Memories of
old Washington Heights
old Washington Heights
To several generations of immigrants and their children who were yearning for a better apartment and a new start "uptown", Washington Heights was the neighborhood of dreams. For many "The Heights" was a big step up from the downtown cold water flats they moved from. For thousands of refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany, it was a safe haven and a new start. In seeking a new life in a better place for their families, all wanted a piece of the American Dream. The immigrants who who populate the same apartment buildings today have the same dreams for their children, as did the Irish, the Jewish holocaust survivors, the Italians and the Greeks before them.
Through this unique web site we can have the opportunity to meet many former Heights neighbors now scattered all over the world. Who knows you might even re-acquaint with your old friends from the apartment across the hallway!
Please send your personal memories AND your old photographs that show Heights neighborhoods, and landmarks. Photos may be scanned and sent as email attachments by clicking on the email link at the bottom of this web page. I will include them in future updates.
This web site is a cooperative effort of all of us, so please contribute your personal memories from long ago!
Take a nostalgic trip to the past click on the arrow below
Through this unique web site we can have the opportunity to meet many former Heights neighbors now scattered all over the world. Who knows you might even re-acquaint with your old friends from the apartment across the hallway!
Please send your personal memories AND your old photographs that show Heights neighborhoods, and landmarks. Photos may be scanned and sent as email attachments by clicking on the email link at the bottom of this web page. I will include them in future updates.
This web site is a cooperative effort of all of us, so please contribute your personal memories from long ago!
Take a nostalgic trip to the past click on the arrow below
Barry Margulies contributed his 1956 PS 189 graduation photo. He is in top row 5 student from the left
Ron DeBoer New Jersey
What began as a slice of life essay, a little over three years ago evolved into The Freeze. My noel takes place during Christmas week 1962 and is now available on Amazon books. The story focuses on the Dunn family, and centers on twelve-year-old Kate. The daughter of Liam, a NYC cop, and Colleen a lampshade maker. An academically gifted, height challenged, introspective middle child between her fifteen -year-old Rory and the ever pesky six-year-old Danny.
Described by editors as a historical. I guess it is, in that events taking place in Kate’s world did occur. I fully intended for the novel to be historically correct. The Cloisters, the egg creams and candy stores. Broome stick bats and key tossing hop scotch hoppers. The churches. Incarnation, Saint Elizabeth, and Holy Rood. The schools, Incarnation, SHM and All Hallows in The Bronx.
I chose an Irish, I grew up surrounded by the Irish, and before becoming a soldier I was a ditch digger, and shared the trench with a cadre of ancient Hibernian laborers who told their tales with a gritty oral prose. I was fortunate to be their audience.
Editorial Review described The Freeze a poignant family story that was at the cusp of one of the most turbulent eras in our country’s history. We leave Kate in 1962, and reunite with her in 2017, and then, The Freeze begins to thaw.
I hope you will take a trip home this Christmas and visit with me at www.rondeboerauthor.com
Richard Sinovoi Arizona
I lived at 142 Laurel hill Terrace until I was 11. My grandparents had the candy store at 190th and Audobon Ave. They lived at 500 West 190th, on the corner of Amsterdam and 190th. I remember Miss Levy (1&2), Mrs. Condon (3), and Mrs. Singer (part of the 4th grade). There was a big hill in the park across from 190th and Amsterdam that went to the river walkway, I believe. It was a wonderful place to grow up; like a small town. There was no preschool, but the playground across from the school had a playgroup for the really young kids that I went to.
Tony(Joe)Burton Amherst, Mass.
I started at P.S. 173, living in a house overlooking the Hudson, where the troop trucks came down from Fort Smith, the flotilla of troop ships grew, and then one night, all disappeared to be replaced soon after. The whole block vanished with improved entranceways the the G.W. Bridge. Then we moved up to 360 Cabrini and P.S. 187. Many German refugees enlarged an existing mostly Jewish population. On Jewish holidays everyone even the non-observant stayed home (played hookey?) leaving the school attended largely by the children of the supers and occasional non-Jew. No autos being on the road during the war, we sledded in winter down from Cabrini hospital down the hill we knew as Burma Road.
At the south end of Ft. Tryon park there was a semi-circular array of about a half-dozen revolutionary war cannons and another one in Washington Park opposite 506 Ft. Washington ave., all melted down for WWII. Who remembers collecting the tinfoil from chewing gum wrappers and cigarette packs, as part of the Bundles for Britain campaign? I still have the RAF pin one got for collecting a target amount. And the window hangings of blue star and sadly gold star flags for family members who served and died in the war.
Anastasia Redman
I lived on 180 street, a very large Greek community. I lived in a apartment right around the corner from St. Spyridon Greek School. I remember there was a bowling ally as you when down to the subway station. Also a fresh fish market, you can smell it as you approached, that we bought our fish from. Those days, we knew the locals, the Policemen who knew us by name. Playing in the Ally with friends, perfectly safe. Visiting the cloisters on a Sunday afternoon with my family. I will always love my old neighborhood!
Joan Haahr
I, too, went to P.S. 189, as did my brother, Peter, and I even remember a few of the people who have posted their memories on this evocative site. I had Mrs. Heiler for kindergarten, and then Mrs. Fisher for the following year-and-a-half, as that was the year (1945-6) that the city school system switched from a semester schedule to the full year. So, as I had started kindergarten and first grade in February I skipped "1B," that is, the second half of first grade, so that I could join the second grade in September. My other teachers were: Miss Obstfeld (3rd), Miss Condon (4th), Mrs. Willard (5th), Miss Weinstein (6th), and the various departmental teachers (Kalish, Goodman, Morton, Katzman, Heller, etc.) in seventh and eighth grade. I remember them all. I have been forever grateful to gruff, funny, Brooklyn-accented Mr. Gross. When it came time to sign up for high school, I followed my friends and signed up for the commercial course at GW. The following day I was called to Mrs. Gross's office. I entered, he pointed to me, and said: "YOU are not taking a commercial course." And he placed me in the Honors Program at GW. In doing that he changed my life. I spent a happy year at GW, and then (for personal, not academic reasons) transferred to Music and Art. From there I went to Harpur College (now Binghamton University), earned a Fulbright grant to the University of Copenhagen in Denmark (where I met my husband), and received a Ph.D. from Harvard. Interestingly, I became a Professor of English at Yeshiva University (yes, right down the block), where I spent my entire career. And I feel I owe so much to Mr. Gross.
Growing up in Washington Heights was such a valuable preparation for life. In those years, we had complete independence from our earlier years and roamed the streets (and even snuck on the subways) with impunity. It meant movies every Saturday, with often many kids from my block going together in a group to the morning Kiddie Show at the Lane Theater, followed by the afternoon double feature -- all for the cost of a dime. I want to quote a section from my recently published book, "Prisoners of Memory: A Jewish Family from Nazi Germany" (Full Court Press, 2021) in which I tried to evoke the mood:
There were many children in our building. In the afternoons and evenings after school once the weather got mild enough and all day during vacations, Terry and I played jacks on the front stoop while, in the street, the boys played stickball or “Caw Caw Ring-O-Leevio,” seizing hats, gloves, books, or other small objects from any child within reach and tossing them endlessly among themselves while repeatedly shouting out the mysterious phrase. In the evenings, our figures increasingly obscured in the diminishing twilight, girls and boys played together, sidewalk games of stealth and skill like “Red Light, Green Light” or the handball game we called “Chinese” with the pink “spaldeens” (rubber balls manufactured by the Spalding factory), whose appearance in the candy stores was the first real sign of spring. As many as four or five children would take turns hitting the ball against the building’s wall trying to score points, the sidewalk squares demarcating our spaces like a tennis net, until an irate tenant or the building’s superintendent would chase us away.
Our building offered a rich variety of hiding places for “Hide and Seek” or “Cops and Robbers”: behind the granite courtyard pillars, in the hallways, under the stairwells (the first floor stairwell forever memorable as the spot where a boy named Freddy once ate his own feces on a dare), or in the basement, a warren of winding corridors and mysterious, locked rooms, its whitewashed walls dampened by the water that oozed continually from overhead pipes and its concrete floor blackened by many years’ soot buildup from the coal furnace. Although supposedly off limits, except for the warped metal garbage cans lining its entrance and the laundry room in the rear, the basement lured us with its mixture of the mundane and the forbidden. When we hid there, there was always a little thrill of fear deriving from our uncertainty as to whether we would be accosted by the “super,” the “seeker” (the “cop” of the game), or some mysterious spectral inhabitant of those nether regions.
Street life was a welcome relief from many of the difficulties of home life. My parents were refugees from Germany, and a large part of our extended family (including my grandparents) had fallen victim to the Nazi terrors. Then my father died of a heart attack at age 45, leaving my mother and us two children pretty much destitute. And, worst of all, my brother Peter drowned at the age of 15 1/2. All in all, it was a very difficult time. But I had one salvation: my friends from the neighborhood! Throughout everything they were there for me, and I remain deeply thankful for their many kindnesses. And they are still friends. Now in our eighties, "the girls," as we will always call ourselves, still manage to meet several times a year, share our old stories and new ones, and enjoy a wonderful afternoon of laughs.
Just to finish: We raised three children who gave us six grandchildren. I am happily retired and enjoying my more leisurely life. But the Heights is never far from my thoughts, and my grandchildren have always enjoyed my stories of how things were in the "old days" when I was growing up.
Joan Gluckauf Haahr (P.S. 189, class of 1953).
The school anthem (as I remember it):
"Enthroned between two rivers bright, Our schoolhouse nobly lies,
And love and knowledge to us all, she joyfully supplies.
She stands for all that's good and true, and therefore let us see,
That we're as true to her ideals as she would have us be.
And when in after years we roam, far from 189,
Our thoughts will e'er return her and bless her for all time.
So let us raise our song in praise and pledge our heart and hand,
Our watchword for our own dear school, for God and native land.
(Written, I believe, by Miss Draddy, sometime in the 1930s)
What began as a slice of life essay, a little over three years ago evolved into The Freeze. My noel takes place during Christmas week 1962 and is now available on Amazon books. The story focuses on the Dunn family, and centers on twelve-year-old Kate. The daughter of Liam, a NYC cop, and Colleen a lampshade maker. An academically gifted, height challenged, introspective middle child between her fifteen -year-old Rory and the ever pesky six-year-old Danny.
Described by editors as a historical. I guess it is, in that events taking place in Kate’s world did occur. I fully intended for the novel to be historically correct. The Cloisters, the egg creams and candy stores. Broome stick bats and key tossing hop scotch hoppers. The churches. Incarnation, Saint Elizabeth, and Holy Rood. The schools, Incarnation, SHM and All Hallows in The Bronx.
I chose an Irish, I grew up surrounded by the Irish, and before becoming a soldier I was a ditch digger, and shared the trench with a cadre of ancient Hibernian laborers who told their tales with a gritty oral prose. I was fortunate to be their audience.
Editorial Review described The Freeze a poignant family story that was at the cusp of one of the most turbulent eras in our country’s history. We leave Kate in 1962, and reunite with her in 2017, and then, The Freeze begins to thaw.
I hope you will take a trip home this Christmas and visit with me at www.rondeboerauthor.com
Richard Sinovoi Arizona
I lived at 142 Laurel hill Terrace until I was 11. My grandparents had the candy store at 190th and Audobon Ave. They lived at 500 West 190th, on the corner of Amsterdam and 190th. I remember Miss Levy (1&2), Mrs. Condon (3), and Mrs. Singer (part of the 4th grade). There was a big hill in the park across from 190th and Amsterdam that went to the river walkway, I believe. It was a wonderful place to grow up; like a small town. There was no preschool, but the playground across from the school had a playgroup for the really young kids that I went to.
Tony(Joe)Burton Amherst, Mass.
I started at P.S. 173, living in a house overlooking the Hudson, where the troop trucks came down from Fort Smith, the flotilla of troop ships grew, and then one night, all disappeared to be replaced soon after. The whole block vanished with improved entranceways the the G.W. Bridge. Then we moved up to 360 Cabrini and P.S. 187. Many German refugees enlarged an existing mostly Jewish population. On Jewish holidays everyone even the non-observant stayed home (played hookey?) leaving the school attended largely by the children of the supers and occasional non-Jew. No autos being on the road during the war, we sledded in winter down from Cabrini hospital down the hill we knew as Burma Road.
At the south end of Ft. Tryon park there was a semi-circular array of about a half-dozen revolutionary war cannons and another one in Washington Park opposite 506 Ft. Washington ave., all melted down for WWII. Who remembers collecting the tinfoil from chewing gum wrappers and cigarette packs, as part of the Bundles for Britain campaign? I still have the RAF pin one got for collecting a target amount. And the window hangings of blue star and sadly gold star flags for family members who served and died in the war.
Anastasia Redman
I lived on 180 street, a very large Greek community. I lived in a apartment right around the corner from St. Spyridon Greek School. I remember there was a bowling ally as you when down to the subway station. Also a fresh fish market, you can smell it as you approached, that we bought our fish from. Those days, we knew the locals, the Policemen who knew us by name. Playing in the Ally with friends, perfectly safe. Visiting the cloisters on a Sunday afternoon with my family. I will always love my old neighborhood!
Joan Haahr
I, too, went to P.S. 189, as did my brother, Peter, and I even remember a few of the people who have posted their memories on this evocative site. I had Mrs. Heiler for kindergarten, and then Mrs. Fisher for the following year-and-a-half, as that was the year (1945-6) that the city school system switched from a semester schedule to the full year. So, as I had started kindergarten and first grade in February I skipped "1B," that is, the second half of first grade, so that I could join the second grade in September. My other teachers were: Miss Obstfeld (3rd), Miss Condon (4th), Mrs. Willard (5th), Miss Weinstein (6th), and the various departmental teachers (Kalish, Goodman, Morton, Katzman, Heller, etc.) in seventh and eighth grade. I remember them all. I have been forever grateful to gruff, funny, Brooklyn-accented Mr. Gross. When it came time to sign up for high school, I followed my friends and signed up for the commercial course at GW. The following day I was called to Mrs. Gross's office. I entered, he pointed to me, and said: "YOU are not taking a commercial course." And he placed me in the Honors Program at GW. In doing that he changed my life. I spent a happy year at GW, and then (for personal, not academic reasons) transferred to Music and Art. From there I went to Harpur College (now Binghamton University), earned a Fulbright grant to the University of Copenhagen in Denmark (where I met my husband), and received a Ph.D. from Harvard. Interestingly, I became a Professor of English at Yeshiva University (yes, right down the block), where I spent my entire career. And I feel I owe so much to Mr. Gross.
Growing up in Washington Heights was such a valuable preparation for life. In those years, we had complete independence from our earlier years and roamed the streets (and even snuck on the subways) with impunity. It meant movies every Saturday, with often many kids from my block going together in a group to the morning Kiddie Show at the Lane Theater, followed by the afternoon double feature -- all for the cost of a dime. I want to quote a section from my recently published book, "Prisoners of Memory: A Jewish Family from Nazi Germany" (Full Court Press, 2021) in which I tried to evoke the mood:
There were many children in our building. In the afternoons and evenings after school once the weather got mild enough and all day during vacations, Terry and I played jacks on the front stoop while, in the street, the boys played stickball or “Caw Caw Ring-O-Leevio,” seizing hats, gloves, books, or other small objects from any child within reach and tossing them endlessly among themselves while repeatedly shouting out the mysterious phrase. In the evenings, our figures increasingly obscured in the diminishing twilight, girls and boys played together, sidewalk games of stealth and skill like “Red Light, Green Light” or the handball game we called “Chinese” with the pink “spaldeens” (rubber balls manufactured by the Spalding factory), whose appearance in the candy stores was the first real sign of spring. As many as four or five children would take turns hitting the ball against the building’s wall trying to score points, the sidewalk squares demarcating our spaces like a tennis net, until an irate tenant or the building’s superintendent would chase us away.
Our building offered a rich variety of hiding places for “Hide and Seek” or “Cops and Robbers”: behind the granite courtyard pillars, in the hallways, under the stairwells (the first floor stairwell forever memorable as the spot where a boy named Freddy once ate his own feces on a dare), or in the basement, a warren of winding corridors and mysterious, locked rooms, its whitewashed walls dampened by the water that oozed continually from overhead pipes and its concrete floor blackened by many years’ soot buildup from the coal furnace. Although supposedly off limits, except for the warped metal garbage cans lining its entrance and the laundry room in the rear, the basement lured us with its mixture of the mundane and the forbidden. When we hid there, there was always a little thrill of fear deriving from our uncertainty as to whether we would be accosted by the “super,” the “seeker” (the “cop” of the game), or some mysterious spectral inhabitant of those nether regions.
Street life was a welcome relief from many of the difficulties of home life. My parents were refugees from Germany, and a large part of our extended family (including my grandparents) had fallen victim to the Nazi terrors. Then my father died of a heart attack at age 45, leaving my mother and us two children pretty much destitute. And, worst of all, my brother Peter drowned at the age of 15 1/2. All in all, it was a very difficult time. But I had one salvation: my friends from the neighborhood! Throughout everything they were there for me, and I remain deeply thankful for their many kindnesses. And they are still friends. Now in our eighties, "the girls," as we will always call ourselves, still manage to meet several times a year, share our old stories and new ones, and enjoy a wonderful afternoon of laughs.
Just to finish: We raised three children who gave us six grandchildren. I am happily retired and enjoying my more leisurely life. But the Heights is never far from my thoughts, and my grandchildren have always enjoyed my stories of how things were in the "old days" when I was growing up.
Joan Gluckauf Haahr (P.S. 189, class of 1953).
The school anthem (as I remember it):
"Enthroned between two rivers bright, Our schoolhouse nobly lies,
And love and knowledge to us all, she joyfully supplies.
She stands for all that's good and true, and therefore let us see,
That we're as true to her ideals as she would have us be.
And when in after years we roam, far from 189,
Our thoughts will e'er return her and bless her for all time.
So let us raise our song in praise and pledge our heart and hand,
Our watchword for our own dear school, for God and native land.
(Written, I believe, by Miss Draddy, sometime in the 1930s)
Steve Bloom New Jersey
Like most, stumbled upon this site, and though I lived in the neighborhood a little bit later than most (1957-1968), it seems that nothing changed from the war/post-war years to my days. I noticed a post from Fran Pargament that kindled most of the memories. Although I did not know her, I also lived at 359 Fort Washington Avenue, apartment 4-D. I had to laugh when she mentioned Dr. Musliner, who had an office in our building. He was not a young man when he pulled the stitches out of my knee with trembling hands after a bicycle wipe-out at J. Hood Wright (going too fast around that circular play area where the sprinklers were turned on the summer) and left me with a scar I still wear proudly today. Had to go to Mother Cabrini to repair the damage done by Musliner. But we loved him anyway. Although he was a little too eager with those freaking needles.
Fran, if you read this, do you remember Jimmy the ‘super’ at 359, and his daughter Candy? She was one of my earliest friends. I also got a chuckle from your memory of how big the apartment was. I still have my kitchen table from that apartment, and I don’t think 2 people could manage a game of cards at that table. And the kitchen itself! Everyone had a job based on where they sat, because you could reach all of the corners of the kitchen from the table. My job was the trash, because the incinerator was right behind my head. What a joy to open that iron door and get a face full of flames when the trash was being burned. I still recall my phone number- Swinburne 5, 1784. What the heck is a Swinburne?
Does anyone recall the principal of PS 173, Mr. Lichtenstein, and his infamous 3 bells before he made an announcement over the PA? Man, you sat up straight when his voice came over the speaker. It was if he could see you. And who was the sadist that designed the space for the kid’s metal box swings at JHW park? I think every kid from the neighborhood probably has a sizable dent in his head from walking behind these steel projectiles because they were place too close to the fence, and you took your life in your hands running from one side of the enclosure to the other. A lot of you on this site were the cool, older kids hanging out on the wall when I was walking by to meet my friends for a game of Slug (and yes, calling that game ‘slug’ identified you as a Manhattanite, and not someone from the other boroughs). We played Skelly (skully?) with the bottle caps gathered from the little green refreshment stand at the park, and marbles (immies?) and Johnny on a pony, stickball, stoop ball, and a million other games that could be made up with nothing more than a pink rubber ball. And if you had a Pennsy Pinkie, you were all the rage.
What a great place to grow up. A hundred kids in the street at any time, the cathedral like Lowe’s theater, Good Luck Chinese restaurant for the once a year special occasions, Highbridge pool, the pervasive, bitter-sweet smell of soot that permeated everything, hamburgers, fries and a cherry Coke at the luncheonette for like a dollar, and toward the end of my time there, the occasional bullets flying in the wee hours. Hey, all part of the fun, I guess. To the old gang, Candy, Tommy, Kenny, Freddy, Adam, Manny, Adrienne, Wilfredo, Jeffrey, Jackie, Rozy, Lisa, Shelly, etc….miss you all and hope you’re well. Steve Bloom New Jersey (shhhh…..don’t tell anyone - we always made fun of the place)
Like most, stumbled upon this site, and though I lived in the neighborhood a little bit later than most (1957-1968), it seems that nothing changed from the war/post-war years to my days. I noticed a post from Fran Pargament that kindled most of the memories. Although I did not know her, I also lived at 359 Fort Washington Avenue, apartment 4-D. I had to laugh when she mentioned Dr. Musliner, who had an office in our building. He was not a young man when he pulled the stitches out of my knee with trembling hands after a bicycle wipe-out at J. Hood Wright (going too fast around that circular play area where the sprinklers were turned on the summer) and left me with a scar I still wear proudly today. Had to go to Mother Cabrini to repair the damage done by Musliner. But we loved him anyway. Although he was a little too eager with those freaking needles.
Fran, if you read this, do you remember Jimmy the ‘super’ at 359, and his daughter Candy? She was one of my earliest friends. I also got a chuckle from your memory of how big the apartment was. I still have my kitchen table from that apartment, and I don’t think 2 people could manage a game of cards at that table. And the kitchen itself! Everyone had a job based on where they sat, because you could reach all of the corners of the kitchen from the table. My job was the trash, because the incinerator was right behind my head. What a joy to open that iron door and get a face full of flames when the trash was being burned. I still recall my phone number- Swinburne 5, 1784. What the heck is a Swinburne?
Does anyone recall the principal of PS 173, Mr. Lichtenstein, and his infamous 3 bells before he made an announcement over the PA? Man, you sat up straight when his voice came over the speaker. It was if he could see you. And who was the sadist that designed the space for the kid’s metal box swings at JHW park? I think every kid from the neighborhood probably has a sizable dent in his head from walking behind these steel projectiles because they were place too close to the fence, and you took your life in your hands running from one side of the enclosure to the other. A lot of you on this site were the cool, older kids hanging out on the wall when I was walking by to meet my friends for a game of Slug (and yes, calling that game ‘slug’ identified you as a Manhattanite, and not someone from the other boroughs). We played Skelly (skully?) with the bottle caps gathered from the little green refreshment stand at the park, and marbles (immies?) and Johnny on a pony, stickball, stoop ball, and a million other games that could be made up with nothing more than a pink rubber ball. And if you had a Pennsy Pinkie, you were all the rage.
What a great place to grow up. A hundred kids in the street at any time, the cathedral like Lowe’s theater, Good Luck Chinese restaurant for the once a year special occasions, Highbridge pool, the pervasive, bitter-sweet smell of soot that permeated everything, hamburgers, fries and a cherry Coke at the luncheonette for like a dollar, and toward the end of my time there, the occasional bullets flying in the wee hours. Hey, all part of the fun, I guess. To the old gang, Candy, Tommy, Kenny, Freddy, Adam, Manny, Adrienne, Wilfredo, Jeffrey, Jackie, Rozy, Lisa, Shelly, etc….miss you all and hope you’re well. Steve Bloom New Jersey (shhhh…..don’t tell anyone - we always made fun of the place)
Shirley McVea
I submitted a post to this website some years ago and my daughter who is writing her thesis which will include some history about my recollections of my childhood came across my post. At the time I failed to mention my maiden name Walls, which may be memorable to some.
Today nearly 60 years since I left my Washington Heights childhood neighborhood of Amsterdam Avenue and 165th Street and only remember revisiting a few times. The things and places I remember. Some have long gone. Our neighborhood grocery store owned by Mr. Carino, the corner pharmacy, the Asian laundry, the neighbor cleaners, the candy stores, the Post Office and of course a corner bar. There was an A&P Super Market along with a Safeway Super Market, a Woolworth and Grants Variety stores, several movie theaters all within walking distance from our residence and on 165th St between Amsterdam Ave and St. Nicholas Ave there was a Catholic Church called St. Rose of Lima that extended to 164th St, housing a convent and a grade school from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Transportation was easily accessible with trolley cars running up and down Amsterdam Avenue and eventually removed and replaced by buses. The trolley tracks remained visible long after my school days. There was also nearby subway access, so automobiles were not a necessary ownership then. We had hospitals nearby, Mother Cabrini Hospital on Edgecombe Ave on the east and New York Presbyterian Hospital on the west side.
It was a fun time then with so many things for young people to do. Attending PS 169 Elementary School and JHS 164 following to the 9th grade. Many of my elementary school friends were separated after elementary because of the school and home address boundaries. Yet upon entering High School since there were many choices, I met up with some of them. Many of the summer activities that we were involved in were sports that we organized amongst ourselves as neighborhood youngsters with minimal adult involvement, kickball, stickball, baseball games, and track meets. We went on bicycle runs. Those that didn’t own bikes were able to rent bikes for $0.25/hour with 2-4 hours being the minimum. It was quite tough for many of us to have the fees every time. Playing jump rope, marbles, caps, hop-scotch, ring-a-leve-O, hide-and-go seek were many of the street games we played until the street lights came on kept us busy. In the summer days, we went on hikes in the many parks to the east and west of us.
Life seemed so great to me back in the 1940s - to the early 1960s but I was a child. As I grew up life became more challenging.
I submitted a post to this website some years ago and my daughter who is writing her thesis which will include some history about my recollections of my childhood came across my post. At the time I failed to mention my maiden name Walls, which may be memorable to some.
Today nearly 60 years since I left my Washington Heights childhood neighborhood of Amsterdam Avenue and 165th Street and only remember revisiting a few times. The things and places I remember. Some have long gone. Our neighborhood grocery store owned by Mr. Carino, the corner pharmacy, the Asian laundry, the neighbor cleaners, the candy stores, the Post Office and of course a corner bar. There was an A&P Super Market along with a Safeway Super Market, a Woolworth and Grants Variety stores, several movie theaters all within walking distance from our residence and on 165th St between Amsterdam Ave and St. Nicholas Ave there was a Catholic Church called St. Rose of Lima that extended to 164th St, housing a convent and a grade school from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Transportation was easily accessible with trolley cars running up and down Amsterdam Avenue and eventually removed and replaced by buses. The trolley tracks remained visible long after my school days. There was also nearby subway access, so automobiles were not a necessary ownership then. We had hospitals nearby, Mother Cabrini Hospital on Edgecombe Ave on the east and New York Presbyterian Hospital on the west side.
It was a fun time then with so many things for young people to do. Attending PS 169 Elementary School and JHS 164 following to the 9th grade. Many of my elementary school friends were separated after elementary because of the school and home address boundaries. Yet upon entering High School since there were many choices, I met up with some of them. Many of the summer activities that we were involved in were sports that we organized amongst ourselves as neighborhood youngsters with minimal adult involvement, kickball, stickball, baseball games, and track meets. We went on bicycle runs. Those that didn’t own bikes were able to rent bikes for $0.25/hour with 2-4 hours being the minimum. It was quite tough for many of us to have the fees every time. Playing jump rope, marbles, caps, hop-scotch, ring-a-leve-O, hide-and-go seek were many of the street games we played until the street lights came on kept us busy. In the summer days, we went on hikes in the many parks to the east and west of us.
Life seemed so great to me back in the 1940s - to the early 1960s but I was a child. As I grew up life became more challenging.
