Motors. Above it as a bowling
alley. It was strictly for men. We used to look through the open door in the
summer, (the only place with air conditioning was the movies). There were young
boys that set up the pins manually. They would pick up the pins and put then
into this holder, then pull a big lever and lower the pins down in perfect
alignment.
The next block was Tonys, with Charless Tavern on the corner of 226th Street.
Around the corner, behind Charless was Toms Barbershop. The only place I ever
got a haircut until I moved way out on Long Island. Tom would always wave at
everyone that went by. This was also where you bought those bottles of green
goop, the only stuff that would keep that big cow lick down, that I had in the
back of my hair. During Christmas time, Tom would have a table in the corner,
with bottles of booze. All customers could help themselves, everyone over the
age of about 12.
In teenage years we hung out a lot on the corner of 222nd Street, on the side of
the Boars Head Tavern or at the rock, a cement thing on Merrick.
It is rather funny, that I hung out with wife Cathys two older brothers. They
lived just across the street, in the first house behind the funeral home, on the
north side of 222nd Street, and never knew they had any sisters.
Many stores came and went, along Merrick Road, or as it was officially called
Merrick Boulevard. It changed to Merrick Road when it hit the Nassau County
line. It seems back in the early 20th century, the powers that be decreed that
all major roads in the five New York City burrows were to be named Boulevards.
My time frame for naming the stores is from the early 1950s to about 1968.
Bill can be reached at
lederer123@optonline.net
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