Herbert Fausto Osle Spain
I lived on 181st Street between St. Nicholas and Audubon Ave and was born in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital near Mother Cabrini HS. I also attended St. Elizabeths on 187th St. and was in the same class as Father Henry Beauchamp (who also contributed to this site). In fact I used to eat lunch at the little restaurant his parents owned. My parents and uncle opened Mambi Restaurant on 181 St. I remember the RKO theatre and seeing Jerry Lewis there! Also Carvel Ice Cream by the fire station on 181 towards Amsterdam. Juniors on the corner of St. Nick and 181St. I worked at Yale Drug Store on 183rd, at Howard Clothes on 181 and at Ripley Clothes a couple of blocks down. I remember being confirmed by Cardinal Spellman. The Heights will always be a part of me and it surprises me how many times I remember moments from my life there.
I lived on 181st Street between St. Nicholas and Audubon Ave and was born in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital near Mother Cabrini HS. I also attended St. Elizabeths on 187th St. and was in the same class as Father Henry Beauchamp (who also contributed to this site). In fact I used to eat lunch at the little restaurant his parents owned. My parents and uncle opened Mambi Restaurant on 181 St. I remember the RKO theatre and seeing Jerry Lewis there! Also Carvel Ice Cream by the fire station on 181 towards Amsterdam. Juniors on the corner of St. Nick and 181St. I worked at Yale Drug Store on 183rd, at Howard Clothes on 181 and at Ripley Clothes a couple of blocks down. I remember being confirmed by Cardinal Spellman. The Heights will always be a part of me and it surprises me how many times I remember moments from my life there.
Barbara Mason RN CSW
Born in 1939 and raised at 505 West 176 st between Amsterdam and Audubon Ave, I attended PS 173 a divine school with a Principal whose false teeth whistled when he spoke. We sat on the benches of Highbridge Park and Amsterdam in the summer heat when we had no air conditioning and could not sleep. A stone’s throw from the marvelous Art Deco Highbridge Pool —city pools saved the lives of kids who were jumping in the strong currents of the East River to cool off. The long walks down Edgecombe ave past Stitt HDS to the Polo Grounds to sit behind Willie Mays in the out field and call “Say Hey Willie”. Frankie Lymon went to Stitt is all I knew. Mother Cabrini Hospital right nearby. Lining up in the cold for gifts at the 34th Pct PAL Christmas giveaway is a long cherished memory. I did join a girl “gang” hardly tough ——The Lanterns but served to help free me from my dysfunctional family’s grip. I had enormous advantages growing up at that time in America —minimal cost of education all the way from Bellevue Nursing School through Hunter College and then Hunter College Social Work School. Lucky Indeed a great time in America
Love to hear from old class mates Barry Stein the twin Trautman kids form P 173 the owners of the Volland Florist but memories of long long ago.
Born in 1939 and raised at 505 West 176 st between Amsterdam and Audubon Ave, I attended PS 173 a divine school with a Principal whose false teeth whistled when he spoke. We sat on the benches of Highbridge Park and Amsterdam in the summer heat when we had no air conditioning and could not sleep. A stone’s throw from the marvelous Art Deco Highbridge Pool —city pools saved the lives of kids who were jumping in the strong currents of the East River to cool off. The long walks down Edgecombe ave past Stitt HDS to the Polo Grounds to sit behind Willie Mays in the out field and call “Say Hey Willie”. Frankie Lymon went to Stitt is all I knew. Mother Cabrini Hospital right nearby. Lining up in the cold for gifts at the 34th Pct PAL Christmas giveaway is a long cherished memory. I did join a girl “gang” hardly tough ——The Lanterns but served to help free me from my dysfunctional family’s grip. I had enormous advantages growing up at that time in America —minimal cost of education all the way from Bellevue Nursing School through Hunter College and then Hunter College Social Work School. Lucky Indeed a great time in America
Love to hear from old class mates Barry Stein the twin Trautman kids form P 173 the owners of the Volland Florist but memories of long long ago.
Joseph Mcmanus
Thank you for this wonderful piece of history. I was born and raised on 191st between Audubon and St. Nick.spending my time playing stick ball, roller skating and and exploring the woods overlooking the East River. My brother, and a few of his crazy friends, used to jump off the rock on, I think it was 180 st., just when the Circle line boat was going by. They would jump off naked, then swim back and collect their clothes. Nuts, eh. He’s still living.
Bob Bloch Palm Bay, FL
My family lived on 188th St and Wadsworth Ave for my entire childhood. I still fondly remember attending PS 189 and GWHS. But my earliest recollection is taking a trolley car from 181st St to a hospital in the Bronx to have tonsils removed (possibly at age 6 or 7). The trolleys were replaced by buses but the memory still lingers. Also remember being hospitalized at Columbia Presbyterian on 168th St with polio at the end of the summer before beginning 5th grade
.Especially frightening since there was no way to predict how long I would remain. If I remember correctly there was no treatment (shots, etc) - just waiting for the virus to disappear. I was blessed because there are apparently no long term consequences.
Reading the "posts" of others who also enjoyed living in Washington Hts has warmed my heart. Best wishes to all.
reatment (shots, etc) - just waiting for the virus to disappear. I was blessed because there are apparently no long term consequences.
Reading the "posts" of others who also enjoyed living in Washington Hts has warmed my heart. Best wishes to all.
Peter N Ft Myers FL.
I was born in 1961 in St. Elizabeths Hospital on Ft. Washington Avenue. The building is still there but it is no longer a hospital, it's condo's now.
I lived at 601 W.164th St. from 1961 to 1972 when my family moved to Far Rockaway in Queens. My dad and uncle (Pete and Steve) owned the Columbia Presbyterian luncheonette on the corner of 164th and Broadway.
When I was growing up the neighborhood was beginning to turn bad.
I went to P.S. 128 for first through fifth grades. My first grade teacher was Miss Wallace, second grade Miss Sinn, third grade Mrs.Roost, fourth grade Mrs.Zimet and fifth grade Mrs. Liberatos. I remember always being afraid that either the gang from Stit or 52 was going to come beat us up in the playground during lunch. In fifth grade I started buying my lunch at The Chock full of Nuts across from the school.
I also remember buying all my records at Freddy's record shop between 164th and 165th and Broadway. Remember my older sister taking my younger sister and me to Nedicks on 181st St. We used to go shopping for school supplies on 181st St. but my father always took us to Alexander's on Fordham Road in the Bronx to buy school clothes.
In the summer we would either go to Orchard Beach or Palisades Park when my father had Sunday off.
I was baptized at St.Spyridon church and vaguely remember going to services at Easter time. The one thing I remember clearly is the smell of the incense. I loved it.
I have been back many times, the last time being 2013. Same buildings still there only the stores are different. My dad's luncheonette is no longer called Columbia Presbyterian luncheonette. I don't know what it is called now but I know they have made it twice the size it was then.. Next to Mike's barbershop there was a beauty salon owned by a guy named Gene. There was a hardware store in the middle of the block between 163 and 164 owned by a couple Ruben and Blanca Cintron. They had two sons Ruben and Roger and a daughter Tata. Anyone know what happened to them? I believe the pharmacy we used is still there, Theresa pharmacy on the corner of 163 and Broadway.
Does anyone remember Joe Max on 164th and Broadway? My mom ordered all her groceries from his store. As a matter of fact, I never entered a supermarket until I was 11 and moved to Far Rockaway.
I also remember "the wall". My older sister used to hang out there with her friends. (When my mom was mad at her, she would make my older sister take me and my younger sister with her...she hated that..lol)
Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time. It was a much better time, a less stressful time. And even though Washington Heights was starting to get bad when I lived there, I wouldn't want to have been born anyplace else.
Shirley McVea
I submitted a post to this website some years ago and my daughter who is writing her thesis which will include some history about my recollections of my childhood came across my post. At the time I failed to mention my maiden name Walls, which may be memorable to some.
Today nearly 60 years since I left my Washington Heights childhood neighborhood of Amsterdam Avenue and 165th Street and only remember revisiting a few times. The things and places I remember. Some have long gone. Our neighborhood grocery store owned by Mr. Carino, the corner pharmacy, the Asian laundry, the neighbor cleaners, the candy stores, and of course a corner bar. There were several Super Markets On 181st street, a Woolworth and Grants Variety store Also several movie theaters all within walking distance from our residence and on 165th St .
Transportation was easily accessible with trolley cars running up and down Amsterdam Avenue which were eventually replaced by buses. The trolley tracks remained visible long after my school days. There was also nearby subway access, so automobiles were not a necessity.
It was a fun time then with so many things for young people to do. I attended PS 169 Elementary School and JHS 164 following to the 9th grade.
There were summer activities like kickball, stickball, baseball games, bicycling. Those that didn’t own bikes were able to rent bikes for $0.25/hour with 2-4 hours being the minimum. It was quite tough for many of us to have the fees every time. Playing jump rope, marbles, caps, hop-scotch, ring-a-leve-O, hide-and-go seek were many of the street games we played until the street lights came on kept us busy. In the summer days, we went on hikes in the many parks to the east and west of us. I forgot to mention walking to Highbridge Park pool during the summer which was located at 175th St. In the mornings from 9-12 noon there was free admission. The Amsterdam Ave bus stopped right in front of the pools entrance.
Life seemed so great to me back in the 1940s - to the early 1960s but I was a child. As I grew up life became more challenging.
Barbara Mason RN CSW
I was born in 1939 and raised at 505 West 176 st between Amsterdam and Audubon Ave, I attended PS 173 a divine school with a Principal whose false teeth whistled when he spoke. We sat on the benches of Highbidge Park and Amsterdam in the summer heat when we had no air conditioning and could not sleep. A stone’s throw from the marvelous Art Deco Highbridge Pool —city pools saved the lives of kids who were jumping in the strong currents of the East River to cool off. The long walks down Edgecombe ave past Stitt HDS to the Polo Grounds to sit behind Will Mays in the out field and call “Say Hey Willie”. Frankie Lymon went to Stitt is all I knew. Mother Cabrini Hospital right nearby. Lining up in the cold for gifts at the 34th Pct PAL Christmas giveaway is a long cherished memory. I did join a girl “gang” hardly tough ——The Lanterns but served to help free me from my dysfunctional family’s grip. I had enormous advantages growing up at that time in America —minimal cost of education all the way from Bellevue Nursing School through Hunter College and then Hunter College Social Work School. It was great time in America.
Love to hear from old class mates Barry Stein the twin Trautman kids form P 173 the owners of the Volland Florist but memories of long long ago …..more to come.
Michael Lara Berkley CA
OMG, I could not believe the number of people who grew up in the Heights around when I did. I lived at 41 Bennett Ave.(between 181st, and 184th st.) in the basement apt. from 1941 to 1951. I have Googled street view and noticed that the block has not changed. Even the Pharmacy at the corner of 181 st. and Bennett Ave is still there. I must admit I was shocked when I saw how far they extended the G.W. bridge into the residential neighborhood.
I have a lot of fond memories growing up in the Heights...going to the movies: the Coliseum, the Empress theater, the Lane Theater, and eating at the Automat on 181st. , swimming at High Bridge, I even set pins at the bowling alley in the pool hall at 182nd just off Broadway.
I too played the violin and studied with Haig Papazian (I remember the smacks on my fingers when I played a wrong note). I also have a picture by the side of P.S.189 with the orchestra. (Included is a photo of a music class with Haig PPapazian (1945). (FYI, I am 3rd from the right, 2nd row down ).
I graduated from P.S. 132 located between 182nd and 183rd Streets on Wadsworth Ave. and in 1949 I attended Stuyvesant H.S. when it was still on 15th St. i still have a report card from Stuyvesant that I tore up and re-pasted so that my folks couldn’t see it!
I could on and on but I’ll leave it there. I live in Berkeley, CA. now with my wife Judith. Thanks to everyone for sharing their memories. Thanks again for having this site. Mike Lara, ([email protected])
Lawrence Fried Philadelphia
The Heights of the 60s will always be the place of my happiest years. Kids at that time were able to enjoy the safety and simplicity of life in a big city, but with a small town feel. I used to play "scully" with bottle caps on the pavement of J Hood Wright Park. I even remember a puppet show that came on train-like cars to the back field there. Also at the park were a husband and wife who for years sold food from a kiosk. Bickford's cafeteria on 181st Street was self serve. Put in a quarter and pull out a sandwich from behind the glass. Right next door was the rotunda of the Harlem Savings Bank. They don't make banks like THAT anymore. Oh and one more, across the street, I saw "The Blob" with Steve McQueen at the RKO.
Barbara Negron Staten Island
I have so many memories of growing up in Washington Heights. I was born at Columbia Presbyterian hospital in 1946 and I lived with my parents at my grandparent’s apartment 620 West 190th Street. During the depression grandpa became the super of the building. My parents purchased a house in Hollis Queens, and we lived there until my parents divorced. We moved back to the heights and I attended Incarnation School and GW high school. There was never a lack of children to play with. We lived at 825 West 179 St which was the last house standing on the corner of Cabrini Blvd. The building from Cabrini to Haven were torn down to build the lower bridge and entrance to GW bridge. Before they destroyed the best skating hill in the Heights you would start at Pinehurst Ave and skate all the way to Haven Ave without stopping. Of course, that was provided you tighten your skates properly as part of the ride down was coble stone. There was no traffic back than just clear sailing.
In the summer we had picnics under the bridge by the red lighthouse. The breeze along the river was great. We had sparklers on the 4th of July. Breyers hand packed ice cream from the candy store. We frequented the candy store on 180th street between Cabrini and Haven until the new construction of the bridge. Then it was off to Sid’s on 181 Street between Cabrini and Pinehurst.
We shopped for Groceries at the Hirsh Brothers on Cabrini Blvd between 180 and 181 Street. They delivered.
We had a party line telephone which my sister and I loved to listen. On the closed play street of Incarnation, we jumped rope, jumped over school bags and a ball game which you said different rhymes and you turned your leg over the ball. Twenty-five cents was a big allowance and you make it last the whole week if you purchased penny candy, 2 cents plain or bottle of pop that you would get 2 cents back when you returned the bottle.
We walked to school and you would pick up your friends as you walked along. By the time you reached school you had quite a crowd. Incarnation was very over crowded and we had split session until we reached 6, 7 and 8th grade. The sisters were devoted to making sure you learned. We didn’t have calculators and you did the math in your head. From the 5th grade though the 8th they separated the boys from the girls.
I played CYO basketball as a center guard in the gym in Highbridge Park. I was very good, but I was tall. We played St. Rose of Lima, St Elizabeth, St Jude, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and of course Good Shepard.
A walk down the avenue when we became teenagers with our girlfriends was fun. We would visit all the stores. We didn’t have to buy anything it was just fun being with friends. We had friends who worked at Grants after school and we had a contest. I won for the smallest nose.
I remember when Falcaros’s Bowling Alley which was located in 181 Street IRT subway station burned down. In the late 1950’s. It was later rebuilt and because known as the Met Lanes. That is where I met my husband in 1967 and we will be married 52 years.
Life was good and I grew up experiencing what it was just to be a kid.
Jim Kalafatis Annapolis MD
Cuppy, thank you so much for rekindling many memories of the neighborhood we both grew up in…………..
Ah yes, Dave’s where you could have 2 kosher franks, an order of french fries, and a Dr Browns cream soda for a dollar!!
That sparked several other memories. As a young boy I remember a kindly black super named Mr. Brown, who lived in the basement of of my grandmothers building at 612 W 189. One night he was in Dave’s, got involved in a fight and ended up stabbing someone. He went to prison, and when his family moved out, he was replaced by a very short Puerto Rican who was married to a tall blonde that looked like the actress Dagmar.
Everything you needed then was within a two block walk away. Even your doctors and dentists!
There were 2 candy stores with soda fountains, on every block, 2 delis, 2 barbershops, 2 grocery stores, 2 butcher shops, 2 bars, and 2 bakeries.
The Balkan Bakery that you mentioned, was owned by an older Greek immigrant couple, who worked there with their daughter. A large assortment of freshly baked hard crusted breads and rolls baked on the premises. A large heavy slicing machine if you wanted it sliced. I was often sent there to shop for my mom or grandmother, and would reward myself with a fresh out of their oven cinnamon cross bun for my effort.
Butler clothing on the corner was a bare space with many stacked boxes of shirts slacks, sweaters, shirts, shoes etc.
Yes, Teasties, on the corner of 190th & St. Nicks, where you could get an ice cream soda or a malted for 35 cents, and listen to the latest Everly brothers hits on the juke box. A fat young bookie worked out of there, who conducted business sitting on a counter stool next to the pay phone.
On the corner of 189th prior to the Cartwheel bar & grill, was was yet another German Deli where my mom would send me to get a quarter pound of liverwurst for 25 cents!
A few stores up was Carl and Georges candy store where my mom would send me to get the daily news, the daily mirror and a pretzel for 10 cents. Before they bought it in the mid 50’s it was called Mom’s. I believe her son ran his bookie business from there until he had to move to Teesties.
Your PS 189 memories rekindled mine …..Mrs. Heiler was my kindergarten teacher in 1951. Followed by Mrs Fisher, Mrs Lucy, Mrs Reich, Mrs Horowitz, Mrs. Samuels, and Mrs Gibson. The principal, Mr. Gross was a funny character who spoke in run on sentences, and would address girls by calling them “girly” .
Those were the days a teacher could throw a heavy ring of keys at students who misbehaved, as Mr. Curzon often did. Mr. Yungerman, the shop teacher, was known to smack students with the large metal rulers used for measuring wood cuts. A short wiry guy who meant business! I’m sure you remember the spring festivals held in the schoolyard where Mrs Goldsmith played the music on a piano hooked up to an old speaker. The festivities always started with dancing around the May pole and ended with a demonstration from the eighth grade boys of the “stunt club”. Their tumble salts, cart wheels, and pyramids would wow the assembled audience of the students and their parents.
Yes, I too remember the bagelman. He looked like Heidi’s grandfather with that white handlebar mustache. He sat on the SW corner of Audobon and 189th street, selling bagels to the students going home or returning from lunch. There were a number of refugees from Europe as a result of WWII. I remember a boy in my eighth grade class named Heinz Butt, who spoke with a thick German accent. One day he told me he hated Americans because his father was killed on a U boat sunk by the Americans.
I too remember those GW teachers. Karetsky was the dean when I was there. I also remember Mr Watts, who was known to throw heavy window poles like a spear at misbehaving students. Truly amazing no student was ever wounded. Mr. Eliff was a West Point classmate of President Eisenhower, who received a congratulatory letter from him when he retired in my freshman year.
Thanks again Carl for sparking some wonderful memories of a carefree era that came to an end, when I started college in 1963, and had to seriously start thinking about the next stage of my life.
Who could have ever thought then that we would be discussing our shared memories seven decades later in cyberspace!
Carl “Cuppy” Frischling New York, NY I was born and lived in Washington Heights for 27 years of my life, 22 of which were on Wadsworth Avenue, between 189th and 190th St. and then the last 5 years at 160 Bennet Avenue, as a married man to my wife, Adele (“Delly” Sadosky) Frischling.
My father (Irving) owned The Farmery Supermarket on St. Nicholas Ave. and 189th st. for over 35 years which was next to Marmelstein’s Bakery where my mother (Anne) worked and consequently met my father. I worked at the store all during my formative years. I went to PS 189 and to George Washington High School where I met Delly who went on to teach History there after she graduated college.
The names of my fellow students, teachers, friends, shopkeepers and customers that I was lucky to meet over the years are too numerous to mention, except to say that they were wonderful, creative, hardworking, helpful (the teachers), and just thinking about them brings joy when I think of them over these 80 plus past years.
The gyms, school yards and basketball courts, where I spent many wonderful years, gave all of us the opportunity to evaluate ourselves but others in not how good we were in sports, but how fair and considerate we should be to others. This supplemented what we learned at home, school and our religious training.
As I often said to my three sons and my grandchildren (all of whom fortunately live in NYC), “I wouldn’t have traded my upbringing for anything in the world”. You cannot get the experiences back, but at least these memories give it some level of eternity. I have to thank the creator of the Website for this.
You were nice to mention many of the neighborhood stores about which I will add my own memories.
Dave’s grocery store was across the street from the Farmery. Dave Wechsler lived on 189th between St. Nicholas and Audubon. He was a very nice man who hosted a breakfast every morning in his back room of his store for my father, and the Sheffeld Milk and Dairylea Milk drivers. Dave had the coffee, my father brought the Danish and the milk drivers brought the milk and cream. They referred to it as the “Breakfast Club”. No one else was allowed in.
Louie’s butcher shop was great. He had a helper. Seymour, who was a frustrated surgeon and was a skilled butcher. He was around my age who I knew when I worked at the store while I was in college.
Dave’s Deli was classic. They had the best Pastrami and Corned Beef. In the 3rd grade at PS 189, I was sent by my teacher, Mrs. Neirenberg during spelling period from 11:40 AM to 12:00 noon to buy her a Roast Beef sandwich for 65 cents and when I met her years later, she didn’t acknowledge that she was my teacher. I told her that I couldn’t spell because I missed the spelling class. (It’s a longer story).
Max Weissbrod owned the Appetizing Store next to the Farmery, who sold Smoked Salmon, Lox, Herring and Pickles in barrels. Balkan Bakery was on St. Nicholas between 189th and 190th that sold Mid-Eastern breads. Morris Senders Fruit Store (where you probably got the crate for your scooter). He made pickles in the rear of the store from small cucumbers which I can still taste. If you put one next to your ear, you could hear the “pickling”. Butler Clothing store which was on the N.E. corner of 189th and St. Nicholas. They sold corduroy pants and sneakers and it had the smell of clothing throughout.
Sam Zalaznick’s candy store down the block from the Farmery (you never knew him because had was murdered on Halloween in 1943 by 2 teenagers). They sold ice cream, candy, etc.
Eli Konig’s Dairy store on St. Nicholas (across from your building). He left the Farmery and set up a competitive store up the block. Harry’s barber shop across from Franks. I went there because Harry was a customer of our store.
Teesties, an ice cream parlor on 190th and St. Nicholas where I took my wife, Adele, on our first date in 1952. She had an egg cream and I had a lime rickey.
Sussman’s Candy store, as you went into the Subway station, on 191st St.
Cushman’s Bakery next to Sussman’s. Butcher Boy on 191st St. and St. Nicholas owned by Marty Lush, who was a gin rummy partner of my father and who taught my wife, Adele, how to drive a shift car on the 185th St. Hill.
Teachers at PS 189th that I remembered. Mr. and Mrs. Draddy (brother and sister), Mrs. White, Mrs. Neirenberg (2nd Grade), Mrs. White (3rd Grade), Mr. Curzon, Mr. Gross (Principal), Mr. Gussow (Vice Principal), Mr. Ungerman (Shop Teacher) who taught me to shoot foul shots underhand, in the gym because the ceiling was low, Miss Weinstein (6th Grade), Mrs. Samuelson.
G.W. Teachers. Mr. Orleans (Math Chair), Miss Siderbrand (sp?), Mrs. Ascher, Miss McGloin, Miss Gottesman, Mr. Henry, Mr. Myers, Mr. Wilkins, Miss Sofian, Mrs. O’Rourke, Mr. Karetsky (basketball coach), Mr. Flynn (basketball coach), Mr. Mullen, Mr. Warren, Mr. Ellif, Mr. Kutcher, Mrs. Ettinger, Mr. Connelly (Cherry Tree).
I love hearing about the games we played. A few more. Stick Ball, Marbles, Johnny Ride the Pony, Punch Ball, Stoop Ball.
Do you remember the Old Man with a big mustache who sold water bagels with salt on the corner of 189th St. and Audubon – 2 for 5 cents?
This was the best. I only remember good times.
My last memory was a Japanese-American family that lived down the block from you in a ground floor apartment, whose daughter, Florence Takiama, gave my 2 sisters ( who went to Music – Art HS) and me piano lessons in their apartment. I gave it up for Basketball at age 10 and she told me that I should take it up again (I unfortunately didn’t) and I stopped playing basketball at age 60. If anyone who recognizes my name would like to rekindle some of their memories, I can be reached at [email protected].
Margaret Mark Murray
I discovered your fabulous Website today and tumbled into the rabbit hole, spending hours enjoying memories of my childhood neighborhood. Thanks so much for organizing this!! Here are a few memories of my own.
In the ‘50’s and early “60’s, I lived at 81 Cabrini Boulevard, between 180th and 181st Street. Our first apartment was facing the alley, on the top floor of a walk-up. But it was not without its perks. The roof was just steps away and on hot summer nights my Dad would set up our “beach” chairs, and along with other neighbors, we would enjoy the river breezes. He also rigged up a pulley from our kitchen window to my Mom’s friend directly across the alley, so that the two ladies could transport items to each other (mostly cigarettes, I suspect 😊), clothes-pinned to the rope. ( I loved that alley because even though I was forbidden to go there, I sometimes secretly played there with the super’s kids who could navigate what seemed to me like a mysterious labyrinth of narrow, tunnel-like basement hallways that could be accessed from there. I also loved watching our neighbors building and decorating their little houses each year for Sukkot, transforming our alley into what looked like a charming little village.) We kids often played in the courtyard of the building as well, until a grumpy old lady, sick of the racket, dumped her wash water out the window and onto our heads.
Out on the sidewalk, we played in spontaneous groupings…nothing was ever pre-planned. I remember lots of scully, using bottlecaps; handball; potsy/hopscotch; roller skating (metal skates with keys)and among us girls, jump rope. One time a group of us came upon a huge box, took it up to the top of the 181st hill, climbed in and rolled all the way down to Riverside Drive and the steps. My knees were perpetually scabby.
On Saturdays when I was younger, my Dad would take me on big walks, often across the George Washington Bridge, where on the Fort Lee side there was a chocolate milk machine, and after stopping for that, we would sometimes walk North along the path on the edge of the Palisades. Later, my friends and I would go hang out at the many parks nearby, or go to Woolworths to see if we could win a banana split (as I recall, you popped a balloon and the winning tag might be inside). We’d also take goofy group pictures in the photo booth, and try on the fake jewelry, which included big rings that mimicked high school or college rings, which we would try on, pretending we had boyfriends!
I went to Incarnation, which was so overcrowded at the time, we only went for either the morning or afternoon session, and even so, had about 50 kids in each class. It was amazing how those nuns could manage us. I went on to Mother Cabrini High School, which I found to be a beautiful and expansive experience, and then to Fordham.
The neighborhood was ethnically very mixed at the time, which seemed perfectly wonderful to me as a kid. One of my closest friends was Puerto Rican, another was Slovak and my first little “boyfriend” was Cuban. I loved spending time in my Mother’s across-the-alley-friend’s apartment, which seemed very exotic to me, being that she was a recent German-Jewish immigrant, and her place was filled with beautiful fabrics and furniture, art work, and luscious candies and treats that I never saw elsewhere. I think it was a richly stimulating childhood environment in many ways, but I wouldn’t totally romanticize it. There were gangs – I think mostly toward the Highbridge side of the neighborhood – and I seem to recall the death of a boy named Michael. There was some borderline poverty, and a few of the immigrant families I knew at Incarnation really struggled with adapting to a world radically different from the one they were accustomed to.
I go back every year or so, since I don’t live very far away and enjoy seeing the old haunts. If anything, the neighborhood is nicer! (At least, the West of Broadway part of it, which is what I know best and primarily check out.) There are planters and jardinières on Cabrini Blvd., which would have been smashed or stolen in my youth. There’s more racial diversity than I remember, and commerce seems to be thriving on 181st Street. Sadly, Cabrini High is no more, but Incarnation still serves the neighborhood and when I went last, I found there’s now a lovely roof-top garden/play area with gorgeous views of the Bridge. Quite an addition to a very stolid, prison-like structure.
So we Washington Heights folks should feel good that our neighborhood survives and offers new memories for new generations.
Thanks for reading. I will send along some photos soon. I have many.
Katherine Dedonno Taflambas
My parents moved to 601 West 177th Street shortly after my birth (1960). Washington Heights was a large Greek community at the time. We had a HUGE railroad apartment on the 4th floor, and I remember looking at all of 177th Street from some of our windows and St. Nicholas Avenue from others. I went to P.S. 132 until the second grade, at which time I moved to Astoria, Queens. During that time, I had Ms. Affling in the 1st grade and Ms. Horowitz/Ms. Meyer in the 2nd grade.
Marilee Eckert In the mid.1980s, after graduating from Juilliard, teaching at a college outside NYC and pursuing doctorate at Columbia U...I lived on 192nd and Broadway with roommate, Saudi..opera singer from Juilliard..now living in Princeton, NJ. After she married, I moved across the street and sublet apt. from opera singer friend, Martha..now living in Europe. Our building..500 apts...that faced the entrance of the A train on Bennett Ave...an Hassudic Jewish neighborhood and in the 1980s largest community of German Jews in the world, even over Israel, at the time. The apt. complex had a rose garden and my Friend sang arias to the elderly people ages 70~100. she befriended some of the holocaust survivors and one.by.One, the shared their horrific experiences in the Nazi camps of WWII.
Over 1 1/2 years of collaboration, Martha and I, composed a song cycle called, Voices of the Holocaust, registered in the Library of Congress. We premiered the work in 1997 at the 192nd Y. though we notified media, there was no coverage. However, nearly 100 survivors attended. We were blown away that these people would come to our recital..being two German Christian girls! Ushie Lichtenstein, survivor, once said, "you must, if only for yourself, forgive." An amazing statement from someone so horribly abused, she was not able to bear children. She was one of the kindest, softest people I ever met. I will ever remember the gentle kiss on my cheek from this Cohen Levite.
I live in the Seattle, WA area, where I was born to parents from the Spokane WA area. Martha was from Ohio. My years on Bennett Avenue are deep in my heart. Herbert and I show Lichtenstein, Rose and Marion Constantine, the Arons of the St Louis and others.
William Rapaport Anyone reading this who graduated 6th grade from PS 173 in 1958 should contact me to join our email list. Billy Rapaport, [email protected]
Charles Pinning What a great website! I did not live in Washington Heights, but I am working on a story and seeking information about H. Jerome "Jerry" Alterwho taught music at P.S. 187 during the 1960's: What kinds of instruments he played, etc. He eventually moved to New Mexico with hiswife, Sara, also known as Rita, a speech pathologist, and died there in 2012. Rita died a year ago. They had two children, Joseph and Barbara, but no luck locating them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 401-272-5472 www.charlespinning.com
Louise Lunn I came across your website when I was researching my uncle Charles R. Blair. I really enjoyed reading all the stories of Washington Heights back in the day!
I was wondering if anyone knew of him, or had any information about him. He lived at 867 181st Street. He was the apartment superintendent (born in 1891). While he lived in the area for over 30 years, he only lived at that address for a bit. I go into this knowing he probably was not a great person...in fact, more of a gangster and definitely a drinker. He eventually was sent to prison, where he died. My aunt and cousin came back to Canada in 1940.
They had a lovely little girl named Carolyn. She was born in 1934. She would have lived there for six years before leaving. If anyone knows of him, or has any stories about him, I would love to hear from you.
Louise Lunn
[email protected]
Karen Paletta Evans (Malloy); Raleigh, NC., (now P. Grady): We (my mom and I) moved to 515 W. 187th St., between Amsterdam and Audubon when I was in the second grade, 1959. I spent 5 years in PS 189, second through sixth grades. My mom was a civil rights worker and we got the apartment through a civil rights organization, there were no other black families in the neighborhood at the time we moved in, and later there were none that were not superintendents of the buildings. In 1959 I was the first Black child to attend PS 189, I was put in class 2-1 and I think my teachers name was Mrs. Smith. I was the only Black student for a long time; till busing. During the civil rights years and the turmoil of those times I remember having the best Caucasian friends; (that’s all I had), Deborah Nadoolman, Peggy Mitchell. During the years of boycotting, my mom ( a teacher) was allowed to open a “Freedom School” in Yeshiva University, (right across the street); until they began bussing other minority students in from Harlem. By the time 4th and 5th grade rolled around ’61-’62, my friends became the minorities that were in my classes; Karen Soeda, (Chinese), she lived on the other side of St. Nicholas Ave., her father was a baker, and always made cookies for the class; our class always had the BEST cookies! Rita Rodriquez, she lived on Audubon between 187th and 188th, and finally my one bussed in friend, Debbie Allen, from 155th and Amsterdam Ave. I went to JHS 52 for a year after 6th grade at PS 189. After that we moved to 735 w. 172nd St. on the corner of Haven Ave. I could walk out the door and see the GW Bridge and the Hudson River. I think I was going to JHS 115 then. We stayed there on 172nd St. till I went to a boarding school in NC for my freshman and sophomore years. I have so many memories of 187th St., “Carmine’s” the candy store/later soda fountain on Amsterdam between 187th and 188th, “Barnette’s” on Audubon, between 187th and 186th, “The Spanish Store,” that you had to go downstairs to get into on 187th between Audubon and St. Nick. Playing in the street at the end of the day, waiting for “Mr. Softee” while my Mom sat on the stoop with the other ladies of the building. Maxine, Marlene, and Debra, they were the superintendents kids in the building next to mine, Patricia and Julian Andenous; whew!, never forget them, she was my best friend, and I had the biggest crush on her older brother. I remember Carmine’s 10 cent egg creams and 2 cent pretzel rods, skating in the street with all metal skates WITHOUT a helmet or knee pads and a skate key on a string around my neck., I made it through! Does anyone remember the 15 cent slice and 10 cent soda at the pizza parlor on 181st and St. Nicholas? I remember good times hangin’ at the Bridge Apts. I never went to GW after boarding school; I did not want to take NY state Regents. My Mom had a friend in Englewood that let us use her address, and I walked to the GW Bridge bus station to go to Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood NJ for my junior and senior years of high school. I graduated from there, went to college, Shaw University in NC, got married, had a daughter , got divorced and finally moved out of NYC. I remember my life and times in Washington Heights; they were good childhood memories; memories that still make me smile today.
If anyone has some memories that cross with mine, please reach out to me….If anyone remembers me, please…. I’d love to reminisce. I think one of the other people on this site and I moved to the same building after moving from 187th St. His name was Paul Prince, I did not know him, but the coincidence was amazing. Email:[email protected]
Rita Avrick To Rita Bregman: Loved your reminiscences. The name isn’t familiar, but our paths must have crossed at some point– I lived up the street from you on 100 Bennett (across 186thSt.) from 1941 to 1950, and also went to P.S. 132. Were we maybe in the same classes? All those names you mention now seem from another life: Miss Forsch, Miss Borack, Grace and Frances Drake, Patricia Donnelly, Michael Reiter. When I went to 132 Miss Forsch was assistant principal. The head honcho was Mr. Kraus, a white-haired gentleman of maybe 60, which then seemed very old. My kindergarten teacher was Miss Borack, assisted by a dour and taciturn Miss Rosnau. I had Dorothy Garson in 1stgrade, Catherine Keane in 2nd, Mary Schaefer in 3rd. My family moved to Queens in 1950, so I missed 4thgrade with the dreaded Mrs. Diamond.Once a week in 3rdgrade we had a reading class with the older Miss Drake, who introduced us to My Weekly Reader, and whose classes I remember with particular fondness.
Funny how some incidents stick in your memory: I recall the day Patty Donnelly came to our 2nd grade class dressed in white, on her way to “Carnation Church” for her Confirmation. As she left the classroom, Mrs. Keane gushed: “May you look this beautiful on your wedding day!” Mrs. Keane was a stern disciplinarian (“I’ll land on you like a ton of bricks”) but at heart a sentimentalist, in love with old Irish names like Bridget and the music of Victor Herbert (we spent the weeks leading up to St. Pat’s Day learning tunes from “Babes in Toyland.”). She was given to long monologues on life as a vale of tears. (This Jewish boy apparently acquired from her a smidgen of brogue, and in high school dramatics I was type-cast in Irish character roles.) I suspect Mrs. Keane’s demonstrative ethnic pride may have had something to do with the shifting demographics of the (once solidly Irish) NYC elementary school teaching profession in the postwar years. Identity was a big deal back then, too, but it tended in general toward the binary (Irish/Italian Catholic vs. Jewish; the Wasps were mostly downtown or up in Westchester and the Lutherans out in Jersey and L.I.). It had nothing to do with race (people of color were visible, if at all, only on the IRT or on cleaning day), let alone gender or sexuality. A very different Washington Heights from the one Lin-Manuel Miranda grew up in.
My sidewalk was too narrow for stickball. My diversions were long walks (from Ft. Tryon down to Amsterdam Ave), subway rides (Inwood to New Lots on the A train), and double-feature matinees at the RKO Coliseum, Loews 175th St, and their two raffish cousins, the Lane and Gem theaters on 181 St. off Audubon Ave. Back then it was safe even for an eight-year-old to wander the city unescorted.
Shirley McVea I lived in Washington Heights from my birth in 1941 until I attended nursing school at the now defunct Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in 1961. My father and mother raised six children in a three bedroom railroad flat. I lived at 2110 Amsterdam Avenue, near 165th Street. It was located east of St. Nicolas Avenue and west of Edgecombe Avenue.
I attended PS 169, located at Audubon Avenue between 168 & 169th streets. This school was well diversified. My best friends were Anna Valasky and Eugenia Skinner. At that time Mr. Malesky was the principal. I remember him so well because he started my older brother doing crossword puzzles of which Mr. Malesky wrote weekly puzzles in The NY Times. One thing I remember doing about 2-3 times a week was going to the neighborhood library which was located about 8 blooks south of my home on St. Nicolas Place.
Upon leaving elementary school my siblings and I attended JHS 164 ( Stitt Junior High). It was located on Edgecombe Avenue and 164th & 165th Streets. After JHS I chose to go to Commerce HS to follow my sisters to where they went instead of going to George Washing HS where many of my neighborhood friends attended. At Commerce I qualified to attend their honor school which was called Lincoln Park of which I graduated in 1959.
During my youthful times many of the neighborhood children would play in the parks near our neighborhood, one namely Edgecombe Park which spread from 177th St. and south to 155th St. At the south end of the park I remember looking down from Edgecombe Ave. where you could see the Polo Grounds and looking further past you'd see the the East River and across was the Yankee Stadium which was in another borough, the Bronx. I was told at an early age that this was the end of Washington Heights.
Then when we turned our fun to go to the park area to the west we would walk toward Presbyterian Hospital which at that time was not as large as it is today. It was in walking distance, across from the park, near the Hudson River, and the lighthouse which was at the base of the George Washington Bridge.
I remember the summers when many of my friends went away to visit usually their grandparents in other states and the remaining children would plan their own schedules of: going on picnics, bicycle riding through the parks, playing stick ball and racing marathons. We did not have adult organized sports yet we enjoyed self-organized activities.
From my perspective, life was fun and free of division or perhaps it's because we did not have the development of the technological era until the late 60s or early 70s.
Jennifer Chang My family lived in Washington Heights around 1949 - 1960. My grandmother passed away last October and it came out that she had some secrets involving a black man who worked in a pharmacy in Washington Heights in 1950. He may have fathered one of my Aunts (she doesn't look like anyone else in the family). My grandmother refused to talk about it, to her dying day. I was hoping maybe you or someone from the old neighborhood might have memories of a black man who worked in a pharmacy. From what we've pieced together so far, he had a Caribbean accent (possibly Jamaican or Virgin Islands?), wore glasses, and he went to high school and college. The names "Joey Adams" and "Melvin Martin" have come up, but no one can verify.
If you or any memory sharers from your site can provide any help or details, my family and I would be most grateful.
2/7/18
Rita (Avrick) Bregman, San Francisco, CA I lived in apt. 7L at 160 Bennett Avenue from 1941 - 51, but went back to the Heights regularly to see friends and family. All the kids in both 150 and 160 Bennett were within a few years of one another. Despite the rivalry between buildings, we were close. We played stickball in the lot next to 160, flipped baseball cards on the side of the building, went sleigh riding on the hill in the back, and roller skated all around. The wide sidewalks and building entry were great for that I got walked to PS 132 up until around 4th grade, and then walked to and from school after that alone. My best friend at school was Patty Donnelly who lived on 189th, where Michael Reiter also lived, but I was also friends with the kids in my building who included Andrea Radlauer, Maydie Goldberg, and Caroline Keston. I think Patty was one of the kids who was picked up every week during school hours to be taken to the "Church Of The Carnation" for catechism class. Starting with Mrs. Borack in kindergarten, the teachers I can remember were "the first Miss Drake," Mrs. Peterson; "the second Miss Drake,", Mrs. Sulkes, and Miss Klein (eek!). Miss Forsch was the principal.
I can remember when you would take the streetcar across 181st Street for a nickel, and all the fun eateries and stores that so many have mentioned. My mother shopped at the Safeway on Broadway where you could get a pound of freshly ground, heavenly smelling "5 O'Clock" coffee. You could sit at the movies for hours watching bad cowboy flicks and fun cartoons, and get the best BLT at the 5 and 10. Your mother could throw down a dime wrapped in a hankie for ice cream from Good Humor or Bungalow Bar, and the "I cash clothes man," the seltzer man, the milk man, and even the ice man were all part of our lives. Someone said the "I cash clothes man" had been shell-shocked in the war because he always had one hand on his back as he took giant strides down the street chanting his chant. I met Marty Trautman, whom I dated briefly, and the rest of the Chevrons as a teenager at my friend Sandy Gelb's apartment in Inwood after my family moved to NJ.
Of course there were lots more really wonderful times filled with precious memories of family and friends -- experiences which I know I didn't appreciate until I was much older. Thanks for helping to bring back some of those times!!
Regina Artman Avraham
I lived on 187th and Amsterdam, right across from Yeshiva University. I would walk to school, passing Miller's candy store and Zunder's grocery on the way to years of such wonderful memories and friendships. I attended PS189 from 1940 to 1948, and was in the school orchestra when I was in Kg - where I loved Miss Heiler so much, and where I learned to play the violin. I still have the sheet music of a very abbreviated form of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony! Mr. Pappazian was a volunteer who also gave private lessons at his home. The memories of those war years are etched in my head... the newspapers mom packed each day for the war effort, and that earned my sister and me a commendation card at the weekly assembly. Egad, the white middy blouse and red tie were so perfect with the pleated blue skirt I remember so well.
I could write a book about every year at 189, and the teachers who shaped my childhood. Where, oh where, would my writing career have gone without Miss Draddy's superb grammar rules? At any rate, I went on to GW (Class of '52), loved it, went on to CCNY (Class of '55), loved it....married, had two great kids, retired from writing and teaching a while back, and now live on City Island. Greatest moment was meeting with George K., a Kindergarten classmate, who flew in from California for a two person 'reunion'...and we drove up to PS189 and were allowed to tour the school. It felt exactly the same as when i was a little kid who knew some English, but not enough to escape being called a 'dirty refugee' ...shame on you Marcia M. :-)
The playground across from the school with its play house and monkey bars and wonderful swings were freedom itself. Watching the trolley car turn around on its circular swivel at the end of it's 190th street route never was boring, and when the 'new houses' went up on the east side of Amsterdam Avenue, - the tracks became the demarcation symbol of the haves and the have nots. But the kids all were friends, and who knew from economics? I remember the terrible day - think it was 1946- that the apartment house explosion left more than 30 people dead as a gas leak turned the building's facade into an open wound. No place is all good memories.
I could write on and one...about the wonderful free concerts at Lewisohn Stadium at CCNY, - where every summer Oscar Levant played Gershwin to a filled outdoor amphitheater. So, reading the contributions brought tears and memories and so much love. I can be reached at [email protected], and some of my editorials are up at http://tvnewslies.org, where I still reign as news manager and contributing editor.
Thank you for this wonderful piece of history. I was born and raised on 191st between Audubon and St. Nick.spending my time playing stick ball, roller skating and and exploring the woods overlooking the East River. My brother, and a few of his crazy friends, used to jump off the rock on, I think it was 180 st., just when the Circle line boat was going by. They would jump off naked, then swim back and collect their clothes. Nuts, eh. He’s still living.
Bob Bloch Palm Bay, FL
My family lived on 188th St and Wadsworth Ave for my entire childhood. I still fondly remember attending PS 189 and GWHS. But my earliest recollection is taking a trolley car from 181st St to a hospital in the Bronx to have tonsils removed (possibly at age 6 or 7). The trolleys were replaced by buses but the memory still lingers. Also remember being hospitalized at Columbia Presbyterian on 168th St with polio at the end of the summer before beginning 5th grade
.Especially frightening since there was no way to predict how long I would remain. If I remember correctly there was no treatment (shots, etc) - just waiting for the virus to disappear. I was blessed because there are apparently no long term consequences.
Reading the "posts" of others who also enjoyed living in Washington Hts has warmed my heart. Best wishes to all.
reatment (shots, etc) - just waiting for the virus to disappear. I was blessed because there are apparently no long term consequences.
Reading the "posts" of others who also enjoyed living in Washington Hts has warmed my heart. Best wishes to all.
Peter N Ft Myers FL.
I was born in 1961 in St. Elizabeths Hospital on Ft. Washington Avenue. The building is still there but it is no longer a hospital, it's condo's now.
I lived at 601 W.164th St. from 1961 to 1972 when my family moved to Far Rockaway in Queens. My dad and uncle (Pete and Steve) owned the Columbia Presbyterian luncheonette on the corner of 164th and Broadway.
When I was growing up the neighborhood was beginning to turn bad.
I went to P.S. 128 for first through fifth grades. My first grade teacher was Miss Wallace, second grade Miss Sinn, third grade Mrs.Roost, fourth grade Mrs.Zimet and fifth grade Mrs. Liberatos. I remember always being afraid that either the gang from Stit or 52 was going to come beat us up in the playground during lunch. In fifth grade I started buying my lunch at The Chock full of Nuts across from the school.
I also remember buying all my records at Freddy's record shop between 164th and 165th and Broadway. Remember my older sister taking my younger sister and me to Nedicks on 181st St. We used to go shopping for school supplies on 181st St. but my father always took us to Alexander's on Fordham Road in the Bronx to buy school clothes.
In the summer we would either go to Orchard Beach or Palisades Park when my father had Sunday off.
I was baptized at St.Spyridon church and vaguely remember going to services at Easter time. The one thing I remember clearly is the smell of the incense. I loved it.
I have been back many times, the last time being 2013. Same buildings still there only the stores are different. My dad's luncheonette is no longer called Columbia Presbyterian luncheonette. I don't know what it is called now but I know they have made it twice the size it was then.. Next to Mike's barbershop there was a beauty salon owned by a guy named Gene. There was a hardware store in the middle of the block between 163 and 164 owned by a couple Ruben and Blanca Cintron. They had two sons Ruben and Roger and a daughter Tata. Anyone know what happened to them? I believe the pharmacy we used is still there, Theresa pharmacy on the corner of 163 and Broadway.
Does anyone remember Joe Max on 164th and Broadway? My mom ordered all her groceries from his store. As a matter of fact, I never entered a supermarket until I was 11 and moved to Far Rockaway.
I also remember "the wall". My older sister used to hang out there with her friends. (When my mom was mad at her, she would make my older sister take me and my younger sister with her...she hated that..lol)
Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time. It was a much better time, a less stressful time. And even though Washington Heights was starting to get bad when I lived there, I wouldn't want to have been born anyplace else.
Shirley McVea
I submitted a post to this website some years ago and my daughter who is writing her thesis which will include some history about my recollections of my childhood came across my post. At the time I failed to mention my maiden name Walls, which may be memorable to some.
Today nearly 60 years since I left my Washington Heights childhood neighborhood of Amsterdam Avenue and 165th Street and only remember revisiting a few times. The things and places I remember. Some have long gone. Our neighborhood grocery store owned by Mr. Carino, the corner pharmacy, the Asian laundry, the neighbor cleaners, the candy stores, and of course a corner bar. There were several Super Markets On 181st street, a Woolworth and Grants Variety store Also several movie theaters all within walking distance from our residence and on 165th St .
Transportation was easily accessible with trolley cars running up and down Amsterdam Avenue which were eventually replaced by buses. The trolley tracks remained visible long after my school days. There was also nearby subway access, so automobiles were not a necessity.
It was a fun time then with so many things for young people to do. I attended PS 169 Elementary School and JHS 164 following to the 9th grade.
There were summer activities like kickball, stickball, baseball games, bicycling. Those that didn’t own bikes were able to rent bikes for $0.25/hour with 2-4 hours being the minimum. It was quite tough for many of us to have the fees every time. Playing jump rope, marbles, caps, hop-scotch, ring-a-leve-O, hide-and-go seek were many of the street games we played until the street lights came on kept us busy. In the summer days, we went on hikes in the many parks to the east and west of us. I forgot to mention walking to Highbridge Park pool during the summer which was located at 175th St. In the mornings from 9-12 noon there was free admission. The Amsterdam Ave bus stopped right in front of the pools entrance.
Life seemed so great to me back in the 1940s - to the early 1960s but I was a child. As I grew up life became more challenging.
Barbara Mason RN CSW
I was born in 1939 and raised at 505 West 176 st between Amsterdam and Audubon Ave, I attended PS 173 a divine school with a Principal whose false teeth whistled when he spoke. We sat on the benches of Highbidge Park and Amsterdam in the summer heat when we had no air conditioning and could not sleep. A stone’s throw from the marvelous Art Deco Highbridge Pool —city pools saved the lives of kids who were jumping in the strong currents of the East River to cool off. The long walks down Edgecombe ave past Stitt HDS to the Polo Grounds to sit behind Will Mays in the out field and call “Say Hey Willie”. Frankie Lymon went to Stitt is all I knew. Mother Cabrini Hospital right nearby. Lining up in the cold for gifts at the 34th Pct PAL Christmas giveaway is a long cherished memory. I did join a girl “gang” hardly tough ——The Lanterns but served to help free me from my dysfunctional family’s grip. I had enormous advantages growing up at that time in America —minimal cost of education all the way from Bellevue Nursing School through Hunter College and then Hunter College Social Work School. It was great time in America.
Love to hear from old class mates Barry Stein the twin Trautman kids form P 173 the owners of the Volland Florist but memories of long long ago …..more to come.
Michael Lara Berkley CA
OMG, I could not believe the number of people who grew up in the Heights around when I did. I lived at 41 Bennett Ave.(between 181st, and 184th st.) in the basement apt. from 1941 to 1951. I have Googled street view and noticed that the block has not changed. Even the Pharmacy at the corner of 181 st. and Bennett Ave is still there. I must admit I was shocked when I saw how far they extended the G.W. bridge into the residential neighborhood.
I have a lot of fond memories growing up in the Heights...going to the movies: the Coliseum, the Empress theater, the Lane Theater, and eating at the Automat on 181st. , swimming at High Bridge, I even set pins at the bowling alley in the pool hall at 182nd just off Broadway.
I too played the violin and studied with Haig Papazian (I remember the smacks on my fingers when I played a wrong note). I also have a picture by the side of P.S.189 with the orchestra. (Included is a photo of a music class with Haig PPapazian (1945). (FYI, I am 3rd from the right, 2nd row down ).
I graduated from P.S. 132 located between 182nd and 183rd Streets on Wadsworth Ave. and in 1949 I attended Stuyvesant H.S. when it was still on 15th St. i still have a report card from Stuyvesant that I tore up and re-pasted so that my folks couldn’t see it!
I could on and on but I’ll leave it there. I live in Berkeley, CA. now with my wife Judith. Thanks to everyone for sharing their memories. Thanks again for having this site. Mike Lara, ([email protected])
Lawrence Fried Philadelphia
The Heights of the 60s will always be the place of my happiest years. Kids at that time were able to enjoy the safety and simplicity of life in a big city, but with a small town feel. I used to play "scully" with bottle caps on the pavement of J Hood Wright Park. I even remember a puppet show that came on train-like cars to the back field there. Also at the park were a husband and wife who for years sold food from a kiosk. Bickford's cafeteria on 181st Street was self serve. Put in a quarter and pull out a sandwich from behind the glass. Right next door was the rotunda of the Harlem Savings Bank. They don't make banks like THAT anymore. Oh and one more, across the street, I saw "The Blob" with Steve McQueen at the RKO.
Barbara Negron Staten Island
I have so many memories of growing up in Washington Heights. I was born at Columbia Presbyterian hospital in 1946 and I lived with my parents at my grandparent’s apartment 620 West 190th Street. During the depression grandpa became the super of the building. My parents purchased a house in Hollis Queens, and we lived there until my parents divorced. We moved back to the heights and I attended Incarnation School and GW high school. There was never a lack of children to play with. We lived at 825 West 179 St which was the last house standing on the corner of Cabrini Blvd. The building from Cabrini to Haven were torn down to build the lower bridge and entrance to GW bridge. Before they destroyed the best skating hill in the Heights you would start at Pinehurst Ave and skate all the way to Haven Ave without stopping. Of course, that was provided you tighten your skates properly as part of the ride down was coble stone. There was no traffic back than just clear sailing.
In the summer we had picnics under the bridge by the red lighthouse. The breeze along the river was great. We had sparklers on the 4th of July. Breyers hand packed ice cream from the candy store. We frequented the candy store on 180th street between Cabrini and Haven until the new construction of the bridge. Then it was off to Sid’s on 181 Street between Cabrini and Pinehurst.
We shopped for Groceries at the Hirsh Brothers on Cabrini Blvd between 180 and 181 Street. They delivered.
We had a party line telephone which my sister and I loved to listen. On the closed play street of Incarnation, we jumped rope, jumped over school bags and a ball game which you said different rhymes and you turned your leg over the ball. Twenty-five cents was a big allowance and you make it last the whole week if you purchased penny candy, 2 cents plain or bottle of pop that you would get 2 cents back when you returned the bottle.
We walked to school and you would pick up your friends as you walked along. By the time you reached school you had quite a crowd. Incarnation was very over crowded and we had split session until we reached 6, 7 and 8th grade. The sisters were devoted to making sure you learned. We didn’t have calculators and you did the math in your head. From the 5th grade though the 8th they separated the boys from the girls.
I played CYO basketball as a center guard in the gym in Highbridge Park. I was very good, but I was tall. We played St. Rose of Lima, St Elizabeth, St Jude, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and of course Good Shepard.
A walk down the avenue when we became teenagers with our girlfriends was fun. We would visit all the stores. We didn’t have to buy anything it was just fun being with friends. We had friends who worked at Grants after school and we had a contest. I won for the smallest nose.
I remember when Falcaros’s Bowling Alley which was located in 181 Street IRT subway station burned down. In the late 1950’s. It was later rebuilt and because known as the Met Lanes. That is where I met my husband in 1967 and we will be married 52 years.
Life was good and I grew up experiencing what it was just to be a kid.
Jim Kalafatis Annapolis MD
Cuppy, thank you so much for rekindling many memories of the neighborhood we both grew up in…………..
Ah yes, Dave’s where you could have 2 kosher franks, an order of french fries, and a Dr Browns cream soda for a dollar!!
That sparked several other memories. As a young boy I remember a kindly black super named Mr. Brown, who lived in the basement of of my grandmothers building at 612 W 189. One night he was in Dave’s, got involved in a fight and ended up stabbing someone. He went to prison, and when his family moved out, he was replaced by a very short Puerto Rican who was married to a tall blonde that looked like the actress Dagmar.
Everything you needed then was within a two block walk away. Even your doctors and dentists!
There were 2 candy stores with soda fountains, on every block, 2 delis, 2 barbershops, 2 grocery stores, 2 butcher shops, 2 bars, and 2 bakeries.
The Balkan Bakery that you mentioned, was owned by an older Greek immigrant couple, who worked there with their daughter. A large assortment of freshly baked hard crusted breads and rolls baked on the premises. A large heavy slicing machine if you wanted it sliced. I was often sent there to shop for my mom or grandmother, and would reward myself with a fresh out of their oven cinnamon cross bun for my effort.
Butler clothing on the corner was a bare space with many stacked boxes of shirts slacks, sweaters, shirts, shoes etc.
Yes, Teasties, on the corner of 190th & St. Nicks, where you could get an ice cream soda or a malted for 35 cents, and listen to the latest Everly brothers hits on the juke box. A fat young bookie worked out of there, who conducted business sitting on a counter stool next to the pay phone.
On the corner of 189th prior to the Cartwheel bar & grill, was was yet another German Deli where my mom would send me to get a quarter pound of liverwurst for 25 cents!
A few stores up was Carl and Georges candy store where my mom would send me to get the daily news, the daily mirror and a pretzel for 10 cents. Before they bought it in the mid 50’s it was called Mom’s. I believe her son ran his bookie business from there until he had to move to Teesties.
Your PS 189 memories rekindled mine …..Mrs. Heiler was my kindergarten teacher in 1951. Followed by Mrs Fisher, Mrs Lucy, Mrs Reich, Mrs Horowitz, Mrs. Samuels, and Mrs Gibson. The principal, Mr. Gross was a funny character who spoke in run on sentences, and would address girls by calling them “girly” .
Those were the days a teacher could throw a heavy ring of keys at students who misbehaved, as Mr. Curzon often did. Mr. Yungerman, the shop teacher, was known to smack students with the large metal rulers used for measuring wood cuts. A short wiry guy who meant business! I’m sure you remember the spring festivals held in the schoolyard where Mrs Goldsmith played the music on a piano hooked up to an old speaker. The festivities always started with dancing around the May pole and ended with a demonstration from the eighth grade boys of the “stunt club”. Their tumble salts, cart wheels, and pyramids would wow the assembled audience of the students and their parents.
Yes, I too remember the bagelman. He looked like Heidi’s grandfather with that white handlebar mustache. He sat on the SW corner of Audobon and 189th street, selling bagels to the students going home or returning from lunch. There were a number of refugees from Europe as a result of WWII. I remember a boy in my eighth grade class named Heinz Butt, who spoke with a thick German accent. One day he told me he hated Americans because his father was killed on a U boat sunk by the Americans.
I too remember those GW teachers. Karetsky was the dean when I was there. I also remember Mr Watts, who was known to throw heavy window poles like a spear at misbehaving students. Truly amazing no student was ever wounded. Mr. Eliff was a West Point classmate of President Eisenhower, who received a congratulatory letter from him when he retired in my freshman year.
Thanks again Carl for sparking some wonderful memories of a carefree era that came to an end, when I started college in 1963, and had to seriously start thinking about the next stage of my life.
Who could have ever thought then that we would be discussing our shared memories seven decades later in cyberspace!
Carl “Cuppy” Frischling New York, NY I was born and lived in Washington Heights for 27 years of my life, 22 of which were on Wadsworth Avenue, between 189th and 190th St. and then the last 5 years at 160 Bennet Avenue, as a married man to my wife, Adele (“Delly” Sadosky) Frischling.
My father (Irving) owned The Farmery Supermarket on St. Nicholas Ave. and 189th st. for over 35 years which was next to Marmelstein’s Bakery where my mother (Anne) worked and consequently met my father. I worked at the store all during my formative years. I went to PS 189 and to George Washington High School where I met Delly who went on to teach History there after she graduated college.
The names of my fellow students, teachers, friends, shopkeepers and customers that I was lucky to meet over the years are too numerous to mention, except to say that they were wonderful, creative, hardworking, helpful (the teachers), and just thinking about them brings joy when I think of them over these 80 plus past years.
The gyms, school yards and basketball courts, where I spent many wonderful years, gave all of us the opportunity to evaluate ourselves but others in not how good we were in sports, but how fair and considerate we should be to others. This supplemented what we learned at home, school and our religious training.
As I often said to my three sons and my grandchildren (all of whom fortunately live in NYC), “I wouldn’t have traded my upbringing for anything in the world”. You cannot get the experiences back, but at least these memories give it some level of eternity. I have to thank the creator of the Website for this.
You were nice to mention many of the neighborhood stores about which I will add my own memories.
Dave’s grocery store was across the street from the Farmery. Dave Wechsler lived on 189th between St. Nicholas and Audubon. He was a very nice man who hosted a breakfast every morning in his back room of his store for my father, and the Sheffeld Milk and Dairylea Milk drivers. Dave had the coffee, my father brought the Danish and the milk drivers brought the milk and cream. They referred to it as the “Breakfast Club”. No one else was allowed in.
Louie’s butcher shop was great. He had a helper. Seymour, who was a frustrated surgeon and was a skilled butcher. He was around my age who I knew when I worked at the store while I was in college.
Dave’s Deli was classic. They had the best Pastrami and Corned Beef. In the 3rd grade at PS 189, I was sent by my teacher, Mrs. Neirenberg during spelling period from 11:40 AM to 12:00 noon to buy her a Roast Beef sandwich for 65 cents and when I met her years later, she didn’t acknowledge that she was my teacher. I told her that I couldn’t spell because I missed the spelling class. (It’s a longer story).
Max Weissbrod owned the Appetizing Store next to the Farmery, who sold Smoked Salmon, Lox, Herring and Pickles in barrels. Balkan Bakery was on St. Nicholas between 189th and 190th that sold Mid-Eastern breads. Morris Senders Fruit Store (where you probably got the crate for your scooter). He made pickles in the rear of the store from small cucumbers which I can still taste. If you put one next to your ear, you could hear the “pickling”. Butler Clothing store which was on the N.E. corner of 189th and St. Nicholas. They sold corduroy pants and sneakers and it had the smell of clothing throughout.
Sam Zalaznick’s candy store down the block from the Farmery (you never knew him because had was murdered on Halloween in 1943 by 2 teenagers). They sold ice cream, candy, etc.
Eli Konig’s Dairy store on St. Nicholas (across from your building). He left the Farmery and set up a competitive store up the block. Harry’s barber shop across from Franks. I went there because Harry was a customer of our store.
Teesties, an ice cream parlor on 190th and St. Nicholas where I took my wife, Adele, on our first date in 1952. She had an egg cream and I had a lime rickey.
Sussman’s Candy store, as you went into the Subway station, on 191st St.
Cushman’s Bakery next to Sussman’s. Butcher Boy on 191st St. and St. Nicholas owned by Marty Lush, who was a gin rummy partner of my father and who taught my wife, Adele, how to drive a shift car on the 185th St. Hill.
Teachers at PS 189th that I remembered. Mr. and Mrs. Draddy (brother and sister), Mrs. White, Mrs. Neirenberg (2nd Grade), Mrs. White (3rd Grade), Mr. Curzon, Mr. Gross (Principal), Mr. Gussow (Vice Principal), Mr. Ungerman (Shop Teacher) who taught me to shoot foul shots underhand, in the gym because the ceiling was low, Miss Weinstein (6th Grade), Mrs. Samuelson.
G.W. Teachers. Mr. Orleans (Math Chair), Miss Siderbrand (sp?), Mrs. Ascher, Miss McGloin, Miss Gottesman, Mr. Henry, Mr. Myers, Mr. Wilkins, Miss Sofian, Mrs. O’Rourke, Mr. Karetsky (basketball coach), Mr. Flynn (basketball coach), Mr. Mullen, Mr. Warren, Mr. Ellif, Mr. Kutcher, Mrs. Ettinger, Mr. Connelly (Cherry Tree).
I love hearing about the games we played. A few more. Stick Ball, Marbles, Johnny Ride the Pony, Punch Ball, Stoop Ball.
Do you remember the Old Man with a big mustache who sold water bagels with salt on the corner of 189th St. and Audubon – 2 for 5 cents?
This was the best. I only remember good times.
My last memory was a Japanese-American family that lived down the block from you in a ground floor apartment, whose daughter, Florence Takiama, gave my 2 sisters ( who went to Music – Art HS) and me piano lessons in their apartment. I gave it up for Basketball at age 10 and she told me that I should take it up again (I unfortunately didn’t) and I stopped playing basketball at age 60. If anyone who recognizes my name would like to rekindle some of their memories, I can be reached at [email protected].
Margaret Mark Murray
I discovered your fabulous Website today and tumbled into the rabbit hole, spending hours enjoying memories of my childhood neighborhood. Thanks so much for organizing this!! Here are a few memories of my own.
In the ‘50’s and early “60’s, I lived at 81 Cabrini Boulevard, between 180th and 181st Street. Our first apartment was facing the alley, on the top floor of a walk-up. But it was not without its perks. The roof was just steps away and on hot summer nights my Dad would set up our “beach” chairs, and along with other neighbors, we would enjoy the river breezes. He also rigged up a pulley from our kitchen window to my Mom’s friend directly across the alley, so that the two ladies could transport items to each other (mostly cigarettes, I suspect 😊), clothes-pinned to the rope. ( I loved that alley because even though I was forbidden to go there, I sometimes secretly played there with the super’s kids who could navigate what seemed to me like a mysterious labyrinth of narrow, tunnel-like basement hallways that could be accessed from there. I also loved watching our neighbors building and decorating their little houses each year for Sukkot, transforming our alley into what looked like a charming little village.) We kids often played in the courtyard of the building as well, until a grumpy old lady, sick of the racket, dumped her wash water out the window and onto our heads.
Out on the sidewalk, we played in spontaneous groupings…nothing was ever pre-planned. I remember lots of scully, using bottlecaps; handball; potsy/hopscotch; roller skating (metal skates with keys)and among us girls, jump rope. One time a group of us came upon a huge box, took it up to the top of the 181st hill, climbed in and rolled all the way down to Riverside Drive and the steps. My knees were perpetually scabby.
On Saturdays when I was younger, my Dad would take me on big walks, often across the George Washington Bridge, where on the Fort Lee side there was a chocolate milk machine, and after stopping for that, we would sometimes walk North along the path on the edge of the Palisades. Later, my friends and I would go hang out at the many parks nearby, or go to Woolworths to see if we could win a banana split (as I recall, you popped a balloon and the winning tag might be inside). We’d also take goofy group pictures in the photo booth, and try on the fake jewelry, which included big rings that mimicked high school or college rings, which we would try on, pretending we had boyfriends!
I went to Incarnation, which was so overcrowded at the time, we only went for either the morning or afternoon session, and even so, had about 50 kids in each class. It was amazing how those nuns could manage us. I went on to Mother Cabrini High School, which I found to be a beautiful and expansive experience, and then to Fordham.
The neighborhood was ethnically very mixed at the time, which seemed perfectly wonderful to me as a kid. One of my closest friends was Puerto Rican, another was Slovak and my first little “boyfriend” was Cuban. I loved spending time in my Mother’s across-the-alley-friend’s apartment, which seemed very exotic to me, being that she was a recent German-Jewish immigrant, and her place was filled with beautiful fabrics and furniture, art work, and luscious candies and treats that I never saw elsewhere. I think it was a richly stimulating childhood environment in many ways, but I wouldn’t totally romanticize it. There were gangs – I think mostly toward the Highbridge side of the neighborhood – and I seem to recall the death of a boy named Michael. There was some borderline poverty, and a few of the immigrant families I knew at Incarnation really struggled with adapting to a world radically different from the one they were accustomed to.
I go back every year or so, since I don’t live very far away and enjoy seeing the old haunts. If anything, the neighborhood is nicer! (At least, the West of Broadway part of it, which is what I know best and primarily check out.) There are planters and jardinières on Cabrini Blvd., which would have been smashed or stolen in my youth. There’s more racial diversity than I remember, and commerce seems to be thriving on 181st Street. Sadly, Cabrini High is no more, but Incarnation still serves the neighborhood and when I went last, I found there’s now a lovely roof-top garden/play area with gorgeous views of the Bridge. Quite an addition to a very stolid, prison-like structure.
So we Washington Heights folks should feel good that our neighborhood survives and offers new memories for new generations.
Thanks for reading. I will send along some photos soon. I have many.
Katherine Dedonno Taflambas
My parents moved to 601 West 177th Street shortly after my birth (1960). Washington Heights was a large Greek community at the time. We had a HUGE railroad apartment on the 4th floor, and I remember looking at all of 177th Street from some of our windows and St. Nicholas Avenue from others. I went to P.S. 132 until the second grade, at which time I moved to Astoria, Queens. During that time, I had Ms. Affling in the 1st grade and Ms. Horowitz/Ms. Meyer in the 2nd grade.
Marilee Eckert In the mid.1980s, after graduating from Juilliard, teaching at a college outside NYC and pursuing doctorate at Columbia U...I lived on 192nd and Broadway with roommate, Saudi..opera singer from Juilliard..now living in Princeton, NJ. After she married, I moved across the street and sublet apt. from opera singer friend, Martha..now living in Europe. Our building..500 apts...that faced the entrance of the A train on Bennett Ave...an Hassudic Jewish neighborhood and in the 1980s largest community of German Jews in the world, even over Israel, at the time. The apt. complex had a rose garden and my Friend sang arias to the elderly people ages 70~100. she befriended some of the holocaust survivors and one.by.One, the shared their horrific experiences in the Nazi camps of WWII.
Over 1 1/2 years of collaboration, Martha and I, composed a song cycle called, Voices of the Holocaust, registered in the Library of Congress. We premiered the work in 1997 at the 192nd Y. though we notified media, there was no coverage. However, nearly 100 survivors attended. We were blown away that these people would come to our recital..being two German Christian girls! Ushie Lichtenstein, survivor, once said, "you must, if only for yourself, forgive." An amazing statement from someone so horribly abused, she was not able to bear children. She was one of the kindest, softest people I ever met. I will ever remember the gentle kiss on my cheek from this Cohen Levite.
I live in the Seattle, WA area, where I was born to parents from the Spokane WA area. Martha was from Ohio. My years on Bennett Avenue are deep in my heart. Herbert and I show Lichtenstein, Rose and Marion Constantine, the Arons of the St Louis and others.
William Rapaport Anyone reading this who graduated 6th grade from PS 173 in 1958 should contact me to join our email list. Billy Rapaport, [email protected]
Charles Pinning What a great website! I did not live in Washington Heights, but I am working on a story and seeking information about H. Jerome "Jerry" Alterwho taught music at P.S. 187 during the 1960's: What kinds of instruments he played, etc. He eventually moved to New Mexico with hiswife, Sara, also known as Rita, a speech pathologist, and died there in 2012. Rita died a year ago. They had two children, Joseph and Barbara, but no luck locating them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 401-272-5472 www.charlespinning.com
Louise Lunn I came across your website when I was researching my uncle Charles R. Blair. I really enjoyed reading all the stories of Washington Heights back in the day!
I was wondering if anyone knew of him, or had any information about him. He lived at 867 181st Street. He was the apartment superintendent (born in 1891). While he lived in the area for over 30 years, he only lived at that address for a bit. I go into this knowing he probably was not a great person...in fact, more of a gangster and definitely a drinker. He eventually was sent to prison, where he died. My aunt and cousin came back to Canada in 1940.
They had a lovely little girl named Carolyn. She was born in 1934. She would have lived there for six years before leaving. If anyone knows of him, or has any stories about him, I would love to hear from you.
Louise Lunn
[email protected]
Karen Paletta Evans (Malloy); Raleigh, NC., (now P. Grady): We (my mom and I) moved to 515 W. 187th St., between Amsterdam and Audubon when I was in the second grade, 1959. I spent 5 years in PS 189, second through sixth grades. My mom was a civil rights worker and we got the apartment through a civil rights organization, there were no other black families in the neighborhood at the time we moved in, and later there were none that were not superintendents of the buildings. In 1959 I was the first Black child to attend PS 189, I was put in class 2-1 and I think my teachers name was Mrs. Smith. I was the only Black student for a long time; till busing. During the civil rights years and the turmoil of those times I remember having the best Caucasian friends; (that’s all I had), Deborah Nadoolman, Peggy Mitchell. During the years of boycotting, my mom ( a teacher) was allowed to open a “Freedom School” in Yeshiva University, (right across the street); until they began bussing other minority students in from Harlem. By the time 4th and 5th grade rolled around ’61-’62, my friends became the minorities that were in my classes; Karen Soeda, (Chinese), she lived on the other side of St. Nicholas Ave., her father was a baker, and always made cookies for the class; our class always had the BEST cookies! Rita Rodriquez, she lived on Audubon between 187th and 188th, and finally my one bussed in friend, Debbie Allen, from 155th and Amsterdam Ave. I went to JHS 52 for a year after 6th grade at PS 189. After that we moved to 735 w. 172nd St. on the corner of Haven Ave. I could walk out the door and see the GW Bridge and the Hudson River. I think I was going to JHS 115 then. We stayed there on 172nd St. till I went to a boarding school in NC for my freshman and sophomore years. I have so many memories of 187th St., “Carmine’s” the candy store/later soda fountain on Amsterdam between 187th and 188th, “Barnette’s” on Audubon, between 187th and 186th, “The Spanish Store,” that you had to go downstairs to get into on 187th between Audubon and St. Nick. Playing in the street at the end of the day, waiting for “Mr. Softee” while my Mom sat on the stoop with the other ladies of the building. Maxine, Marlene, and Debra, they were the superintendents kids in the building next to mine, Patricia and Julian Andenous; whew!, never forget them, she was my best friend, and I had the biggest crush on her older brother. I remember Carmine’s 10 cent egg creams and 2 cent pretzel rods, skating in the street with all metal skates WITHOUT a helmet or knee pads and a skate key on a string around my neck., I made it through! Does anyone remember the 15 cent slice and 10 cent soda at the pizza parlor on 181st and St. Nicholas? I remember good times hangin’ at the Bridge Apts. I never went to GW after boarding school; I did not want to take NY state Regents. My Mom had a friend in Englewood that let us use her address, and I walked to the GW Bridge bus station to go to Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood NJ for my junior and senior years of high school. I graduated from there, went to college, Shaw University in NC, got married, had a daughter , got divorced and finally moved out of NYC. I remember my life and times in Washington Heights; they were good childhood memories; memories that still make me smile today.
If anyone has some memories that cross with mine, please reach out to me….If anyone remembers me, please…. I’d love to reminisce. I think one of the other people on this site and I moved to the same building after moving from 187th St. His name was Paul Prince, I did not know him, but the coincidence was amazing. Email:[email protected]
Rita Avrick To Rita Bregman: Loved your reminiscences. The name isn’t familiar, but our paths must have crossed at some point– I lived up the street from you on 100 Bennett (across 186thSt.) from 1941 to 1950, and also went to P.S. 132. Were we maybe in the same classes? All those names you mention now seem from another life: Miss Forsch, Miss Borack, Grace and Frances Drake, Patricia Donnelly, Michael Reiter. When I went to 132 Miss Forsch was assistant principal. The head honcho was Mr. Kraus, a white-haired gentleman of maybe 60, which then seemed very old. My kindergarten teacher was Miss Borack, assisted by a dour and taciturn Miss Rosnau. I had Dorothy Garson in 1stgrade, Catherine Keane in 2nd, Mary Schaefer in 3rd. My family moved to Queens in 1950, so I missed 4thgrade with the dreaded Mrs. Diamond.Once a week in 3rdgrade we had a reading class with the older Miss Drake, who introduced us to My Weekly Reader, and whose classes I remember with particular fondness.
Funny how some incidents stick in your memory: I recall the day Patty Donnelly came to our 2nd grade class dressed in white, on her way to “Carnation Church” for her Confirmation. As she left the classroom, Mrs. Keane gushed: “May you look this beautiful on your wedding day!” Mrs. Keane was a stern disciplinarian (“I’ll land on you like a ton of bricks”) but at heart a sentimentalist, in love with old Irish names like Bridget and the music of Victor Herbert (we spent the weeks leading up to St. Pat’s Day learning tunes from “Babes in Toyland.”). She was given to long monologues on life as a vale of tears. (This Jewish boy apparently acquired from her a smidgen of brogue, and in high school dramatics I was type-cast in Irish character roles.) I suspect Mrs. Keane’s demonstrative ethnic pride may have had something to do with the shifting demographics of the (once solidly Irish) NYC elementary school teaching profession in the postwar years. Identity was a big deal back then, too, but it tended in general toward the binary (Irish/Italian Catholic vs. Jewish; the Wasps were mostly downtown or up in Westchester and the Lutherans out in Jersey and L.I.). It had nothing to do with race (people of color were visible, if at all, only on the IRT or on cleaning day), let alone gender or sexuality. A very different Washington Heights from the one Lin-Manuel Miranda grew up in.
My sidewalk was too narrow for stickball. My diversions were long walks (from Ft. Tryon down to Amsterdam Ave), subway rides (Inwood to New Lots on the A train), and double-feature matinees at the RKO Coliseum, Loews 175th St, and their two raffish cousins, the Lane and Gem theaters on 181 St. off Audubon Ave. Back then it was safe even for an eight-year-old to wander the city unescorted.
Shirley McVea I lived in Washington Heights from my birth in 1941 until I attended nursing school at the now defunct Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in 1961. My father and mother raised six children in a three bedroom railroad flat. I lived at 2110 Amsterdam Avenue, near 165th Street. It was located east of St. Nicolas Avenue and west of Edgecombe Avenue.
I attended PS 169, located at Audubon Avenue between 168 & 169th streets. This school was well diversified. My best friends were Anna Valasky and Eugenia Skinner. At that time Mr. Malesky was the principal. I remember him so well because he started my older brother doing crossword puzzles of which Mr. Malesky wrote weekly puzzles in The NY Times. One thing I remember doing about 2-3 times a week was going to the neighborhood library which was located about 8 blooks south of my home on St. Nicolas Place.
Upon leaving elementary school my siblings and I attended JHS 164 ( Stitt Junior High). It was located on Edgecombe Avenue and 164th & 165th Streets. After JHS I chose to go to Commerce HS to follow my sisters to where they went instead of going to George Washing HS where many of my neighborhood friends attended. At Commerce I qualified to attend their honor school which was called Lincoln Park of which I graduated in 1959.
During my youthful times many of the neighborhood children would play in the parks near our neighborhood, one namely Edgecombe Park which spread from 177th St. and south to 155th St. At the south end of the park I remember looking down from Edgecombe Ave. where you could see the Polo Grounds and looking further past you'd see the the East River and across was the Yankee Stadium which was in another borough, the Bronx. I was told at an early age that this was the end of Washington Heights.
Then when we turned our fun to go to the park area to the west we would walk toward Presbyterian Hospital which at that time was not as large as it is today. It was in walking distance, across from the park, near the Hudson River, and the lighthouse which was at the base of the George Washington Bridge.
I remember the summers when many of my friends went away to visit usually their grandparents in other states and the remaining children would plan their own schedules of: going on picnics, bicycle riding through the parks, playing stick ball and racing marathons. We did not have adult organized sports yet we enjoyed self-organized activities.
From my perspective, life was fun and free of division or perhaps it's because we did not have the development of the technological era until the late 60s or early 70s.
Jennifer Chang My family lived in Washington Heights around 1949 - 1960. My grandmother passed away last October and it came out that she had some secrets involving a black man who worked in a pharmacy in Washington Heights in 1950. He may have fathered one of my Aunts (she doesn't look like anyone else in the family). My grandmother refused to talk about it, to her dying day. I was hoping maybe you or someone from the old neighborhood might have memories of a black man who worked in a pharmacy. From what we've pieced together so far, he had a Caribbean accent (possibly Jamaican or Virgin Islands?), wore glasses, and he went to high school and college. The names "Joey Adams" and "Melvin Martin" have come up, but no one can verify.
If you or any memory sharers from your site can provide any help or details, my family and I would be most grateful.
2/7/18
Rita (Avrick) Bregman, San Francisco, CA I lived in apt. 7L at 160 Bennett Avenue from 1941 - 51, but went back to the Heights regularly to see friends and family. All the kids in both 150 and 160 Bennett were within a few years of one another. Despite the rivalry between buildings, we were close. We played stickball in the lot next to 160, flipped baseball cards on the side of the building, went sleigh riding on the hill in the back, and roller skated all around. The wide sidewalks and building entry were great for that I got walked to PS 132 up until around 4th grade, and then walked to and from school after that alone. My best friend at school was Patty Donnelly who lived on 189th, where Michael Reiter also lived, but I was also friends with the kids in my building who included Andrea Radlauer, Maydie Goldberg, and Caroline Keston. I think Patty was one of the kids who was picked up every week during school hours to be taken to the "Church Of The Carnation" for catechism class. Starting with Mrs. Borack in kindergarten, the teachers I can remember were "the first Miss Drake," Mrs. Peterson; "the second Miss Drake,", Mrs. Sulkes, and Miss Klein (eek!). Miss Forsch was the principal.
I can remember when you would take the streetcar across 181st Street for a nickel, and all the fun eateries and stores that so many have mentioned. My mother shopped at the Safeway on Broadway where you could get a pound of freshly ground, heavenly smelling "5 O'Clock" coffee. You could sit at the movies for hours watching bad cowboy flicks and fun cartoons, and get the best BLT at the 5 and 10. Your mother could throw down a dime wrapped in a hankie for ice cream from Good Humor or Bungalow Bar, and the "I cash clothes man," the seltzer man, the milk man, and even the ice man were all part of our lives. Someone said the "I cash clothes man" had been shell-shocked in the war because he always had one hand on his back as he took giant strides down the street chanting his chant. I met Marty Trautman, whom I dated briefly, and the rest of the Chevrons as a teenager at my friend Sandy Gelb's apartment in Inwood after my family moved to NJ.
Of course there were lots more really wonderful times filled with precious memories of family and friends -- experiences which I know I didn't appreciate until I was much older. Thanks for helping to bring back some of those times!!
Regina Artman Avraham
I lived on 187th and Amsterdam, right across from Yeshiva University. I would walk to school, passing Miller's candy store and Zunder's grocery on the way to years of such wonderful memories and friendships. I attended PS189 from 1940 to 1948, and was in the school orchestra when I was in Kg - where I loved Miss Heiler so much, and where I learned to play the violin. I still have the sheet music of a very abbreviated form of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony! Mr. Pappazian was a volunteer who also gave private lessons at his home. The memories of those war years are etched in my head... the newspapers mom packed each day for the war effort, and that earned my sister and me a commendation card at the weekly assembly. Egad, the white middy blouse and red tie were so perfect with the pleated blue skirt I remember so well.
I could write a book about every year at 189, and the teachers who shaped my childhood. Where, oh where, would my writing career have gone without Miss Draddy's superb grammar rules? At any rate, I went on to GW (Class of '52), loved it, went on to CCNY (Class of '55), loved it....married, had two great kids, retired from writing and teaching a while back, and now live on City Island. Greatest moment was meeting with George K., a Kindergarten classmate, who flew in from California for a two person 'reunion'...and we drove up to PS189 and were allowed to tour the school. It felt exactly the same as when i was a little kid who knew some English, but not enough to escape being called a 'dirty refugee' ...shame on you Marcia M. :-)
The playground across from the school with its play house and monkey bars and wonderful swings were freedom itself. Watching the trolley car turn around on its circular swivel at the end of it's 190th street route never was boring, and when the 'new houses' went up on the east side of Amsterdam Avenue, - the tracks became the demarcation symbol of the haves and the have nots. But the kids all were friends, and who knew from economics? I remember the terrible day - think it was 1946- that the apartment house explosion left more than 30 people dead as a gas leak turned the building's facade into an open wound. No place is all good memories.
I could write on and one...about the wonderful free concerts at Lewisohn Stadium at CCNY, - where every summer Oscar Levant played Gershwin to a filled outdoor amphitheater. So, reading the contributions brought tears and memories and so much love. I can be reached at [email protected], and some of my editorials are up at http://tvnewslies.org, where I still reign as news manager and contributing editor.
Ron Levao New York What a lovely site, with lovely sights. I don't have any old photos, but here's a video link for a short documentary about the wonderful Loew's theater, my home away from home, which is now called the United Palace Theater. It starts with some material about Rev. Ike who saved the Church from being demolished, but then discussion turns to the movie palace as we boomers remember it, and my twin brother and I are interviewed in the documentary. Movies have never been as scary, colorful, or escapist as they were here!
http://watch.thirteen.org/video/1162748525/
Marilyn Jaboolian Smith McLean The Villages in Florida
WOW! I lived in Washington Heights at 191 St across from GWHS from 1935 to about 1955. I was the official pianist of PS 189 and played for all the assemblies and musical productions. My family attended Holy Cross Armenian Church at 187 St and I was the organist there. So many wonderful memories of a cultural mix living in harmony together. We lived in a rent controlled apartment and used a dumb waiter for our garbage collection. My mom used a wash board an hung the laundry between two outside windows. Our apt no. was 41 which I still use as a ‘lucky’ number. Went on to Music and Art HS and then Hunter College because my parents could not afford to send me to Oberlin…even with a scholarship…and then NYU. Recently visited old haunts in the Heights and it looked so different to me. No one mentioned marbles which we played in the streets in the spring…..all street games. What a great childhood
Irma Wilmington DE Hi. I was doing research on the internet about a school in NYC called PS 132 and came across your website and email address. I have an old high school diploma presentation cover from that high school. It does not have the individual’s diploma in it anymore but it does have a an original copy of the High School graduation program from June 23, 1937. One of the graduates on the list was the father of a good friend of mine. Sadly, he is no longer with us. His daughter had given me the cover years ago to sell on eBay. I never got around to it and just recently found it again. I was wondering if you would know of anyone who may be interested in having this piece of nostalgia? I can send you a photo of it, if you would like. I discovered in my researching that the building that is on the cover of the graduation program is the same building that is now (or recently was) an elementary school called Juan Pablo Duarte. I enjoyed reading about the history of that area of NYC, what a great neighborhood it must have been in the early to mid 1900s. I myself grew up in the 1960s in upstate NY. Please let me know if you have any interest in more information about this item I have. Just want to find a good home for it and not send it to the landfill.
George Wormser
This 1945 photo shows Marilyn Larkin (now Marilyn Wormser), Herbert Wallowitz and Jerry Bursen sitting on the wall of J.Hood Wright Park, Fort Washington Avenue between 173rd and 176th Street. It is a famous wall where generations of young people have gathered and enjoyed social gatherings. A beautiful neighborhood to have grown up in.
Peter Freitag Lakewood, Colorado
I was born in Beth David Hospital in 1950 and my family--father, Carl; mother, Ruth; grandmother Bertha (Betty) Freitag--and I lived for 6 months in an apartment on 172nd Street just north of Fort Washington Avenue. We then relocated to 730 West 183rd Street (between Magaw Place and Fort Washington Avenue) to a 5-room apartment on the 5th floor of that walk-up apartment building.
I was pleased to see a post from Maureen Wertheim, five years my junior, whose parents, Charlie and Lottie were friends of my parents. I believe that Charlie was related to Simon and Ruth Edelman, other family friends. I recall Maureen and her brother Steve from my many years at Beth Hillel Synagogue. I saw a post also from Alan Berger who, if I'm remembering correctly, was somewhat older than I was but also a friend at Beth Hillel.
I have been recording my memories of the Heights for several years and don't know where exactly to begin, except to say that my time living in "Frankfurt on the Hudson" were remarkable in the freedom they afforded. My parents and grandmother had escaped Germany rather late, arriving in the U.S. in 1940 and 1941. I went to P.S. 187 then J.H.S. 52 and from 1964-1967 I attended the Bronx High School of Science. My friends and co-workers (I am now working at the University of Colorado in Boulder) tell me that my vivid memories of my youth astound them.
I was a student in Mrs. Grundeen's kindergarten class at 187 but was "skipped" into the first grade after a couple of months, when I became a student of Sarah Karetsky's. In second grade: Dororthy Fink; third grade: Mrs. Karetsky again; fourth grade: Frances McDermott; fifth grade: Aaron Orange (who Alan mentioned); sixth grade: Margaret Buono. My strongest memory of the school: having been sent to the basement in 6th grade with another boy to gather some garden tools (our class was going to tend the garden that day) when the coal chute opened and coal started to rain down upon us. We ran like hell to get out of there. The brass door knobs in the school bore, if I am remembering correctly, embossed lettering of the New York City Public School System. I could go on . . . and on . . . and on but, for now, will sit back and read what others have to say. Greetings to all from Washington Heights and Inwood.
Paul Prince Lakeland FL
I lived in the heights from my birth in 1936 till I moved to Jersey in 1962. I remember living on Audubon Avenue between 186th and 187th street when I started school at PS189. Before that I went to a pre-school classes in the park school on Amsterdam and 188th St. During WW2 we kids planted a "Victory Garden" in the plant house lot at 189th and Amsterdam.In 1943 we moved to 572 West 187th St, Apt 33. We had a Telephone in the Lobby (no-one had their own then) and when it rang the nearest person answered it, rang the bell of the apartment getting the call, and would shout the name out and up the open stairwell to alert them they had a call.There was a Jewish Deli on the NE corner of 187th and St Nicholas and I remember 25cent Pastrami, Corn Beef and Roast Beef sandwiches. Between 186th and 187th on the East side of St Nick was a candy store "Sis's" where we used to hang out and get 8cent eggcreams and 2cent salted pretzel rods, read comic books, smoke cigarettes and harass the girls.I spent 8 years in PS189, graduated in 1949 and then went to GW for 4 years. After I got back from the Army and some travel I got married and moved to 735 west 172nd ST, Lived on the 5th floor walkup, had a daughter and spent time around 165th to 172nd, shopping, partying and hanging.The Heights was a great place to grow up in and I still think that in the 50's New York City offered us kids a "Cornucopia of Riches". I saw NYC on my G.O. card. Didn't you? I can be reached at [email protected]
Ray Roberts Millville NJ For me the Heights was a magical place like no other neighborhood before or since.From the age of 8 or 9 you lived your life almost entirely on the "streets" with little worry facing challenges of survival and athletics etc.Never once in 20 yrs were you bored,there were always new nooks and cranny's to search out...too many to name.But my fondest memories are of the Incarnation School Day Camp and Highbridge Park.Some of the most beautiful girls I've known were Counselors at that camp...veritable Charlie's Angels.Who can forget coming out of the pool on bright Summer late mornings eating cones of French fries with salt and ketchup(.25cents) on the park benches while the birds sang and time stood still.And it "was good" and all was mostly blessed by a palpable God who inspired denizens of the Heights with dreams and ideals and belief that life had purpose.Where has it all gone?It started to die I think on charmed nights of alcholic excess on "the Wall" at Highbridge Park.A rite of passage consuming innocence and propelling it's participants out into the world and destiny.Never again for sure but never forgotten..my beloved Washington Heights.
George Cooper Millville NJ I Just found this site and read the comments contained within it. I lived in many different houses prior to the second WW. Was a member of the Beacons during the 1947-49's and left for the military in January of 1950. Remained in the service until January of 1971. After retirement I moved into 500 W 175 Street, married Gloria Castenada Tores. For a short period in 1971-73 I owned the Beacon Bar on Amsterdam Avenue between 178 and 177 Street (or should I say it owned me). I now live in Millville NJ in the summer, and Ft. Lauderdale Fl in the winter. What great stories we all shared, if anyone out there remembers me I can be reached at [email protected]..
Mike Pappas Thank you so much for your prompt response advising me I could include the picture of the small plane landing on St. Nicholas Avenue in my book. I grew up on 184th Street between St. Nicholas and Audubon Avenue and also graduated from George Washington High School in 1955 after attending p.s.132. The title of my book is "Lifelong Adventures Of An Underachiever." It is currently being edited by my publisher and should be available around November of this year. It portrays my life from age three to the present. It's a quick read and contains many funny stories, the major themes being you need to have a loving spouse and some spirituality if you are going to have a fulfilling life. It also emphasizes that an emotionally and physically healthy American who can not make it in this great country of ours just isn't trying. If it is okay with you, I will give you information on where the book can be found after its completion.
Anthony (Tony) Rodriguez Planas-Conde...Ft.Worth, Tx
What a wonderful and pleasant surprise to have come across this site. I was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico 1935 but lived in Washington Heights between 1944 till December 1951. I lived with my parents at 701 W. 180th st the last 2 years before returning to the island. The fondest memories of course are one's teenage years, so 180 st, holds the most of those very special memories. I wish we could turn back time and relive, for just one day, those special memories with my dear-dear friends and girl friends. In hopes that some will read this, and hopefully remember me, please get in touch even if it's just for one last time. Here are some of the names I remember from our gang, The Dragoons, names like...Reynol and Archie Diaz, Jr. Keeley, Arnold Narzemsky, Pete Reynolds...girl friends like Syril Rubel, Zelda Gonzalez, Helen, Frances. There were more, whose last names and full names over the many years, have been erased from my mind but not forgotten, and except for Syril, all lived on 180 st. I attended PS 169, PS 115, then freshman and sophomore years at George Washington HS before returning to PR. During HS I worked at the old Pandalfo's Vegetable and Fruit store where I met Syril. The store I believe is gone now but it was located closer to the Cloisters in a very nice Jewish neighborhood. Syril also attended GWHS. I remember the fun we used to have playing stick-ball, hand ball, and curb ball with the gang on 180 st. And who can forget spin the bottle and ring alivio games. Playing PAL baseball and boxing. Going to The RKO Coliseum on 181st and Broadway for movies. The Automat on 181st and jogging across to NJ on the GW Bridge. I remember when some 7 of us decided to ride our bikes all the way to Bear Mountain one Friday afternoon. I slept a solid 24-hrs, into Sunday, after we got back. Usually on Friday nights we would get on the 8th Ave train, destination, Times Square. Just fun-fun memories. Between Dec 1951 and 2012, I obtained my Airplane & Powerplant license while working for Eastern Airlines, obtained also my private pilots license, graduated as an Aerospace Engineer (BSAE) from the Univ of Florida followed by a masters from Southern Methodist Univ (SMU) in Science in Engineering (MSE). Worked and retired from General Dynamics now Lockheed here in Ft. Worth. Married since 1959 to a wonderful woman of Puerto Rican parents and had 4 wonderful and beautiful children. We have been enjoying 4 grandchildren one of whom is currently in his 2nd year at West Point...We are so proud of ALL four. If you remember knowing me please write at [email protected] I would just love to hear from you.
Gary Markman New York
I graduated 189 in 1959 – last 8th grade class. (Still have the graduation photo). My dad tricked me into taking the test for Stuyvesant & when I protested going there instead of GW (girls vs no girls; 10 min walk vs 1:15 + 2 subways), he suggested that if I wanted to live indoors for the next 4 years, I’d be riding the subway a lot on my way to school. (Btw Stuyvesant was a great experience).
I grew up at 599 W. 190th …the building above Asbell’s Drug Store on the corner of St Nicholas Av. I fondly recall parking “around the bend” (Amsterdam Av); egg creams for $.10 in the ice cream parlor; the day the NY Mirror raised their price from $.02 to $.03 which resulted in my father only buying the Daily News which was still $.02.; tossing our stick ball bat under a car & running like hell when a cop car would turn the corner. I tripped over this site doing a search for Linda Gibson, who was one of the best teachers I ever had at any level. I’d love to catch up with her. I did meet Leo Wagner many years later (another outstanding teacher & coach). He had to be well into his 60’s at the time and looked 20 years younger in his tennis shorts & t-shirt.
If anyone knows how to contact Mrs. Gibson, the info would be greatly appreciated..
Carol Holtz
I was one of the lucky ones. I was born in 1945 and lived on Audubon Avenue and 185th St. I went to Yeshiva Rabbi Moses Soloveichik. Naturally most of the children in the school were refugees or their parents were. Mostly German Jewish. We were always in competition with Breuers which was on Bennett Avenue. We were the ones who learned spoken Hebrew. My Mother used to go to Frank's bakery on Friday for her streussel Kuchen. And to Abeles and Liebman or Gutman and Mayer for her meats and cold cuts. If she wanted to walk - it would be to Bloch and Falk who had the biggest assortment of cold cuts. Max Goldschmidt was the corner store on St. Nicholas Avenue and 185th St. You always wanted to stop there and see what is on TV. We only got our first set in 1955. There was a small luncheonette next door where you could get a scoop of Ice cream and one of Ices for 12 cents. The subway was 10 cents and so was a phone call. None of our parents were rich. We all made do with playing outside with each other - be it scully or stick ball or soft ball or slug. We jumped rope we were busy. We were happy.
Frank Langenhan Braunschweig Germany
Hello, I lived in 508 West 166th Street in the basement apartment. My father, Hank, was the super in the Apartment Building from 1956 -1963. The building was on the corner of Amsterdam Ave. I went to the PS 128 at 560 W 169th Street for one year, and then tp JHS 164 Edward W. Stitt from 1957 - 1960. After I attended the G.W. High School from 1960 -1963. I was 18 years old at that time but I remember very well, walking on the Hudson River Riverside Drive under the George Washington Bridge and looking over to New Jersey. I would walk thru Ft Tryon Park, the Cloisters till the end of Manhattan and back. There were many nice people living in my Apartment House. I remember Mr. and Mrs. Irving Friedman, they had no children so every weekend they took me to their Farm to Duchess County (Clinton Corners). I learned a lot from Mr. Irving Friedman and from Mrs. Chester Friedman. My Family moved back to Germany in 1963 and I had to go had no choice but to return with them. I will always be a New Yorker, if I can turn Time back to 1962 or 1963 I would run away from home, go westwards like Huckleberry Finn, but now it is too late.
I remember in 1962 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to GW High School to speak to the students in the auditorium. I was in the back of auditorium with all the students and listened to his speech. New York: "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere". Frank Sinatra. Even in Germany now. I remember on 166th street, there was a little park Rock with benches around the Rock, with trees and a bus station on 166th and 167th street near Broadway. In the summer it was very hot in the apartment, and my parents and I would sit there for cool fresh air coming up from Broadway. Forgive me for my English, but I left the USA in 1963 since then I live in Germany between Hannover and Berlin in the Braunschweig Brunswick Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Tony Lauria Sussex County NJ
I was born in St Elizabeths Hospital in 1953…..Lived on Wadsworth Terrace….My grandfather,Guiseppe {Joe} Lauria owned Saint Nicholas Shoe repair on St. Nicholas Ave between 185th and 186th Street……..too many memories…especially walking “down the avenue” to 181st St……Good Lord we walked all over the Heights…
Ella Paets Miami
I moved to the Heights when I was 8 in 1944 and lived on Wadsworth Avenue and 189 Street. I went to P.S. 189 for grades 3 to 5. Then to P.S. 169 for grades 5 and 6. P.S. 132 for grades 7 and 8. Finally GW for Grade 9 before moving to Miami with my parents.
I remember some friends and would enjoy an internet connection with some of them. I remember so well, the boys playing stickball and the girls watching them. That was always exciting! Mary Kohl had the prettiest bedroom of any girl I knew. Violetta's family ate wonderful meals and often invited me to join them. What happened to Mike Graber? Billy Jackwin? Are you out there somewhere.
I remember playing hookey so that I could visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art! How good could that me.
Blanqua Kelly
First I'd like to tell you that I really enjoyed your nostalgic walk thru time. I lived on 168 and Amsterdam from age 9 months till age 15-16 then we moved to 173rd st. Later in my life I lived in a studio apt between Fort Washington & Broadway 181st with the RKO right there !! There was a Pizzeria two stores down from me a wonderful bakery and up from the the baker towards Fort Washington corner great Soda shop had the best egg creams and news stand ever! I went to school [Stitt JHS] with some of the Teenagers . My brother sang doo wop.. with them - he is older and still retains a friendship with Herman Santiago . I am 61 yrs old and still love and miss it all [city] except there was some things that were part of the scene and part of the changing neighborhood that was hard to take but overall still luv NYC. I will always will be a newyorker @heart thanks again
Michelle
Remember Falcaro's Bowling Alley which was in the subway arcade entrance on 181st Street, down the stairs. My dad owned it. There were two other Falcaro 'establishments' in the Heights, one called the Eldorado Lounge (also known as Falcaro's Nite Spot) on Ft. Washington Avenue at 185th (?) street, and another one block up from the bus terminal called the Coliseum Lounge. As I sort through Dad's things I'll scan them and forward to you. Its a little difficult since he died only a few months ago. The bowling alleys burned down on Easter Sunday in 1957/1958, and my Dad went down the ladders to pull out the safe and the alcohol. We had cases of beer in the garage for years! At the Eldorado lounge I saw the Del Vikings, Tito Puente and a few other groups. We called my grandmother "the bouncer" for the bar, and she was always cooking something up in the kitchen. I also remember running around behind the bar when I was about 3.
We lived at 142 Laurel Hill Terrace and remember are the Falahees (Peggy, Brian and Joseph), and the Venitches (Varcia and Johnny). I don't recall the super's name, but I clearly remember the milk vending machine in the basement and the laundry room (it had no dryers) and the stairs to the roof to hang wash.The Heights was a great place to be growing up. Family was always within earshot, shopping in walking distance. I remember kids playing 'potsie', jacks, and everything else you could do without adult supervision and strict adherence to "the rules". We pretty much made them up as we went along and we managed!
Judy Corlear
What a great site! I lived at 545 West 164 St. until 4th grade (around 1945) when we moved to the Bronx. Before that I attended St. Rose of Lima School. I remember parades on Broadway with tanks and soldiers during WWII and with cheering crowds lining the sidewalks; the air raid drills, posters with "Uncle Sam wants You' and "Loose Lips sink Ships". I loved when my mother took us up to 181 St., going to the big Woolworths and after that the Automat. Going up to Highbridge pool was a treat. I remember when I was older taking the IRT from the Bronx to shop at Wertheimer's which was like Saks to me. We played curb ball in front of our apartment building in the street, put pennies on the trolley tracks, used gum on a stick to get the coins dropped in the grills on the sidewalks over the trains. Everyone knew the kids names who lived on the block. Some of the Fanwoods (the Fords) lived down the other corner from us. I was friends with Patsy Clancy who lived across the street but lost touch a long time ago. My father owned a bar and grill for years at 168 St. and Amsterdam Avenue, Kennedy's. It's long gone now and has been made part of the apartment building it was built under.
Lorette Datomo-Martin
As I think back life was simpler then. We all had very little, but everyone we knew had very little so it didn't seem to matter. Most lived in small apartments in walk-up buildings. Our big family outing in the summer was to pile into my Uncle Donald's beer truck, sitting on the floor in the back with the smell of stale beer, and going to Laurel Lake in Montvale, NJ. To us it was a trip to the "country". Years later I lived a very short distance from where the lake had been in Pearl River, NY. Attending PS 189 was like being a part of small town New York City. We went to school with the same children from kindergarten through 8th grade. People can hardly believe it when I tell them about our assembly days with navy blue skirts or trousers, the boys in white shirts and red ties and the girls in middie blouses. The girls had sewing classes where we had to make our own graduation dress in order to attend the graduation. I remember practicing for the May Day Celebration with our May Pole. Lots of fine memories of PS 189, some wonderful teachers who I still credit as part of a tremendous learning experience. Great fun in the school yard also - learning experiences of a different kind. GWHS was just a mass of people where you could hardly get to know anyone. Spending time at Teasties was the bright spot in my high school memories and, of course, my high school boyfriend, Richie Drews. I was born in 1943, lived on St. Nicholas Ave. between 186 and 187th Streets. Attended PS 189 until 1957 and GWHS graduating in June 1961. Most of my extended family lived in the Heights - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, greats aunts and uncles and even one great-grandfather. One of my aunts married into the Como family and my uncle owned Shamrock Beer Distributors on Amsterdam Ave. between 185 and 186th Streets. That block was a city unto itself. I had many relatives living there - Cimalucca, D'Alessandro, others. Spending endless hours in all the local movie theaters, shopping on 181st St. (our local mall), the Automat, Woolworths and Grants, the shoe stores, Werthimers Dept. Store and on and on.
Pat (Como) Schwoerer
Hi Peter Devito I came across your input on The Memories sight last night. My Aunt and Uncle lived in the house attached to the building that crashed. Their bedroom wall was gone also. It started as a false alarm fire, then about an hour later the gas explosion lifted the water tank (or something ) on the roof landed on 2515 which caused the calapse. I have the article from the Daily News still. My family name was Como and Palumbo. We lived at 2533 . there were a bunch of us . You may know some,My Aunt, Mary Palumbo owned the Little Nook a pizza restaurant on the same block bet.185-186th. My Uncle owned the pool hall same address. My otherUncle Donald owned the Shamrock beer Distributor(his wife was Irish) same street. My sister Helen Como and I moved to NJ when we got married. Fell free to write at [email protected]
Jerry Sturman
I was born at Columbia Presbyterian's Babies Hospital in 1936 and lived first at 2 South Pinehurst Avenue and then across the street at 824 West 176th Street between Pinehurst and Haven until I went off to college (Columbia) in 1952. Our house backed onto a big beautiful park where we played basketball, baseball, football and handball, when we weren't playing in the street. Here's a picture of me, when I was about eight, in my roller hockey "gear" - just the skates which clamped onto my shoes and a hockey stick - on 176th Street. My father was an electrician, so he gave me rolls of black electrical tape to use as a puck. We played everything in the street - hockey, stickball, touch football, tag, ringalevio and more. The big threat was an invasion from the east side of Broadway by the Catholic kids who came over periodically to beat up the Jewish kids. I still have a scar from being hit with a pipe. I went to PS 173, JHS 115 and then commuted on the A-train and the 14th Street shuttle to Stuyvesant High.
http://watch.thirteen.org/video/1162748525/
Marilyn Jaboolian Smith McLean The Villages in Florida
WOW! I lived in Washington Heights at 191 St across from GWHS from 1935 to about 1955. I was the official pianist of PS 189 and played for all the assemblies and musical productions. My family attended Holy Cross Armenian Church at 187 St and I was the organist there. So many wonderful memories of a cultural mix living in harmony together. We lived in a rent controlled apartment and used a dumb waiter for our garbage collection. My mom used a wash board an hung the laundry between two outside windows. Our apt no. was 41 which I still use as a ‘lucky’ number. Went on to Music and Art HS and then Hunter College because my parents could not afford to send me to Oberlin…even with a scholarship…and then NYU. Recently visited old haunts in the Heights and it looked so different to me. No one mentioned marbles which we played in the streets in the spring…..all street games. What a great childhood
Irma Wilmington DE Hi. I was doing research on the internet about a school in NYC called PS 132 and came across your website and email address. I have an old high school diploma presentation cover from that high school. It does not have the individual’s diploma in it anymore but it does have a an original copy of the High School graduation program from June 23, 1937. One of the graduates on the list was the father of a good friend of mine. Sadly, he is no longer with us. His daughter had given me the cover years ago to sell on eBay. I never got around to it and just recently found it again. I was wondering if you would know of anyone who may be interested in having this piece of nostalgia? I can send you a photo of it, if you would like. I discovered in my researching that the building that is on the cover of the graduation program is the same building that is now (or recently was) an elementary school called Juan Pablo Duarte. I enjoyed reading about the history of that area of NYC, what a great neighborhood it must have been in the early to mid 1900s. I myself grew up in the 1960s in upstate NY. Please let me know if you have any interest in more information about this item I have. Just want to find a good home for it and not send it to the landfill.
George Wormser
This 1945 photo shows Marilyn Larkin (now Marilyn Wormser), Herbert Wallowitz and Jerry Bursen sitting on the wall of J.Hood Wright Park, Fort Washington Avenue between 173rd and 176th Street. It is a famous wall where generations of young people have gathered and enjoyed social gatherings. A beautiful neighborhood to have grown up in.
Peter Freitag Lakewood, Colorado
I was born in Beth David Hospital in 1950 and my family--father, Carl; mother, Ruth; grandmother Bertha (Betty) Freitag--and I lived for 6 months in an apartment on 172nd Street just north of Fort Washington Avenue. We then relocated to 730 West 183rd Street (between Magaw Place and Fort Washington Avenue) to a 5-room apartment on the 5th floor of that walk-up apartment building.
I was pleased to see a post from Maureen Wertheim, five years my junior, whose parents, Charlie and Lottie were friends of my parents. I believe that Charlie was related to Simon and Ruth Edelman, other family friends. I recall Maureen and her brother Steve from my many years at Beth Hillel Synagogue. I saw a post also from Alan Berger who, if I'm remembering correctly, was somewhat older than I was but also a friend at Beth Hillel.
I have been recording my memories of the Heights for several years and don't know where exactly to begin, except to say that my time living in "Frankfurt on the Hudson" were remarkable in the freedom they afforded. My parents and grandmother had escaped Germany rather late, arriving in the U.S. in 1940 and 1941. I went to P.S. 187 then J.H.S. 52 and from 1964-1967 I attended the Bronx High School of Science. My friends and co-workers (I am now working at the University of Colorado in Boulder) tell me that my vivid memories of my youth astound them.
I was a student in Mrs. Grundeen's kindergarten class at 187 but was "skipped" into the first grade after a couple of months, when I became a student of Sarah Karetsky's. In second grade: Dororthy Fink; third grade: Mrs. Karetsky again; fourth grade: Frances McDermott; fifth grade: Aaron Orange (who Alan mentioned); sixth grade: Margaret Buono. My strongest memory of the school: having been sent to the basement in 6th grade with another boy to gather some garden tools (our class was going to tend the garden that day) when the coal chute opened and coal started to rain down upon us. We ran like hell to get out of there. The brass door knobs in the school bore, if I am remembering correctly, embossed lettering of the New York City Public School System. I could go on . . . and on . . . and on but, for now, will sit back and read what others have to say. Greetings to all from Washington Heights and Inwood.
Paul Prince Lakeland FL
I lived in the heights from my birth in 1936 till I moved to Jersey in 1962. I remember living on Audubon Avenue between 186th and 187th street when I started school at PS189. Before that I went to a pre-school classes in the park school on Amsterdam and 188th St. During WW2 we kids planted a "Victory Garden" in the plant house lot at 189th and Amsterdam.In 1943 we moved to 572 West 187th St, Apt 33. We had a Telephone in the Lobby (no-one had their own then) and when it rang the nearest person answered it, rang the bell of the apartment getting the call, and would shout the name out and up the open stairwell to alert them they had a call.There was a Jewish Deli on the NE corner of 187th and St Nicholas and I remember 25cent Pastrami, Corn Beef and Roast Beef sandwiches. Between 186th and 187th on the East side of St Nick was a candy store "Sis's" where we used to hang out and get 8cent eggcreams and 2cent salted pretzel rods, read comic books, smoke cigarettes and harass the girls.I spent 8 years in PS189, graduated in 1949 and then went to GW for 4 years. After I got back from the Army and some travel I got married and moved to 735 west 172nd ST, Lived on the 5th floor walkup, had a daughter and spent time around 165th to 172nd, shopping, partying and hanging.The Heights was a great place to grow up in and I still think that in the 50's New York City offered us kids a "Cornucopia of Riches". I saw NYC on my G.O. card. Didn't you? I can be reached at [email protected]
Ray Roberts Millville NJ For me the Heights was a magical place like no other neighborhood before or since.From the age of 8 or 9 you lived your life almost entirely on the "streets" with little worry facing challenges of survival and athletics etc.Never once in 20 yrs were you bored,there were always new nooks and cranny's to search out...too many to name.But my fondest memories are of the Incarnation School Day Camp and Highbridge Park.Some of the most beautiful girls I've known were Counselors at that camp...veritable Charlie's Angels.Who can forget coming out of the pool on bright Summer late mornings eating cones of French fries with salt and ketchup(.25cents) on the park benches while the birds sang and time stood still.And it "was good" and all was mostly blessed by a palpable God who inspired denizens of the Heights with dreams and ideals and belief that life had purpose.Where has it all gone?It started to die I think on charmed nights of alcholic excess on "the Wall" at Highbridge Park.A rite of passage consuming innocence and propelling it's participants out into the world and destiny.Never again for sure but never forgotten..my beloved Washington Heights.
George Cooper Millville NJ I Just found this site and read the comments contained within it. I lived in many different houses prior to the second WW. Was a member of the Beacons during the 1947-49's and left for the military in January of 1950. Remained in the service until January of 1971. After retirement I moved into 500 W 175 Street, married Gloria Castenada Tores. For a short period in 1971-73 I owned the Beacon Bar on Amsterdam Avenue between 178 and 177 Street (or should I say it owned me). I now live in Millville NJ in the summer, and Ft. Lauderdale Fl in the winter. What great stories we all shared, if anyone out there remembers me I can be reached at [email protected]..
Mike Pappas Thank you so much for your prompt response advising me I could include the picture of the small plane landing on St. Nicholas Avenue in my book. I grew up on 184th Street between St. Nicholas and Audubon Avenue and also graduated from George Washington High School in 1955 after attending p.s.132. The title of my book is "Lifelong Adventures Of An Underachiever." It is currently being edited by my publisher and should be available around November of this year. It portrays my life from age three to the present. It's a quick read and contains many funny stories, the major themes being you need to have a loving spouse and some spirituality if you are going to have a fulfilling life. It also emphasizes that an emotionally and physically healthy American who can not make it in this great country of ours just isn't trying. If it is okay with you, I will give you information on where the book can be found after its completion.
Anthony (Tony) Rodriguez Planas-Conde...Ft.Worth, Tx
What a wonderful and pleasant surprise to have come across this site. I was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico 1935 but lived in Washington Heights between 1944 till December 1951. I lived with my parents at 701 W. 180th st the last 2 years before returning to the island. The fondest memories of course are one's teenage years, so 180 st, holds the most of those very special memories. I wish we could turn back time and relive, for just one day, those special memories with my dear-dear friends and girl friends. In hopes that some will read this, and hopefully remember me, please get in touch even if it's just for one last time. Here are some of the names I remember from our gang, The Dragoons, names like...Reynol and Archie Diaz, Jr. Keeley, Arnold Narzemsky, Pete Reynolds...girl friends like Syril Rubel, Zelda Gonzalez, Helen, Frances. There were more, whose last names and full names over the many years, have been erased from my mind but not forgotten, and except for Syril, all lived on 180 st. I attended PS 169, PS 115, then freshman and sophomore years at George Washington HS before returning to PR. During HS I worked at the old Pandalfo's Vegetable and Fruit store where I met Syril. The store I believe is gone now but it was located closer to the Cloisters in a very nice Jewish neighborhood. Syril also attended GWHS. I remember the fun we used to have playing stick-ball, hand ball, and curb ball with the gang on 180 st. And who can forget spin the bottle and ring alivio games. Playing PAL baseball and boxing. Going to The RKO Coliseum on 181st and Broadway for movies. The Automat on 181st and jogging across to NJ on the GW Bridge. I remember when some 7 of us decided to ride our bikes all the way to Bear Mountain one Friday afternoon. I slept a solid 24-hrs, into Sunday, after we got back. Usually on Friday nights we would get on the 8th Ave train, destination, Times Square. Just fun-fun memories. Between Dec 1951 and 2012, I obtained my Airplane & Powerplant license while working for Eastern Airlines, obtained also my private pilots license, graduated as an Aerospace Engineer (BSAE) from the Univ of Florida followed by a masters from Southern Methodist Univ (SMU) in Science in Engineering (MSE). Worked and retired from General Dynamics now Lockheed here in Ft. Worth. Married since 1959 to a wonderful woman of Puerto Rican parents and had 4 wonderful and beautiful children. We have been enjoying 4 grandchildren one of whom is currently in his 2nd year at West Point...We are so proud of ALL four. If you remember knowing me please write at [email protected] I would just love to hear from you.
Gary Markman New York
I graduated 189 in 1959 – last 8th grade class. (Still have the graduation photo). My dad tricked me into taking the test for Stuyvesant & when I protested going there instead of GW (girls vs no girls; 10 min walk vs 1:15 + 2 subways), he suggested that if I wanted to live indoors for the next 4 years, I’d be riding the subway a lot on my way to school. (Btw Stuyvesant was a great experience).
I grew up at 599 W. 190th …the building above Asbell’s Drug Store on the corner of St Nicholas Av. I fondly recall parking “around the bend” (Amsterdam Av); egg creams for $.10 in the ice cream parlor; the day the NY Mirror raised their price from $.02 to $.03 which resulted in my father only buying the Daily News which was still $.02.; tossing our stick ball bat under a car & running like hell when a cop car would turn the corner. I tripped over this site doing a search for Linda Gibson, who was one of the best teachers I ever had at any level. I’d love to catch up with her. I did meet Leo Wagner many years later (another outstanding teacher & coach). He had to be well into his 60’s at the time and looked 20 years younger in his tennis shorts & t-shirt.
If anyone knows how to contact Mrs. Gibson, the info would be greatly appreciated..
Carol Holtz
I was one of the lucky ones. I was born in 1945 and lived on Audubon Avenue and 185th St. I went to Yeshiva Rabbi Moses Soloveichik. Naturally most of the children in the school were refugees or their parents were. Mostly German Jewish. We were always in competition with Breuers which was on Bennett Avenue. We were the ones who learned spoken Hebrew. My Mother used to go to Frank's bakery on Friday for her streussel Kuchen. And to Abeles and Liebman or Gutman and Mayer for her meats and cold cuts. If she wanted to walk - it would be to Bloch and Falk who had the biggest assortment of cold cuts. Max Goldschmidt was the corner store on St. Nicholas Avenue and 185th St. You always wanted to stop there and see what is on TV. We only got our first set in 1955. There was a small luncheonette next door where you could get a scoop of Ice cream and one of Ices for 12 cents. The subway was 10 cents and so was a phone call. None of our parents were rich. We all made do with playing outside with each other - be it scully or stick ball or soft ball or slug. We jumped rope we were busy. We were happy.
Frank Langenhan Braunschweig Germany
Hello, I lived in 508 West 166th Street in the basement apartment. My father, Hank, was the super in the Apartment Building from 1956 -1963. The building was on the corner of Amsterdam Ave. I went to the PS 128 at 560 W 169th Street for one year, and then tp JHS 164 Edward W. Stitt from 1957 - 1960. After I attended the G.W. High School from 1960 -1963. I was 18 years old at that time but I remember very well, walking on the Hudson River Riverside Drive under the George Washington Bridge and looking over to New Jersey. I would walk thru Ft Tryon Park, the Cloisters till the end of Manhattan and back. There were many nice people living in my Apartment House. I remember Mr. and Mrs. Irving Friedman, they had no children so every weekend they took me to their Farm to Duchess County (Clinton Corners). I learned a lot from Mr. Irving Friedman and from Mrs. Chester Friedman. My Family moved back to Germany in 1963 and I had to go had no choice but to return with them. I will always be a New Yorker, if I can turn Time back to 1962 or 1963 I would run away from home, go westwards like Huckleberry Finn, but now it is too late.
I remember in 1962 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to GW High School to speak to the students in the auditorium. I was in the back of auditorium with all the students and listened to his speech. New York: "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere". Frank Sinatra. Even in Germany now. I remember on 166th street, there was a little park Rock with benches around the Rock, with trees and a bus station on 166th and 167th street near Broadway. In the summer it was very hot in the apartment, and my parents and I would sit there for cool fresh air coming up from Broadway. Forgive me for my English, but I left the USA in 1963 since then I live in Germany between Hannover and Berlin in the Braunschweig Brunswick Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Tony Lauria Sussex County NJ
I was born in St Elizabeths Hospital in 1953…..Lived on Wadsworth Terrace….My grandfather,Guiseppe {Joe} Lauria owned Saint Nicholas Shoe repair on St. Nicholas Ave between 185th and 186th Street……..too many memories…especially walking “down the avenue” to 181st St……Good Lord we walked all over the Heights…
Ella Paets Miami
I moved to the Heights when I was 8 in 1944 and lived on Wadsworth Avenue and 189 Street. I went to P.S. 189 for grades 3 to 5. Then to P.S. 169 for grades 5 and 6. P.S. 132 for grades 7 and 8. Finally GW for Grade 9 before moving to Miami with my parents.
I remember some friends and would enjoy an internet connection with some of them. I remember so well, the boys playing stickball and the girls watching them. That was always exciting! Mary Kohl had the prettiest bedroom of any girl I knew. Violetta's family ate wonderful meals and often invited me to join them. What happened to Mike Graber? Billy Jackwin? Are you out there somewhere.
I remember playing hookey so that I could visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art! How good could that me.
Blanqua Kelly
First I'd like to tell you that I really enjoyed your nostalgic walk thru time. I lived on 168 and Amsterdam from age 9 months till age 15-16 then we moved to 173rd st. Later in my life I lived in a studio apt between Fort Washington & Broadway 181st with the RKO right there !! There was a Pizzeria two stores down from me a wonderful bakery and up from the the baker towards Fort Washington corner great Soda shop had the best egg creams and news stand ever! I went to school [Stitt JHS] with some of the Teenagers . My brother sang doo wop.. with them - he is older and still retains a friendship with Herman Santiago . I am 61 yrs old and still love and miss it all [city] except there was some things that were part of the scene and part of the changing neighborhood that was hard to take but overall still luv NYC. I will always will be a newyorker @heart thanks again
Michelle
Remember Falcaro's Bowling Alley which was in the subway arcade entrance on 181st Street, down the stairs. My dad owned it. There were two other Falcaro 'establishments' in the Heights, one called the Eldorado Lounge (also known as Falcaro's Nite Spot) on Ft. Washington Avenue at 185th (?) street, and another one block up from the bus terminal called the Coliseum Lounge. As I sort through Dad's things I'll scan them and forward to you. Its a little difficult since he died only a few months ago. The bowling alleys burned down on Easter Sunday in 1957/1958, and my Dad went down the ladders to pull out the safe and the alcohol. We had cases of beer in the garage for years! At the Eldorado lounge I saw the Del Vikings, Tito Puente and a few other groups. We called my grandmother "the bouncer" for the bar, and she was always cooking something up in the kitchen. I also remember running around behind the bar when I was about 3.
We lived at 142 Laurel Hill Terrace and remember are the Falahees (Peggy, Brian and Joseph), and the Venitches (Varcia and Johnny). I don't recall the super's name, but I clearly remember the milk vending machine in the basement and the laundry room (it had no dryers) and the stairs to the roof to hang wash.The Heights was a great place to be growing up. Family was always within earshot, shopping in walking distance. I remember kids playing 'potsie', jacks, and everything else you could do without adult supervision and strict adherence to "the rules". We pretty much made them up as we went along and we managed!
Judy Corlear
What a great site! I lived at 545 West 164 St. until 4th grade (around 1945) when we moved to the Bronx. Before that I attended St. Rose of Lima School. I remember parades on Broadway with tanks and soldiers during WWII and with cheering crowds lining the sidewalks; the air raid drills, posters with "Uncle Sam wants You' and "Loose Lips sink Ships". I loved when my mother took us up to 181 St., going to the big Woolworths and after that the Automat. Going up to Highbridge pool was a treat. I remember when I was older taking the IRT from the Bronx to shop at Wertheimer's which was like Saks to me. We played curb ball in front of our apartment building in the street, put pennies on the trolley tracks, used gum on a stick to get the coins dropped in the grills on the sidewalks over the trains. Everyone knew the kids names who lived on the block. Some of the Fanwoods (the Fords) lived down the other corner from us. I was friends with Patsy Clancy who lived across the street but lost touch a long time ago. My father owned a bar and grill for years at 168 St. and Amsterdam Avenue, Kennedy's. It's long gone now and has been made part of the apartment building it was built under.
Lorette Datomo-Martin
As I think back life was simpler then. We all had very little, but everyone we knew had very little so it didn't seem to matter. Most lived in small apartments in walk-up buildings. Our big family outing in the summer was to pile into my Uncle Donald's beer truck, sitting on the floor in the back with the smell of stale beer, and going to Laurel Lake in Montvale, NJ. To us it was a trip to the "country". Years later I lived a very short distance from where the lake had been in Pearl River, NY. Attending PS 189 was like being a part of small town New York City. We went to school with the same children from kindergarten through 8th grade. People can hardly believe it when I tell them about our assembly days with navy blue skirts or trousers, the boys in white shirts and red ties and the girls in middie blouses. The girls had sewing classes where we had to make our own graduation dress in order to attend the graduation. I remember practicing for the May Day Celebration with our May Pole. Lots of fine memories of PS 189, some wonderful teachers who I still credit as part of a tremendous learning experience. Great fun in the school yard also - learning experiences of a different kind. GWHS was just a mass of people where you could hardly get to know anyone. Spending time at Teasties was the bright spot in my high school memories and, of course, my high school boyfriend, Richie Drews. I was born in 1943, lived on St. Nicholas Ave. between 186 and 187th Streets. Attended PS 189 until 1957 and GWHS graduating in June 1961. Most of my extended family lived in the Heights - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, greats aunts and uncles and even one great-grandfather. One of my aunts married into the Como family and my uncle owned Shamrock Beer Distributors on Amsterdam Ave. between 185 and 186th Streets. That block was a city unto itself. I had many relatives living there - Cimalucca, D'Alessandro, others. Spending endless hours in all the local movie theaters, shopping on 181st St. (our local mall), the Automat, Woolworths and Grants, the shoe stores, Werthimers Dept. Store and on and on.
Pat (Como) Schwoerer
Hi Peter Devito I came across your input on The Memories sight last night. My Aunt and Uncle lived in the house attached to the building that crashed. Their bedroom wall was gone also. It started as a false alarm fire, then about an hour later the gas explosion lifted the water tank (or something ) on the roof landed on 2515 which caused the calapse. I have the article from the Daily News still. My family name was Como and Palumbo. We lived at 2533 . there were a bunch of us . You may know some,My Aunt, Mary Palumbo owned the Little Nook a pizza restaurant on the same block bet.185-186th. My Uncle owned the pool hall same address. My otherUncle Donald owned the Shamrock beer Distributor(his wife was Irish) same street. My sister Helen Como and I moved to NJ when we got married. Fell free to write at [email protected]
Jerry Sturman
I was born at Columbia Presbyterian's Babies Hospital in 1936 and lived first at 2 South Pinehurst Avenue and then across the street at 824 West 176th Street between Pinehurst and Haven until I went off to college (Columbia) in 1952. Our house backed onto a big beautiful park where we played basketball, baseball, football and handball, when we weren't playing in the street. Here's a picture of me, when I was about eight, in my roller hockey "gear" - just the skates which clamped onto my shoes and a hockey stick - on 176th Street. My father was an electrician, so he gave me rolls of black electrical tape to use as a puck. We played everything in the street - hockey, stickball, touch football, tag, ringalevio and more. The big threat was an invasion from the east side of Broadway by the Catholic kids who came over periodically to beat up the Jewish kids. I still have a scar from being hit with a pipe. I went to PS 173, JHS 115 and then commuted on the A-train and the 14th Street shuttle to Stuyvesant High.
IN THE HEART OF WASHINGTON HEIGHTS AT 181ST & BROADWAY WAS THE RKO COLISEUM
The below video recalls this old heights movie "palace", and its social significance in the days before television arrived. Former Washington Heights Doo Wop performers Al Conde, and Rich Tsonos recall what the Coliseum experience was like when they were young. Robert Travieso, and Nick Tanis, professor at NYU's Film School also add their nostalgic memories. A great memory jolter for former "heightsters" who remember this old "Heights" landmark.
The Coliseum over the years
Alan Spaulding
Below is a photo of the last eighth grade class to graduate from P.S. 189. Middle schools had arrived and were supposed to improve America's public School education. This class of 1959 was the generation on the cusp of the baby boomers. The first generation to be influenced by television. Howdy Doody, Superman, uncle Miltie, the Mickey mouse Club, Davy Crockett, and American Bandstand.
The Nixon Kennedy debates were 3 months away. The impending doom that haunted us throughout the 1950s exploded in 1963. It wasn't the dreaded bomb, but the bullet that killed JFK. The world was never going to be the same again. This class would soon be a part of generation called the baby boomers which would soon set off and greatly influence the world. Some would become the show. Several would die in a far off place called Viet Nam. The vast majority of these boomers, weren't hippies or dropouts or antiwar activists, but would view the next decade as a horror show. As the 1964 Dylan song predicted, 'the times they were a changing.'
The boomers was about to start questioning things, and start to make big changes. They would take part in removing a President, ending a war, raising environmental consciousness, developing new technologies and altering the world forever. Six decades have passed since these 8th grade sons and daughters of Washington Heights posed with their teachers that morning, to leave their picture for posterity.
Fran Radburn, NYC "can't wait to send this to friends from the heights. That is my 8th grade graduating class from P.S. 189! Yes. There we were. Actually too old to be baby boomers and too young to be gray flannel suit people. I also wonder where everyone went and how they turned out. I am in touch with a few and it is great e-mailing them. Feels like time stood still. I would love to find Mrs. Gibson. I know she lived in Fort Lee at the time. A faraway place we once walked to over Easter vacation. We were the last 8th grade graduating class from PS 189. I think we had a lot of bright and talented people in our class. But then again, how would I know?
*******************************************************
The Memories Continue Coming In!
Below is a photo of the last eighth grade class to graduate from P.S. 189. Middle schools had arrived and were supposed to improve America's public School education. This class of 1959 was the generation on the cusp of the baby boomers. The first generation to be influenced by television. Howdy Doody, Superman, uncle Miltie, the Mickey mouse Club, Davy Crockett, and American Bandstand.
The Nixon Kennedy debates were 3 months away. The impending doom that haunted us throughout the 1950s exploded in 1963. It wasn't the dreaded bomb, but the bullet that killed JFK. The world was never going to be the same again. This class would soon be a part of generation called the baby boomers which would soon set off and greatly influence the world. Some would become the show. Several would die in a far off place called Viet Nam. The vast majority of these boomers, weren't hippies or dropouts or antiwar activists, but would view the next decade as a horror show. As the 1964 Dylan song predicted, 'the times they were a changing.'
The boomers was about to start questioning things, and start to make big changes. They would take part in removing a President, ending a war, raising environmental consciousness, developing new technologies and altering the world forever. Six decades have passed since these 8th grade sons and daughters of Washington Heights posed with their teachers that morning, to leave their picture for posterity.
Fran Radburn, NYC "can't wait to send this to friends from the heights. That is my 8th grade graduating class from P.S. 189! Yes. There we were. Actually too old to be baby boomers and too young to be gray flannel suit people. I also wonder where everyone went and how they turned out. I am in touch with a few and it is great e-mailing them. Feels like time stood still. I would love to find Mrs. Gibson. I know she lived in Fort Lee at the time. A faraway place we once walked to over Easter vacation. We were the last 8th grade graduating class from PS 189. I think we had a lot of bright and talented people in our class. But then again, how would I know?
*******************************************************
The Memories Continue Coming In!
Jim Coletti, Key West "I too was born and raised in Washington Heights in the 40's and 50's. We could see the NJ Palisades from our top floor window. I remember taking the Public Service bus from 168th and Bway--across from the hospital when we would go to Palisades I loved the pool. It seemed like the biggest pool in the world. The rides were terrific. You could have a whole day of fun for three dollars. Thanks for providing a place in cyberspace to return to our innocence."
Peter J. Devito Orange County, New York " Reading about the "Heights" on this great website is one of the great wonders of this world we're lucky to be living in. Never imagined I'd ever be able to think, write, or see, any thing about the neighborhood in which I was born and lived in until I was 27;then moving to Orange County NY. Was born in a neighborhood of the Heights called "Fort George", named after the fort that once was located where GW is located. In fact one can see the wall of that old fort surrounding the huge pillars that supports the schools baseball/football field, from the Amsterdam Ave. side around to the Audubon Ave. side. It was then (the 30's) being rebuilt by a GW history teacher using WPA funds when I was a student there-about the same time as Henry Kissinger was roaming its halls. All those memories are now going into an autobiography that I started that I can leave for my family and friends.
My two sisters and I were born at home (yes, that's what they did then, with midwives) in apartment 11 of what was then 2515 Amsterdam Ave.; today the site of the new addition to the Yeshiva University Library. The "back" bedroom windows of that apartment faced the "dump" that ran alongside Knickerbocker Ice House down to Laurel Hill Terrace and, what I once thought was one of the most beautiful sights one could see, the Harlem River and the Bronx, Sedgewick Ave.trolleys running alongside it, and the four New York Central north/south tracks making me, as a little boy, think about all the wonderful places to go see in the world. The early part of my own memoires tells of my first visit to a movie house, the Majestic, at 185th and St. Nicholas Ave., which was then showing silent movies. Later it was the Empress at 181st and Audubon, the Gem just up the block, and the Heights on Wadsworth Ave. and finally, being old enough to go to the Coliseum, where there were movies and five acts of vaudeville every week for only 15 cents!! The other wonderful theater of the time was the Audubon, across from the Medical Center, which was then also a movie/vaudeville house. Saw the great movie " All Quiet On The Western Front" there, along with five acts of vaudeville. My mother carried one sister in free, it only cost a dime each for my other sister and myself!! Later came the magnificent Loews 175th, built for vaudeville but never used that way- then becoming the home of organ playing character named "Wild Oscar" who played before and after many of the great MGM pictures that were first shown there. That's only a little of what I remember. The Heights enabled us, a relatively poor family, to live unlike anything my own parents had experienced living in the "old country" (Italy in this case). Two blocks on the eastside of Amsterdam Ave., from 184th Street to 186th Street, the majority of which were full of Italian immigrant families just like ours. Above that, facing the then new Yeshiva University building was an empty lot, which they owned and in which all of us neighborhood kids were allowed to play, that is only with the exception of Saturday when it was closed. What an innocent and wonderful time that was to grow up in"
Joaquin Da Costa Gomez Jr. New York "I was just emailed some of your pages on the Washington Heights.. I was brought up at 155 Audubon ave. All the theatres you talked about I went too, boy you talk about a flashback. My first job was at Glaubers Gift shop.. learned the tricks of the trade on how they fixed dents and scratches. Worked there in the summer of 1956. Went to GW, Miramar pool which was salt water, and Palisades Amusement park was always a fun place to go, But Coney Island and the was the place to spend the day for a few dollars. The Steeplechase, ride the horses around the track.... all the different slide and spinning turntables at the end.. Your article hit a nerve and brought back a lot of memories.. Hybridge Pool on amsterdam, I heard that it is still there. Flash back was great especially with what has happened recently.. Just wanted to remark and say thanks for the trip down memory lane. You forgot the trolley cars on Amsterdam avenue, the Polo Grounds, when the Giants were there, and what can I say I was a Dodger Fan, loyal and true. Ebbits Field was the place. Thanks again"
Dorothy (Fiege) Goddard Wilmington, Delaware "Just finished my trip down memory lane and boy, did it bring back memories of Washington Heights, P.S.189, George Washington HS, the big shopping area at 181st Street ... I visited them all today! I remember the Saturday afternoon shopping trips looking for the "perfect" blouse to wear that night; or the $2.99 shoes at Miles (if you were flush, A.S. Beck had some beauties for $3.99). I grew up on 186th Street, just east of Audubon Avenue. I remember the Italian section on Amsterdam and the big block party we all had together on VJ Day ... my girlfriends and I marched all over the neighborhood singing patriotic songs until we couldn't do anything but croak. The adults were busy sampling the Italian wine, the Irish whiskey and the Jewish pastries that appeared on tables everywhere. What a grand day that was! I am looking forward to the 50th reunion of George Washington HS graduating class next year. And how simple life was in those days. Thanks again for the trip down memory lane!"
Diana Gabriel DiFrancesco, Boston "What a wonderful gift! Thank you, thank you! It was amazing to find your web site and know that there are others out there that share the memories that I do. I graduated from GW in 1952 -- Dorothy Fiege Goddard was a classmate of mine. "My block" was 164th Street, between Bway and Ft. Washington Avenue. I have lived all over this marvelous country, but I am and always will be a New Yorker from Washington Heights. There are many beautiful cities in the USA and I have lived in quite a few. As a Navy family, we traveled from NYC to Seattle to San Diego to Lakehurst, NJ and to Boston. But there is nothing in the world like being a "New Yorker." When I finally connected with GW classmates last year, it was like the best Christmas present in the world. I went to the GW reunion at Shea Stadium and felt like 17 again.
From Chrysanne Page, Agoura Hills, California "This site is exquisite and so evoking of my early days in Washington Heights and since 9-11, I feel closer to the place than ever before. I grew up on 190th and Amsterdam Avenue. Our apartment overlooked Amsterdam Avenue where my sisters and I would watch the boats going up and down the Harlem River. And we could see all the way down to the Washington Bridge from our window. I remember how we cried when they took the trolley cars away and dug up the tracks for buses. And I remember looking down from our window to the men pouring coal into the furnace of our building. We loved to watch it pour and always yelled out to the men to sweep it all out and not miss a bit of it. Across Amsterdam was the playground, which stretched from 190th to 188th Street. In the winter the wading pool would freeze over and we could go ice-skating on it. Or we'd sled down the hill in the expanse of green directly across from our apt.
We went to St. Spyridon Church every Sunday and on the way home, my sister and I would always stop at the Horn & Hardart on 181st St. for some hot apple pie with vanilla sauce. And we loved Falcaro's pizza. I've never tasted a pizza like that since anywhere in the world. I could just go on and on with the joyous memories of Washington Heights. We were not wealthy, but we were rich with culture and affection for all ethnicities and religions. I feel so grateful that I came from this magical place. Thanks for this beautiful site!"
Peter J. Devito Orange County, New York " Reading about the "Heights" on this great website is one of the great wonders of this world we're lucky to be living in. Never imagined I'd ever be able to think, write, or see, any thing about the neighborhood in which I was born and lived in until I was 27;then moving to Orange County NY. Was born in a neighborhood of the Heights called "Fort George", named after the fort that once was located where GW is located. In fact one can see the wall of that old fort surrounding the huge pillars that supports the schools baseball/football field, from the Amsterdam Ave. side around to the Audubon Ave. side. It was then (the 30's) being rebuilt by a GW history teacher using WPA funds when I was a student there-about the same time as Henry Kissinger was roaming its halls. All those memories are now going into an autobiography that I started that I can leave for my family and friends.
My two sisters and I were born at home (yes, that's what they did then, with midwives) in apartment 11 of what was then 2515 Amsterdam Ave.; today the site of the new addition to the Yeshiva University Library. The "back" bedroom windows of that apartment faced the "dump" that ran alongside Knickerbocker Ice House down to Laurel Hill Terrace and, what I once thought was one of the most beautiful sights one could see, the Harlem River and the Bronx, Sedgewick Ave.trolleys running alongside it, and the four New York Central north/south tracks making me, as a little boy, think about all the wonderful places to go see in the world. The early part of my own memoires tells of my first visit to a movie house, the Majestic, at 185th and St. Nicholas Ave., which was then showing silent movies. Later it was the Empress at 181st and Audubon, the Gem just up the block, and the Heights on Wadsworth Ave. and finally, being old enough to go to the Coliseum, where there were movies and five acts of vaudeville every week for only 15 cents!! The other wonderful theater of the time was the Audubon, across from the Medical Center, which was then also a movie/vaudeville house. Saw the great movie " All Quiet On The Western Front" there, along with five acts of vaudeville. My mother carried one sister in free, it only cost a dime each for my other sister and myself!! Later came the magnificent Loews 175th, built for vaudeville but never used that way- then becoming the home of organ playing character named "Wild Oscar" who played before and after many of the great MGM pictures that were first shown there. That's only a little of what I remember. The Heights enabled us, a relatively poor family, to live unlike anything my own parents had experienced living in the "old country" (Italy in this case). Two blocks on the eastside of Amsterdam Ave., from 184th Street to 186th Street, the majority of which were full of Italian immigrant families just like ours. Above that, facing the then new Yeshiva University building was an empty lot, which they owned and in which all of us neighborhood kids were allowed to play, that is only with the exception of Saturday when it was closed. What an innocent and wonderful time that was to grow up in"
Joaquin Da Costa Gomez Jr. New York "I was just emailed some of your pages on the Washington Heights.. I was brought up at 155 Audubon ave. All the theatres you talked about I went too, boy you talk about a flashback. My first job was at Glaubers Gift shop.. learned the tricks of the trade on how they fixed dents and scratches. Worked there in the summer of 1956. Went to GW, Miramar pool which was salt water, and Palisades Amusement park was always a fun place to go, But Coney Island and the was the place to spend the day for a few dollars. The Steeplechase, ride the horses around the track.... all the different slide and spinning turntables at the end.. Your article hit a nerve and brought back a lot of memories.. Hybridge Pool on amsterdam, I heard that it is still there. Flash back was great especially with what has happened recently.. Just wanted to remark and say thanks for the trip down memory lane. You forgot the trolley cars on Amsterdam avenue, the Polo Grounds, when the Giants were there, and what can I say I was a Dodger Fan, loyal and true. Ebbits Field was the place. Thanks again"
Dorothy (Fiege) Goddard Wilmington, Delaware "Just finished my trip down memory lane and boy, did it bring back memories of Washington Heights, P.S.189, George Washington HS, the big shopping area at 181st Street ... I visited them all today! I remember the Saturday afternoon shopping trips looking for the "perfect" blouse to wear that night; or the $2.99 shoes at Miles (if you were flush, A.S. Beck had some beauties for $3.99). I grew up on 186th Street, just east of Audubon Avenue. I remember the Italian section on Amsterdam and the big block party we all had together on VJ Day ... my girlfriends and I marched all over the neighborhood singing patriotic songs until we couldn't do anything but croak. The adults were busy sampling the Italian wine, the Irish whiskey and the Jewish pastries that appeared on tables everywhere. What a grand day that was! I am looking forward to the 50th reunion of George Washington HS graduating class next year. And how simple life was in those days. Thanks again for the trip down memory lane!"
Diana Gabriel DiFrancesco, Boston "What a wonderful gift! Thank you, thank you! It was amazing to find your web site and know that there are others out there that share the memories that I do. I graduated from GW in 1952 -- Dorothy Fiege Goddard was a classmate of mine. "My block" was 164th Street, between Bway and Ft. Washington Avenue. I have lived all over this marvelous country, but I am and always will be a New Yorker from Washington Heights. There are many beautiful cities in the USA and I have lived in quite a few. As a Navy family, we traveled from NYC to Seattle to San Diego to Lakehurst, NJ and to Boston. But there is nothing in the world like being a "New Yorker." When I finally connected with GW classmates last year, it was like the best Christmas present in the world. I went to the GW reunion at Shea Stadium and felt like 17 again.
From Chrysanne Page, Agoura Hills, California "This site is exquisite and so evoking of my early days in Washington Heights and since 9-11, I feel closer to the place than ever before. I grew up on 190th and Amsterdam Avenue. Our apartment overlooked Amsterdam Avenue where my sisters and I would watch the boats going up and down the Harlem River. And we could see all the way down to the Washington Bridge from our window. I remember how we cried when they took the trolley cars away and dug up the tracks for buses. And I remember looking down from our window to the men pouring coal into the furnace of our building. We loved to watch it pour and always yelled out to the men to sweep it all out and not miss a bit of it. Across Amsterdam was the playground, which stretched from 190th to 188th Street. In the winter the wading pool would freeze over and we could go ice-skating on it. Or we'd sled down the hill in the expanse of green directly across from our apt.
We went to St. Spyridon Church every Sunday and on the way home, my sister and I would always stop at the Horn & Hardart on 181st St. for some hot apple pie with vanilla sauce. And we loved Falcaro's pizza. I've never tasted a pizza like that since anywhere in the world. I could just go on and on with the joyous memories of Washington Heights. We were not wealthy, but we were rich with culture and affection for all ethnicities and religions. I feel so grateful that I came from this magical place. Thanks for this beautiful site!"
Elliot, Plantation Florida "I grew up in two places in the Heights. The first was at 175th and Amsterdam. That was until I was 7 or 8. (I was born in 1947.) Then we moved to a "better neighborhood," on 173rd Street between Ft. Wash. and Bway. This was across from PS 173 and the schoolyard. I remember very little about the first place we lived. However, I do remember the "gang" activity and the "capeman" gang slaying. When we moved, I remember playing ball in the schoolyard. Spring, summers and early fall was for baseball. Football was for autumn and early winter. Sometimes we played basketball, but that was later on. Later on the park was fixed up and we played there as well, but most of the time we played in the schoolyard. I remember that there were softball games in the schoolyard on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They were played by the big kids/adults. They played for money. It was fast pitch, choose up. We picked up the bottles to get the 2 cents. I remember Mr. Corn who set up softball teams. This was in the late 50s or very early 60s. I moved to the West Bronx in 1965. Went to PS 173, JHS 115 and Stuyvesant. Met some good friends and fortunately recaptured some of them thru the net. I remember my times in High school when we hung out at "the wall," (before Pink Floyd). I remember hanging out with one of the friends that I just reconnected with at the Laundromat during that high school period. While I recognize that all the memories get somewhat jaundiced with age it seems that it sure was a good time. Thanks Washington Heights!"
Harvey, Scottsdale, Arizona " I just read the latest entry from one of my childhood friends Elliot from Florida, so I thought I'd add a few lines as well. This web site is so cool, although the photos are a bit old even for me.I grew up on 175th Street between St. Nicholas and Audubon, on the same street as the Church of the Incarnation. Went to PS 173 JHS 115 and George Washington HS graduation in the class of January 1964.Went back to the old neighborhood (drove through and didn't stop) with my wife and son 2 years ago so they could see where I grew up. Bit different now than the 40's to mid 60's. Oh well, we all change right! We used to meet all our friends at "the wall" on Ft. Washington Avenue, it was unreal to think no one before Elliot wrote of "our wall"! I've been lucky to connect with several old friends from the Heights through 88 million names on CD ROM and Classmates. Com. What a neat way to meet old friends, who would have thought 30 plus years after the fact we'd meet over the net. We are now trying to setup a reunion for next fall (2002) possibly in sunny Florida among 5-6 of us. Anyway this has been fun and I hope others will write as well. Keep up the good work, it makes for good reading and reminiscing!
Ellen (Chaim) Kracko :) "Thank you so much for the wonderful memories of "The Heights." What comes to mind, first and foremost, was "THE WALL." That's where we "teenagers" hung out. "The Wall" was the stone wall surrounding the J. Hood Wright Park on Ft. Washington Ave. "Our spot" was right across the street from P.S. 173. I can see it now, as if it were yesterday. Anytime we wanted to meet, we just told everyone "Meet you at the Wall." There was a whole group of us....boys and girls (Syl, Micki, Dean, Billy, Larry, Harvey, Joan, Richie, Ricky, Elliot, and later on more kids)...that hung out together. And in those days we walked all over the place....to 181 St. for ice cream, upstairs at The Tea Room.....to the 181 St. RKO to watch (in those days) two movies from the second balcony.....up Ft. Washington Ave. to Ft. Tryon Park where we hung out on the second lawn. When we got older, I remember walking across the George Washington Bridge to NJ and walking to Palisades Amusement Park. I also have memories of the old Horn and Hardart and The Tasty Pastry Shop (delicious danish) on Broadway around 178 St. I attended P.S. 173, J.H.S. 115, and GW (graduated l964). And I remember, during grade school at P.S. 173, going to, what was called in those days, "Summer School." But what it really was, was a form of camp for those of us who stayed home during the summer months. We played ping pong, knock-hocky, tag, outside games in the school yard, saw movies, went swimming in Highbridge Pool, had "talent day," and at the end of the summer all the city's schools got together at one of the schools for a huge "End of the Summer Festival." When I think back, I must admit.....growing up in Washington Heights was pretty good. I made alot of good friends, and I've recently started to re-connect with them via the internet. Actually, those were wonderful days.....carefree and stressfree. Thank you, again, for this great website."
Carole Young Davidson "What a wonderful neighborhood Washington Heights was ! Do you remember the building on 188 or so that had nothing under it ? It was next to that park that went down to broadway. there was a great cobble stone drain that was good for sliding down on cardboard. calling for a friend meant standing under their windows and yelling their name. i just thought of those clothes driers in the kitchen , they were a metal frame with ropes going up and down to hang clothes on , and those little doors under the kitchen window, they were metal my parents kept oily rags in it. what did your parents put in yours ? It is fun to visit again in my head, be well and God bless.
Steve Voloshin, Wappinger Falls New York "I lived in the Heights from my birth in 1943 till 1979. I first lived on 158th Street on Riverside Drive in the "red house" as they were called. Today the complex is a Co-op. We moved up to Fort George Hill in 1962, 1 year after I graduated from George Washington. I followed the normal path for kids in the HEIGHTS 169, Stitt and GW. Have great memories about growing up in Washington Heights, here are a few 25 cent Sat movies at the Loews Rio, great egg creams at Dave's on 158th street, great deli food at M and K on 162nd street. Going swimming in Highbridge or Miramar pools, walking to the Polo Grounds to see the Giants play. Seeing Alan Freed's show at the Loews 175th street. Hanging out at the wall on 161 street and Riverside drive and going sleigh ridding on Greenies. This ride usually landed you in the street with oncoming cars. Later on, getting my first legal drink at Maguires on 157th street and Broadway and later on some of the good bars along Broadway(Mullins, TGs Center and some more whose names I have forgotten) up into Inwood. Went back to the Heights about 4 years ago and walked from 157th street to 170th. It was an amazing trip to see how much things had changed and also trying to remember what stores use to be there."
Jim Neff from beautiful Vernon, Sussex Co. New Jersey " Yes, I remember just about everything mentioned, from the Automat, to the 5 & 10 (Woolworths) &Five and Dime (Grants) to the fire on Easter Sunday, 1957 at Falcaros restaurant and bowling alley, that destroyed the entire northeast corner of 181st street, to the airplane up on 191st and St. Nick, ran out of St. Elizabeths church that Sunday morning to see it, I'm probably one of the kids in the photo! I especially remember that we did not need a car to do anything. everything was at our fingertips. A whole pizza pie was a buck, and life was good. The street you lived on was your "own little world" with your friends, and until you got older, you did everything right there. Went to 132, 115 and G Dub's, and had a ball. Thanks for great site.!!!!!!!!!"
Linette, Wilmington Delaware "enjoyed reading all the great stories about an area of the city that I had such fond memories of. My family moved to 247 W. 177th Street in 1954. We left the city in 1963. The things that I remember best were, the hot summer days when the older boys would open up the fire hydrants and if you left your windows open (even on the higher floors) you would come home to a very wet apartment. They would cut both ends out of a can and direct the water toward their target. Snow Cones ! High Bridge park was near our apartment. We had a Great Dane and would take him there to get some exercise. My mother was from Puerto Rico and my dad was from Washington State. We always had a melting pot of family and friends in our apartment. In our building, on the corner was a drug store with a soda fountain. You could get Cherry Cokes and egg creams. Big lollipops were 5 cents. All the kids on our block played games like Johnny ride the pony, Freeze tag, Hide the belt, Red light - Green light and we tried to jump rope through the day and into the night. The first floor tenants usually put an end to that. The building that we lived in was a beautiful building with an elevator and marble hallways. There was a front entrance where at one time the doorman stood. Doormen were long gone when we lived there. The middle hallway was huge, with a faux fireplace in it and what used to be fancy lights. There was a third part to the entrance way that was 3 walls of mirrors. The stairs were great for sliding down and under them were the mailboxes. A great place for little girls to play. It is sad that they buildings ran down the way they did. It would be lovely to see someone come in and restore them to their original beauty. Did anyone have Mrs. Rowan, Mrs. Mainzer, Mrs. Goldstein, Mrs. Leshney (I am not sure of the spelling)? They were the teachers that I remember having. Especially Mrs. Rowan (tortured me) and Mrs. Goldstein (best teacher).
Diana (Hopkins), Freehold, N.J. "Wow--what a find! Our years there: 1954-1963.. Until now, I could only share these memories with my sisters and brother...we all have a piece of the Heights and combine our various memories...Some of what I've read on the site is either not familiar or before my time. (I.E. V.J. day and the plane on 191st) But so much else evoked smiles and even laughter as my sister and I read together. For ex: The clothes dryers suspended from the kitchen ceiling...how about dumbwaiters that fetched the garbage and the "super" whose job it was. (At 247 Audubon, he was rather unfriendly and even a little scary) Instead of fishing for spauldines, fishing through grates to get the lost change below--with string and chewing gum! And yes we remember Mr. Pizza---a huge slice and a Coke for 25 cents. We also remember Grant's (Mom would make us wait while she shopped downstairs for curtains...torture!!) Albrecht's--a clothing store near Miles Shoe store...I remember shopping for "Angel blouses" and Ben Casey medical shirts. And nobody mentioned P.S. 132 across from Precinct 34. (Famous grad: Lou Gehrig) P.S. 115 diagonally across from our apt. building--boasted 52 nationalities amongst its student body. Our graduation ceremony was held at the RKO and we marched from 115 to the theater in caps and gowns. Class trips were made via the subway. One teacher and 32 kids on the subway (to the Museum of Natural History--every year it seemed.) And yet everything wasn't rosy--there were gangs-- "West Side Story" really resonated for us. We were insulated from it as best our parents could but it was there.
I can still remember watching the slightly older teens dancing the "Grind"---aptly named! We watched from the sidelines with mouths agape. And hearing them sing acapella doo-wop right outside our 1st floor window. ( Much to my father's dismay--he kept busy chasing them away.) And of course, the fire hydrant spraying into the streets till the cops came and turned it off--AGAIN!! One tense summer night, I watched the older boys running and retrieving sticks and other weapons from various hiding places as they set off for a fight somewhere--probably the "Rock Park" on Amsterdam Ave. And does anybody remember the "Fordham Baldies"---I lived in mortal terror of these gang members who supposedly entered grade schools and cut off your hair??? Our grade school was rampant with rumors and inflamed imaginations and I was truly terrified for part of third grade. It was at least as real to me as the Taliban is today.
Well---thanks for the opportunity to stroll down memory lane...I treasure so much the diversity of the Heights--Greeks, Chinese, Jewish, Black , Puerto Rican. It gave me such a good beginning and I believe it taught me to appreciate the differences between us all.
James Nicholas, Dumont NJ "This is a wonderful web site. So many of us have scattered from our old neighborhood. It's good that we can come together at this site and remember what things were like in one of the best areas to grow up during the 1950's and earlier. I have some photographs of the Heights that I'm converting from slides to prints and hope to share with you. I have two which I can share now. I was born in Wadsworth hospital in 1943. It stood on the northside of 185 street between St. Nicholas Ave. and Wadsworth Ave. Later an A&P opened on the other side of the street. Luckily I took a photo before its demise years later. I went to P.S. 189, George Washington H.S. and C.C.N.Y. I was a member of Fort George Presbyterian Church and had perfect attendance for 7 years in its Sunday School. I enclose a photo of its beautiful structure at the corner of 186 street and St. Nicholas Avenue. I remember going to Hobbyland at 182 street and St. Nicholas Ave. It had toys, and modeling kits of all kinds. I've always been a movie fan and the Heights had ample theaters to attend. Loew's 175th, the RKO Colosseum, the Lane and the Heights were movie theaters I remember. Hope to share more memories in the future. A snapshot of me in 1945. St. Nicholas Ave. in the background. Only 3 cars between 186th & 191st street!
Ann Chai Chan Ft Lauderdale Florida "What fond memories I have of "The Heights". I lived there from the early 30's to '46 when I got married. I used to live across the street from GWHigh. Then we moved to 709 W 178th St. between Ft. Washington Ave. and B'way. The Port of Authority built the bus terminal and my Mom and Dad had to move to 179th St. alongside the GW bridge, then they tore that down and they finally moved to Bennet Ave. near 190th St. I went to PS 173 and PS 115. My younger sister and brother went to Incarnation. I remember all the names of the movie theaters in the neighborhood except one. It was on St. Nicholas Ave. near 176th St., just up the block from Incarnation. We used to get passes from the 34th Precinct and spend all day Sat. there watching movies...and Buck Rogers. There was a wonderful pastry shop near that theater, and a special treat was to get napoleons and eclairs. Someone said it was the Ogden, but I'm not sure.I remember Loew's, The Coliseum, The Heights, Lane, Gem, Empress, Uptown near the hospital on 168th St. and the Audubon Theater where they had the Andrews Sisters one week-end.
Summers were spent at the "Y" on Broadway where we learned crafts. Walks to the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park on Sundays, and sitting in the park overlooking the Hudson. We also walked across the GW bridge to Ft. Lee and back. There was always so much to do in "The Heights". I also remember taking the trolley on Broadway on a hot summer day with the cane seats and the sides open with a grille, and sitting on the top of the open bus that would go down Fort Washington Ave. to Fifth Ave. Only a nickel in those days. I remember when Orson Welles had that scary radio program about. I remember when Orson Welles had that scary radio program about aliens invading the country and landing near Palisades Park. We all went up to the roof to see if we could see them. My Dad laughed at us, he was the only one that was "onto" the whole show.
Shopping on 181st St. was the greatest with all the stores. I did all my Christmas gift shopping at Woolworth's. They used to sell those tiny bottles of perfume for a quarter. My Mom used to send me to Daitch's because they had the best milk with cream on top in glass bottles. I would go to either store, one on 181st or the one on Broadway near 168th if I wanted to "dawdle". The hot dogs at Nedicks on 181st and Broadway were the best, then there was a little shop next door to it on Broadway that sold Charlotte Russes. My sister met her future husband at the bowling alley down near the IRT on St. Nicholas and 181st St. Was it Cafaro's? My Mother should have known she went there !!! I would have been "grounded".
One of our greatest pastimes was to sit on the stoop and watch the cars come off the bridge and down our street on the holidays...the Fourth of July was the best. We would count all the cars with out of state plates. The super let us have the basement for our Halloween parties. We learned to dodge cars at an early age since the street was our playing ground aside from the park on 173rd St. It was a wonderful place to live and bring up kids. My Mother never locked the door 'til we were all in our beds for the night. I played with Italian, Greek, Irish and Jewish kids, never a fight, except with the boys who picked on the girls. We were told never to go to Amsterdam Ave., the kids were "too tough". My sister drove me through "The Heights" back in the 70's and I could have cried at seeing how my beautiful old neighborhood had changed. I couldn't get out of there fast enough....and I never went back."
Bob Heller Washington DC "I am 75 and a retired bureaucrat. My earliest years were at 1560 Amsterdam Ave and 137st where my father was Boy's Director of the Hebrew orphan Asylum across from the late Lewisohn Stadium which was part of CCNY. I attended PS 193 of which I have fond memories . In 1940 my family consisting of my parents, myself and a younger brother moved to Ft. Washington Ave in the heights. I attended PS 187 of which the less said the better. However, from 1941 to 1945 I attended George Washington High School before enlisting in the naval reserve. I found the school to be a warm and stimulating place despite a few inept teachers . There were two good ones whose names come to mind. They were a Mr. Foley who taught English and inspired many. In addition there was a Ms. Gottesman who taught History . I worked on the school paper The Cherry Tree . The school principal in the main building was an intelligent woman who also wrote the school fight song as we had many teams . In the first year we went to the Ishem Annex near Inwood and later we went to the main building. I remember the following names Glenn, Fineberg, Robbins Schnieder , Berlin, Ethel Pendergast , Ilsa Kopf, Mickey Chernin , Joan Pollock.
My fondest memories are that of Ft Tryon Park, The George Washington Bridge, tennis courts at Riverside Drive and the movies and arcade on 181 street. In the latter was a second hand book store where I first went to gaze at the lurid magazine covers . Later, the owner took an interest in me and loaned me Joyce's Ulysses, which became a life long passion that later took me to Dublin. After college at the universities of Illinois and Michigan I returned to NYC and lived in the Village. I am divorced with three daughters. My address is 2514 K. St NW , Washington DC 20037 and my number is 202 333 7419 - HLLR 93 @ AOL . Com".
Judy (Nussbaum) Liebman, Edgewater, NJ
''I love this website! I was born at Jewish Memorial Hospital, lived in the apartment building on the corner of St. Nick and 191Street. My Dad owned Willie's Beauty Shop on St. Nick between 191 and 192. Went to 189, GW, and then Hunter College. So of course I remember Teasties, the movies, Wertheimer's, Grants, pizza places etc. Yes, it was great that we were able to walk everywhere - even though the tunnel in the subway from 191st Street to Broadway. Bowling, the Y, walking across the GW Bridge to Ft. Lee, and then walking down to Palisades Park, the little red lighthouse in the park under the bridge. I did go into the Heights several weeks ago and it has changed-yet not. There are a different group of people, but they too are trying to make it in this world. The stores are flourishing, the streets are busy and exciting as ever. 181st Street is still a center for shopping. My parents lived in the Heights from the time they married in 1939 until my Dad retired in 1979. His store is now called El Cubano Unisex.
Strangely enough I now live in Edgewater, NJ and from my windows I can see Washington Heights, the bridge, the little lighthouse etc. I used to think that it was just me, my sister and a few friends that felt this way about Washington Heights., but I guess our perceptions are real.
Fran Pargament Poughkeepsie, NY I can only repeat what others have said, "What a great website." Thanks for all the wonderful memories - Tasty Pastry, the deli on the corner of 177th and Bway, the Loew's where I would go in the summer with my sandwich and watch two movies, the newsreel, and coming attractions - all for 10 cents. I spent my first 11 years living at 1 Cabrini Blvd. on 177th St. It was such an innocent time. There was a public phone in the lobby of the 5 floor walk-up. Whenever the phone rang, whoever was nearest answered and shouted up to let someone know there was a call. We played stick ball, slug, sang accapella and danced in front of our house. Jump rope and roller skating ( wearing the skate key around my neck). In 1959 we moved to 359 Ft. Wash. Ave. Oh we arrived. This was an elevator building, large lobby with doctor's offices (Dr. Musliner, a pediatrician), a huge 2 bedroom apartment with a dumbwaiter, an incinerator in the kitchen, the small closet under the kitchen window where we stored potatoes and onions, and the metal clothes dryer in the bathroom that we pulled up and down. I went to PS 173, JHS 115, GW (class of '61), CCNY, and the University of Michigan for graduate work in Social Work. Reading others words evoked so many wonderful times of growing up in the Heights. Going to the Wall in the summer and meeting all of my friends ( Where is Chris Weinstein from Pinehurst Ave.? If anyone knows please tell him I am looking for him.) Palisades Park and that great pool, Highbridge Pool, 181st Street and all that shopping. My windows faced Pinehurst Avenue and I was able to look into Jay Hood Wright park where they played baseball. The summer evenings where the older (are we there now?) men and women would sit on their chairs -watching who we were with, who was dating whom, and doing their fare share of gossiping. I think about riding the subway after coming home from a party in Brooklyn or the Bronx when it was 2 or 3 in the morning. Never was there a thought that something might happen. It was unheard of. The innocence of it all. There are a couple of other people that I think of from that time - Ira Silverman and Howie Wild - we spent years in school together from early on. Thanks for letting me share and if anyone would like to be in touch, my email is: [email protected]."
Barry Schroon Lake, NY "The memories are so wonderful. I was raised on 567 west 186 St. There were the Kunzigs, Klines, Ternian, Tice, Middletons, Stano, so many more I can't remember them all. We had officer Joe to make sure we did nothing wrong. Talking about the Irish dances, and rockaway. Anyone remembers Miss Duffy from 189. Walking up those steps to Mother Cabrini, or that steep hill in the winter. How about Bodensteins bakery Sunday after mass. I used to work at the 5&dime 1952 to 1954. In the summer we would all go to orchard beach and pray we would get back in time to go to work. Anyone remember St. Elizabeth on the bottom of the hill. Then the fire .We used to take any thing we could find and slide down the hill just as the light changed. How about Fr. Wilde taking us from 189 to Sunday school".
Mike Spalding Seattle WA "What a great forum! I too grew up in post WW II Washington Heights and was happy to find this forum that brought back such fond memories of the old neighborhood. I was from Wadsworth Avenue near 189th Street, and went to PS 189, and George Washington HS. I guess, as we get older, we all yearn for the simpler times of our youth. It's great to find that there are others like myself.
Are there any out there that remember PS 189 in the 50's. Who remembers Mrs. Fleisher, Mr. Yungerman, Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Curry, Mrs. Lucy, Mrs. Reich, Mrs Levy, Mrs. Horowitz, Mrs. Samuels, Mrs. Heiler, Mr. Wagner, Mr. Gross, Mr. Silver, and Mr. Curzon, ?? Teastie's ice cream parlor (remember the fat bookie who did his business from the phone booth)? Dave's delicatessen, Stahl's and Asbell's drugstore, the Farmery, Katz's cleaners, the Balkan Bakery. Karls candy store, Rosens Deli, Ralph's fresh vegetables and fruits. Franks Barbershop, Doctor Scheuer and his Abe Lincoln collection, the old bagelman who sold bagels to school children on the corner of Audobon avenue. I could go on and on..
Thanks to all of you for the memories you rekindled!"
Wolfgang "Johnny" Rauner Flushing NY "My family moved to 187th Street in September1941, just about 3 months after we arrived on these blessed shores, escaping from Hitler's Europe. We were one of the many refugee families who settled in Washington Heights, giving the community the popular nickname 'The Fourth Reich.' My parents were lucky enough to get a 3rd floor walkup apt.#36 in 572W187th St. right next to the Armenian Church. It was the beginning of the school year and I was put in class5a, with my teacher, Miss Willard. I was nearly 13yrs old, but spoke no English as yet. By 5b, the second half of the year, I was promoted to Mrs. Fulton's class. By now my English had improved enough for me to win 3rd place in the annual spelling Bee, against the 6th &7th grade. I still proudly show my bronze medal to my grandchildren. I remember that year we put on a class play about the Panama Canal in which I had the part of Col. Walter Reed. I had to wear a pith helmet, and with my limited knowledge of English, the teacher had to convince me that pith was a perfectly acceptable word. Going on to 6th and 7th grade I had Miss Sugar, Mr.Cox and Miss Draddy. I don't remember in which order. In my last year I had Mr.Draddy her brother, who made us learn to remember all 32 presidents. He must have done a good job, I remember them still. Up till Roosevelt. The Principal at that time was Mr.Chenkin, a virtual god, whom you rarely saw. The Asst.Principal, Mr. Gussow, did all the dirty work. He was the terror. At least in my little refugee eyes. These were the war years. We all were very patriotic. Every week those who could afford it brought in a quarter to buy a war stamp. They were pasted in a book and when the book was full you got a War Bond. I wasn't one of those who could afford that kind of money, so I contributed to the war effort in other ways. I still have the award certificate I got for collecting waste paper. I also collected scrap aluminum.
I was especially proud, because I had two older brothers who served in the army overseas. My parents proudly displayed our two star flag in the front window, for all to see. Our patriotism was also shown in other ways. Samuel Davis, Henry Stern and I were the artistic ones in the class, so we were given the project to paint a patriotic mural in the back of the classroom. I remember it well. My subject was of heroic American GI with one foot on the throat of a despised Jap and a bayonet sticking in his chest. My reward for that was one extra ticket to the graduation. Some of the kids in my class, some friends that I remember were the Greek kids from 189th and Audubon Ave. Andrew Andrews and Thucy Vagelos. Manos Kypar and Serge Suny from 187th st. Mostly I remember the pretty girls, the unreachable ones as far as I was concerned. Especially Aphie Lamdos the little Greek Aphrodite. There was Elliot Butler and Eugene Plant, Ruthelaine Macomber .AH, O so many, so many years ago. We were all so innocent then.
Graduation day June 1943
Harvey, Scottsdale, Arizona " I just read the latest entry from one of my childhood friends Elliot from Florida, so I thought I'd add a few lines as well. This web site is so cool, although the photos are a bit old even for me.I grew up on 175th Street between St. Nicholas and Audubon, on the same street as the Church of the Incarnation. Went to PS 173 JHS 115 and George Washington HS graduation in the class of January 1964.Went back to the old neighborhood (drove through and didn't stop) with my wife and son 2 years ago so they could see where I grew up. Bit different now than the 40's to mid 60's. Oh well, we all change right! We used to meet all our friends at "the wall" on Ft. Washington Avenue, it was unreal to think no one before Elliot wrote of "our wall"! I've been lucky to connect with several old friends from the Heights through 88 million names on CD ROM and Classmates. Com. What a neat way to meet old friends, who would have thought 30 plus years after the fact we'd meet over the net. We are now trying to setup a reunion for next fall (2002) possibly in sunny Florida among 5-6 of us. Anyway this has been fun and I hope others will write as well. Keep up the good work, it makes for good reading and reminiscing!
Ellen (Chaim) Kracko :) "Thank you so much for the wonderful memories of "The Heights." What comes to mind, first and foremost, was "THE WALL." That's where we "teenagers" hung out. "The Wall" was the stone wall surrounding the J. Hood Wright Park on Ft. Washington Ave. "Our spot" was right across the street from P.S. 173. I can see it now, as if it were yesterday. Anytime we wanted to meet, we just told everyone "Meet you at the Wall." There was a whole group of us....boys and girls (Syl, Micki, Dean, Billy, Larry, Harvey, Joan, Richie, Ricky, Elliot, and later on more kids)...that hung out together. And in those days we walked all over the place....to 181 St. for ice cream, upstairs at The Tea Room.....to the 181 St. RKO to watch (in those days) two movies from the second balcony.....up Ft. Washington Ave. to Ft. Tryon Park where we hung out on the second lawn. When we got older, I remember walking across the George Washington Bridge to NJ and walking to Palisades Amusement Park. I also have memories of the old Horn and Hardart and The Tasty Pastry Shop (delicious danish) on Broadway around 178 St. I attended P.S. 173, J.H.S. 115, and GW (graduated l964). And I remember, during grade school at P.S. 173, going to, what was called in those days, "Summer School." But what it really was, was a form of camp for those of us who stayed home during the summer months. We played ping pong, knock-hocky, tag, outside games in the school yard, saw movies, went swimming in Highbridge Pool, had "talent day," and at the end of the summer all the city's schools got together at one of the schools for a huge "End of the Summer Festival." When I think back, I must admit.....growing up in Washington Heights was pretty good. I made alot of good friends, and I've recently started to re-connect with them via the internet. Actually, those were wonderful days.....carefree and stressfree. Thank you, again, for this great website."
Carole Young Davidson "What a wonderful neighborhood Washington Heights was ! Do you remember the building on 188 or so that had nothing under it ? It was next to that park that went down to broadway. there was a great cobble stone drain that was good for sliding down on cardboard. calling for a friend meant standing under their windows and yelling their name. i just thought of those clothes driers in the kitchen , they were a metal frame with ropes going up and down to hang clothes on , and those little doors under the kitchen window, they were metal my parents kept oily rags in it. what did your parents put in yours ? It is fun to visit again in my head, be well and God bless.
Steve Voloshin, Wappinger Falls New York "I lived in the Heights from my birth in 1943 till 1979. I first lived on 158th Street on Riverside Drive in the "red house" as they were called. Today the complex is a Co-op. We moved up to Fort George Hill in 1962, 1 year after I graduated from George Washington. I followed the normal path for kids in the HEIGHTS 169, Stitt and GW. Have great memories about growing up in Washington Heights, here are a few 25 cent Sat movies at the Loews Rio, great egg creams at Dave's on 158th street, great deli food at M and K on 162nd street. Going swimming in Highbridge or Miramar pools, walking to the Polo Grounds to see the Giants play. Seeing Alan Freed's show at the Loews 175th street. Hanging out at the wall on 161 street and Riverside drive and going sleigh ridding on Greenies. This ride usually landed you in the street with oncoming cars. Later on, getting my first legal drink at Maguires on 157th street and Broadway and later on some of the good bars along Broadway(Mullins, TGs Center and some more whose names I have forgotten) up into Inwood. Went back to the Heights about 4 years ago and walked from 157th street to 170th. It was an amazing trip to see how much things had changed and also trying to remember what stores use to be there."
Jim Neff from beautiful Vernon, Sussex Co. New Jersey " Yes, I remember just about everything mentioned, from the Automat, to the 5 & 10 (Woolworths) &Five and Dime (Grants) to the fire on Easter Sunday, 1957 at Falcaros restaurant and bowling alley, that destroyed the entire northeast corner of 181st street, to the airplane up on 191st and St. Nick, ran out of St. Elizabeths church that Sunday morning to see it, I'm probably one of the kids in the photo! I especially remember that we did not need a car to do anything. everything was at our fingertips. A whole pizza pie was a buck, and life was good. The street you lived on was your "own little world" with your friends, and until you got older, you did everything right there. Went to 132, 115 and G Dub's, and had a ball. Thanks for great site.!!!!!!!!!"
Linette, Wilmington Delaware "enjoyed reading all the great stories about an area of the city that I had such fond memories of. My family moved to 247 W. 177th Street in 1954. We left the city in 1963. The things that I remember best were, the hot summer days when the older boys would open up the fire hydrants and if you left your windows open (even on the higher floors) you would come home to a very wet apartment. They would cut both ends out of a can and direct the water toward their target. Snow Cones ! High Bridge park was near our apartment. We had a Great Dane and would take him there to get some exercise. My mother was from Puerto Rico and my dad was from Washington State. We always had a melting pot of family and friends in our apartment. In our building, on the corner was a drug store with a soda fountain. You could get Cherry Cokes and egg creams. Big lollipops were 5 cents. All the kids on our block played games like Johnny ride the pony, Freeze tag, Hide the belt, Red light - Green light and we tried to jump rope through the day and into the night. The first floor tenants usually put an end to that. The building that we lived in was a beautiful building with an elevator and marble hallways. There was a front entrance where at one time the doorman stood. Doormen were long gone when we lived there. The middle hallway was huge, with a faux fireplace in it and what used to be fancy lights. There was a third part to the entrance way that was 3 walls of mirrors. The stairs were great for sliding down and under them were the mailboxes. A great place for little girls to play. It is sad that they buildings ran down the way they did. It would be lovely to see someone come in and restore them to their original beauty. Did anyone have Mrs. Rowan, Mrs. Mainzer, Mrs. Goldstein, Mrs. Leshney (I am not sure of the spelling)? They were the teachers that I remember having. Especially Mrs. Rowan (tortured me) and Mrs. Goldstein (best teacher).
Diana (Hopkins), Freehold, N.J. "Wow--what a find! Our years there: 1954-1963.. Until now, I could only share these memories with my sisters and brother...we all have a piece of the Heights and combine our various memories...Some of what I've read on the site is either not familiar or before my time. (I.E. V.J. day and the plane on 191st) But so much else evoked smiles and even laughter as my sister and I read together. For ex: The clothes dryers suspended from the kitchen ceiling...how about dumbwaiters that fetched the garbage and the "super" whose job it was. (At 247 Audubon, he was rather unfriendly and even a little scary) Instead of fishing for spauldines, fishing through grates to get the lost change below--with string and chewing gum! And yes we remember Mr. Pizza---a huge slice and a Coke for 25 cents. We also remember Grant's (Mom would make us wait while she shopped downstairs for curtains...torture!!) Albrecht's--a clothing store near Miles Shoe store...I remember shopping for "Angel blouses" and Ben Casey medical shirts. And nobody mentioned P.S. 132 across from Precinct 34. (Famous grad: Lou Gehrig) P.S. 115 diagonally across from our apt. building--boasted 52 nationalities amongst its student body. Our graduation ceremony was held at the RKO and we marched from 115 to the theater in caps and gowns. Class trips were made via the subway. One teacher and 32 kids on the subway (to the Museum of Natural History--every year it seemed.) And yet everything wasn't rosy--there were gangs-- "West Side Story" really resonated for us. We were insulated from it as best our parents could but it was there.
I can still remember watching the slightly older teens dancing the "Grind"---aptly named! We watched from the sidelines with mouths agape. And hearing them sing acapella doo-wop right outside our 1st floor window. ( Much to my father's dismay--he kept busy chasing them away.) And of course, the fire hydrant spraying into the streets till the cops came and turned it off--AGAIN!! One tense summer night, I watched the older boys running and retrieving sticks and other weapons from various hiding places as they set off for a fight somewhere--probably the "Rock Park" on Amsterdam Ave. And does anybody remember the "Fordham Baldies"---I lived in mortal terror of these gang members who supposedly entered grade schools and cut off your hair??? Our grade school was rampant with rumors and inflamed imaginations and I was truly terrified for part of third grade. It was at least as real to me as the Taliban is today.
Well---thanks for the opportunity to stroll down memory lane...I treasure so much the diversity of the Heights--Greeks, Chinese, Jewish, Black , Puerto Rican. It gave me such a good beginning and I believe it taught me to appreciate the differences between us all.
James Nicholas, Dumont NJ "This is a wonderful web site. So many of us have scattered from our old neighborhood. It's good that we can come together at this site and remember what things were like in one of the best areas to grow up during the 1950's and earlier. I have some photographs of the Heights that I'm converting from slides to prints and hope to share with you. I have two which I can share now. I was born in Wadsworth hospital in 1943. It stood on the northside of 185 street between St. Nicholas Ave. and Wadsworth Ave. Later an A&P opened on the other side of the street. Luckily I took a photo before its demise years later. I went to P.S. 189, George Washington H.S. and C.C.N.Y. I was a member of Fort George Presbyterian Church and had perfect attendance for 7 years in its Sunday School. I enclose a photo of its beautiful structure at the corner of 186 street and St. Nicholas Avenue. I remember going to Hobbyland at 182 street and St. Nicholas Ave. It had toys, and modeling kits of all kinds. I've always been a movie fan and the Heights had ample theaters to attend. Loew's 175th, the RKO Colosseum, the Lane and the Heights were movie theaters I remember. Hope to share more memories in the future. A snapshot of me in 1945. St. Nicholas Ave. in the background. Only 3 cars between 186th & 191st street!
Ann Chai Chan Ft Lauderdale Florida "What fond memories I have of "The Heights". I lived there from the early 30's to '46 when I got married. I used to live across the street from GWHigh. Then we moved to 709 W 178th St. between Ft. Washington Ave. and B'way. The Port of Authority built the bus terminal and my Mom and Dad had to move to 179th St. alongside the GW bridge, then they tore that down and they finally moved to Bennet Ave. near 190th St. I went to PS 173 and PS 115. My younger sister and brother went to Incarnation. I remember all the names of the movie theaters in the neighborhood except one. It was on St. Nicholas Ave. near 176th St., just up the block from Incarnation. We used to get passes from the 34th Precinct and spend all day Sat. there watching movies...and Buck Rogers. There was a wonderful pastry shop near that theater, and a special treat was to get napoleons and eclairs. Someone said it was the Ogden, but I'm not sure.I remember Loew's, The Coliseum, The Heights, Lane, Gem, Empress, Uptown near the hospital on 168th St. and the Audubon Theater where they had the Andrews Sisters one week-end.
Summers were spent at the "Y" on Broadway where we learned crafts. Walks to the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park on Sundays, and sitting in the park overlooking the Hudson. We also walked across the GW bridge to Ft. Lee and back. There was always so much to do in "The Heights". I also remember taking the trolley on Broadway on a hot summer day with the cane seats and the sides open with a grille, and sitting on the top of the open bus that would go down Fort Washington Ave. to Fifth Ave. Only a nickel in those days. I remember when Orson Welles had that scary radio program about. I remember when Orson Welles had that scary radio program about aliens invading the country and landing near Palisades Park. We all went up to the roof to see if we could see them. My Dad laughed at us, he was the only one that was "onto" the whole show.
Shopping on 181st St. was the greatest with all the stores. I did all my Christmas gift shopping at Woolworth's. They used to sell those tiny bottles of perfume for a quarter. My Mom used to send me to Daitch's because they had the best milk with cream on top in glass bottles. I would go to either store, one on 181st or the one on Broadway near 168th if I wanted to "dawdle". The hot dogs at Nedicks on 181st and Broadway were the best, then there was a little shop next door to it on Broadway that sold Charlotte Russes. My sister met her future husband at the bowling alley down near the IRT on St. Nicholas and 181st St. Was it Cafaro's? My Mother should have known she went there !!! I would have been "grounded".
One of our greatest pastimes was to sit on the stoop and watch the cars come off the bridge and down our street on the holidays...the Fourth of July was the best. We would count all the cars with out of state plates. The super let us have the basement for our Halloween parties. We learned to dodge cars at an early age since the street was our playing ground aside from the park on 173rd St. It was a wonderful place to live and bring up kids. My Mother never locked the door 'til we were all in our beds for the night. I played with Italian, Greek, Irish and Jewish kids, never a fight, except with the boys who picked on the girls. We were told never to go to Amsterdam Ave., the kids were "too tough". My sister drove me through "The Heights" back in the 70's and I could have cried at seeing how my beautiful old neighborhood had changed. I couldn't get out of there fast enough....and I never went back."
Bob Heller Washington DC "I am 75 and a retired bureaucrat. My earliest years were at 1560 Amsterdam Ave and 137st where my father was Boy's Director of the Hebrew orphan Asylum across from the late Lewisohn Stadium which was part of CCNY. I attended PS 193 of which I have fond memories . In 1940 my family consisting of my parents, myself and a younger brother moved to Ft. Washington Ave in the heights. I attended PS 187 of which the less said the better. However, from 1941 to 1945 I attended George Washington High School before enlisting in the naval reserve. I found the school to be a warm and stimulating place despite a few inept teachers . There were two good ones whose names come to mind. They were a Mr. Foley who taught English and inspired many. In addition there was a Ms. Gottesman who taught History . I worked on the school paper The Cherry Tree . The school principal in the main building was an intelligent woman who also wrote the school fight song as we had many teams . In the first year we went to the Ishem Annex near Inwood and later we went to the main building. I remember the following names Glenn, Fineberg, Robbins Schnieder , Berlin, Ethel Pendergast , Ilsa Kopf, Mickey Chernin , Joan Pollock.
My fondest memories are that of Ft Tryon Park, The George Washington Bridge, tennis courts at Riverside Drive and the movies and arcade on 181 street. In the latter was a second hand book store where I first went to gaze at the lurid magazine covers . Later, the owner took an interest in me and loaned me Joyce's Ulysses, which became a life long passion that later took me to Dublin. After college at the universities of Illinois and Michigan I returned to NYC and lived in the Village. I am divorced with three daughters. My address is 2514 K. St NW , Washington DC 20037 and my number is 202 333 7419 - HLLR 93 @ AOL . Com".
Judy (Nussbaum) Liebman, Edgewater, NJ
''I love this website! I was born at Jewish Memorial Hospital, lived in the apartment building on the corner of St. Nick and 191Street. My Dad owned Willie's Beauty Shop on St. Nick between 191 and 192. Went to 189, GW, and then Hunter College. So of course I remember Teasties, the movies, Wertheimer's, Grants, pizza places etc. Yes, it was great that we were able to walk everywhere - even though the tunnel in the subway from 191st Street to Broadway. Bowling, the Y, walking across the GW Bridge to Ft. Lee, and then walking down to Palisades Park, the little red lighthouse in the park under the bridge. I did go into the Heights several weeks ago and it has changed-yet not. There are a different group of people, but they too are trying to make it in this world. The stores are flourishing, the streets are busy and exciting as ever. 181st Street is still a center for shopping. My parents lived in the Heights from the time they married in 1939 until my Dad retired in 1979. His store is now called El Cubano Unisex.
Strangely enough I now live in Edgewater, NJ and from my windows I can see Washington Heights, the bridge, the little lighthouse etc. I used to think that it was just me, my sister and a few friends that felt this way about Washington Heights., but I guess our perceptions are real.
Fran Pargament Poughkeepsie, NY I can only repeat what others have said, "What a great website." Thanks for all the wonderful memories - Tasty Pastry, the deli on the corner of 177th and Bway, the Loew's where I would go in the summer with my sandwich and watch two movies, the newsreel, and coming attractions - all for 10 cents. I spent my first 11 years living at 1 Cabrini Blvd. on 177th St. It was such an innocent time. There was a public phone in the lobby of the 5 floor walk-up. Whenever the phone rang, whoever was nearest answered and shouted up to let someone know there was a call. We played stick ball, slug, sang accapella and danced in front of our house. Jump rope and roller skating ( wearing the skate key around my neck). In 1959 we moved to 359 Ft. Wash. Ave. Oh we arrived. This was an elevator building, large lobby with doctor's offices (Dr. Musliner, a pediatrician), a huge 2 bedroom apartment with a dumbwaiter, an incinerator in the kitchen, the small closet under the kitchen window where we stored potatoes and onions, and the metal clothes dryer in the bathroom that we pulled up and down. I went to PS 173, JHS 115, GW (class of '61), CCNY, and the University of Michigan for graduate work in Social Work. Reading others words evoked so many wonderful times of growing up in the Heights. Going to the Wall in the summer and meeting all of my friends ( Where is Chris Weinstein from Pinehurst Ave.? If anyone knows please tell him I am looking for him.) Palisades Park and that great pool, Highbridge Pool, 181st Street and all that shopping. My windows faced Pinehurst Avenue and I was able to look into Jay Hood Wright park where they played baseball. The summer evenings where the older (are we there now?) men and women would sit on their chairs -watching who we were with, who was dating whom, and doing their fare share of gossiping. I think about riding the subway after coming home from a party in Brooklyn or the Bronx when it was 2 or 3 in the morning. Never was there a thought that something might happen. It was unheard of. The innocence of it all. There are a couple of other people that I think of from that time - Ira Silverman and Howie Wild - we spent years in school together from early on. Thanks for letting me share and if anyone would like to be in touch, my email is: [email protected]."
Barry Schroon Lake, NY "The memories are so wonderful. I was raised on 567 west 186 St. There were the Kunzigs, Klines, Ternian, Tice, Middletons, Stano, so many more I can't remember them all. We had officer Joe to make sure we did nothing wrong. Talking about the Irish dances, and rockaway. Anyone remembers Miss Duffy from 189. Walking up those steps to Mother Cabrini, or that steep hill in the winter. How about Bodensteins bakery Sunday after mass. I used to work at the 5&dime 1952 to 1954. In the summer we would all go to orchard beach and pray we would get back in time to go to work. Anyone remember St. Elizabeth on the bottom of the hill. Then the fire .We used to take any thing we could find and slide down the hill just as the light changed. How about Fr. Wilde taking us from 189 to Sunday school".
Mike Spalding Seattle WA "What a great forum! I too grew up in post WW II Washington Heights and was happy to find this forum that brought back such fond memories of the old neighborhood. I was from Wadsworth Avenue near 189th Street, and went to PS 189, and George Washington HS. I guess, as we get older, we all yearn for the simpler times of our youth. It's great to find that there are others like myself.
Are there any out there that remember PS 189 in the 50's. Who remembers Mrs. Fleisher, Mr. Yungerman, Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Curry, Mrs. Lucy, Mrs. Reich, Mrs Levy, Mrs. Horowitz, Mrs. Samuels, Mrs. Heiler, Mr. Wagner, Mr. Gross, Mr. Silver, and Mr. Curzon, ?? Teastie's ice cream parlor (remember the fat bookie who did his business from the phone booth)? Dave's delicatessen, Stahl's and Asbell's drugstore, the Farmery, Katz's cleaners, the Balkan Bakery. Karls candy store, Rosens Deli, Ralph's fresh vegetables and fruits. Franks Barbershop, Doctor Scheuer and his Abe Lincoln collection, the old bagelman who sold bagels to school children on the corner of Audobon avenue. I could go on and on..
Thanks to all of you for the memories you rekindled!"
Wolfgang "Johnny" Rauner Flushing NY "My family moved to 187th Street in September1941, just about 3 months after we arrived on these blessed shores, escaping from Hitler's Europe. We were one of the many refugee families who settled in Washington Heights, giving the community the popular nickname 'The Fourth Reich.' My parents were lucky enough to get a 3rd floor walkup apt.#36 in 572W187th St. right next to the Armenian Church. It was the beginning of the school year and I was put in class5a, with my teacher, Miss Willard. I was nearly 13yrs old, but spoke no English as yet. By 5b, the second half of the year, I was promoted to Mrs. Fulton's class. By now my English had improved enough for me to win 3rd place in the annual spelling Bee, against the 6th &7th grade. I still proudly show my bronze medal to my grandchildren. I remember that year we put on a class play about the Panama Canal in which I had the part of Col. Walter Reed. I had to wear a pith helmet, and with my limited knowledge of English, the teacher had to convince me that pith was a perfectly acceptable word. Going on to 6th and 7th grade I had Miss Sugar, Mr.Cox and Miss Draddy. I don't remember in which order. In my last year I had Mr.Draddy her brother, who made us learn to remember all 32 presidents. He must have done a good job, I remember them still. Up till Roosevelt. The Principal at that time was Mr.Chenkin, a virtual god, whom you rarely saw. The Asst.Principal, Mr. Gussow, did all the dirty work. He was the terror. At least in my little refugee eyes. These were the war years. We all were very patriotic. Every week those who could afford it brought in a quarter to buy a war stamp. They were pasted in a book and when the book was full you got a War Bond. I wasn't one of those who could afford that kind of money, so I contributed to the war effort in other ways. I still have the award certificate I got for collecting waste paper. I also collected scrap aluminum.
I was especially proud, because I had two older brothers who served in the army overseas. My parents proudly displayed our two star flag in the front window, for all to see. Our patriotism was also shown in other ways. Samuel Davis, Henry Stern and I were the artistic ones in the class, so we were given the project to paint a patriotic mural in the back of the classroom. I remember it well. My subject was of heroic American GI with one foot on the throat of a despised Jap and a bayonet sticking in his chest. My reward for that was one extra ticket to the graduation. Some of the kids in my class, some friends that I remember were the Greek kids from 189th and Audubon Ave. Andrew Andrews and Thucy Vagelos. Manos Kypar and Serge Suny from 187th st. Mostly I remember the pretty girls, the unreachable ones as far as I was concerned. Especially Aphie Lamdos the little Greek Aphrodite. There was Elliot Butler and Eugene Plant, Ruthelaine Macomber .AH, O so many, so many years ago. We were all so innocent then.
Graduation day June 1943
Most went on to G.W. High school. I went on to School of Industrial Art, Henry Stern and Samuel Davis went to HS of Music and Art.
Every day we went home for lunch. No school lunches for us. Lunch was a package of Yankee Doodles and a glass of milk. But the highlight of lunch hour was ''Big Sister'', on the radio followed by Kate Smith. Going home for lunch wasn't always easy for me. I frequently came home or returned to school with a bloody nose or a black eye, compliments of Johnny O'Brien and his gang who didn't take lightly to some foreign-speaking refugee kid invading his turf. Frequently the Armenian Priest Father Simonian stood between me and major injury. While on that subject I might mention, even today I'm Johnny to my friends and family.I registered at school with the name John, to protect myself from the young patriots who might have found a German sounding name like Wolfgang too provocative during those years. It's 11:15 now. Perhaps some more memories another day. We'll talk about Gitlin's Pharmacy, Frishling dairy, Marmelstein's and Bodensteins Bakeries etc, etc, etc, GOOD NIGHT.
George Acropolis Central New Jersey "I graduated from George Washington High school in 1952 and lived in the Heights from the age of eight to around 20. It was a wonderful area with Irish, Greek, German and Jewish residents in the majority. I remember coming out of the RKO Coliseum theatre one winter and finding 27 inches of snow on the ground. I remember the movies at the Lane , and Uptown theaters. I remember the High Bridge Swimming Pool, and the catacombs under the GW High School stadium, and Arnold Portocarrero pitching for GW and winning 27 games over three seasons. He made it to the major leagues with the old Kansas City Athletics. I loved the bowling alley and pizza joint on 181 street and also eating at the Automat. I'll never forget the Heights. [email protected])
Gail, Fort Lee, NJ "I have so many memories of Washington Heights. My grandparents lived at 569 W. 192nd and St. Nick. I remember the old
shoemaker shop, the corner grocery store (still there). But cannot remember names except for the Butcher Boy. What a wonderful memory. Going to the RKO theater. Shopping on 181st . Attending services at Yeshiva (and making a lot of noise with other kids).This is a wonderful website. Thanks for the memories."
Arnie Perlstien I lived in Washington Heights from birth in 1952 through 1964 when we made the move to Riverdale. We lived at 142 Laurel Hill Terrace (kitty corner across Amsterdam Ave from PS 189. I attended PS 189 from kindergarden through 6th grade) My older brother went to PS 189 as well, and also attended GW High School. I have some class photos in albums that I will dig up, but I wonder if any of my classmates might see this post. In 1989, I arranged a 25th reunion of our 6th grade class, and 7 people (out of about 35) actually showed up. I remember playing as a young child in that little playground across Amsterdam Ave. from PS 189, and also playing football after school down toward GW HS. I remember walking to the temple down the "big hill" for bar mitzvah lessons during 5th and 6th grades. I remember being taken to the Loew's down on 181 St. by my grandparents on Saturday evenings. And now I'm 63 and that world seems very far away.
Frank Just stumbled on to this site and the recollected treasures it contains. My recollections of that time and place stay with me to this day, some 65 years later. Here are a few:
Riding the IRT up to 181st St to go to the dentist, Dr. Freed followed by a stop at the Automat on 181st for some soft food, usually their rice pudding, pumpkin pie or macaroni and cheese. Summer nights on the roof, watching the news sign at Palisades Park. Walking down to the playgrounds and parks along Riverside Dr. and exploring the nooks and crannies there. Taking the #4 bus up to Fort Tryon Park, seeing the flowers there each spring. Tagging along with my grandfather as he shopped for our family while my father mother and grandmother all worked. He'd stop at the Gristedes Market at the corner of 141st and walk down Broadway to Ben, the greengrocer and Mr. Green's butcher shop. -Watching the cuban cigar makers rolling cigar after cigar in the front windows of their shops on Broadway. Seeing those old double-decker #5 buses go by. Going to the next-door apartment to watch (for the first time) Howdy Doody at 5:30. Driving for what seemed like an eternity to get up to the far-away Catskills for a week in the summer at a place called Lustig's Lodge in Hunter. Playing "stoop ball" and "stick ball". Listening to baseball on the radio, going to the Polo Grounds and Ebbet's Field to actually see the games (I never liked those Yankees) Thank you for the memories.
OLD PHOTOS OF WASHINGTON HEIGHTS
click picture to view larger images
Every day we went home for lunch. No school lunches for us. Lunch was a package of Yankee Doodles and a glass of milk. But the highlight of lunch hour was ''Big Sister'', on the radio followed by Kate Smith. Going home for lunch wasn't always easy for me. I frequently came home or returned to school with a bloody nose or a black eye, compliments of Johnny O'Brien and his gang who didn't take lightly to some foreign-speaking refugee kid invading his turf. Frequently the Armenian Priest Father Simonian stood between me and major injury. While on that subject I might mention, even today I'm Johnny to my friends and family.I registered at school with the name John, to protect myself from the young patriots who might have found a German sounding name like Wolfgang too provocative during those years. It's 11:15 now. Perhaps some more memories another day. We'll talk about Gitlin's Pharmacy, Frishling dairy, Marmelstein's and Bodensteins Bakeries etc, etc, etc, GOOD NIGHT.
George Acropolis Central New Jersey "I graduated from George Washington High school in 1952 and lived in the Heights from the age of eight to around 20. It was a wonderful area with Irish, Greek, German and Jewish residents in the majority. I remember coming out of the RKO Coliseum theatre one winter and finding 27 inches of snow on the ground. I remember the movies at the Lane , and Uptown theaters. I remember the High Bridge Swimming Pool, and the catacombs under the GW High School stadium, and Arnold Portocarrero pitching for GW and winning 27 games over three seasons. He made it to the major leagues with the old Kansas City Athletics. I loved the bowling alley and pizza joint on 181 street and also eating at the Automat. I'll never forget the Heights. [email protected])
Gail, Fort Lee, NJ "I have so many memories of Washington Heights. My grandparents lived at 569 W. 192nd and St. Nick. I remember the old
shoemaker shop, the corner grocery store (still there). But cannot remember names except for the Butcher Boy. What a wonderful memory. Going to the RKO theater. Shopping on 181st . Attending services at Yeshiva (and making a lot of noise with other kids).This is a wonderful website. Thanks for the memories."
Arnie Perlstien I lived in Washington Heights from birth in 1952 through 1964 when we made the move to Riverdale. We lived at 142 Laurel Hill Terrace (kitty corner across Amsterdam Ave from PS 189. I attended PS 189 from kindergarden through 6th grade) My older brother went to PS 189 as well, and also attended GW High School. I have some class photos in albums that I will dig up, but I wonder if any of my classmates might see this post. In 1989, I arranged a 25th reunion of our 6th grade class, and 7 people (out of about 35) actually showed up. I remember playing as a young child in that little playground across Amsterdam Ave. from PS 189, and also playing football after school down toward GW HS. I remember walking to the temple down the "big hill" for bar mitzvah lessons during 5th and 6th grades. I remember being taken to the Loew's down on 181 St. by my grandparents on Saturday evenings. And now I'm 63 and that world seems very far away.
Frank Just stumbled on to this site and the recollected treasures it contains. My recollections of that time and place stay with me to this day, some 65 years later. Here are a few:
Riding the IRT up to 181st St to go to the dentist, Dr. Freed followed by a stop at the Automat on 181st for some soft food, usually their rice pudding, pumpkin pie or macaroni and cheese. Summer nights on the roof, watching the news sign at Palisades Park. Walking down to the playgrounds and parks along Riverside Dr. and exploring the nooks and crannies there. Taking the #4 bus up to Fort Tryon Park, seeing the flowers there each spring. Tagging along with my grandfather as he shopped for our family while my father mother and grandmother all worked. He'd stop at the Gristedes Market at the corner of 141st and walk down Broadway to Ben, the greengrocer and Mr. Green's butcher shop. -Watching the cuban cigar makers rolling cigar after cigar in the front windows of their shops on Broadway. Seeing those old double-decker #5 buses go by. Going to the next-door apartment to watch (for the first time) Howdy Doody at 5:30. Driving for what seemed like an eternity to get up to the far-away Catskills for a week in the summer at a place called Lustig's Lodge in Hunter. Playing "stoop ball" and "stick ball". Listening to baseball on the radio, going to the Polo Grounds and Ebbet's Field to actually see the games (I never liked those Yankees) Thank you for the memories.
OLD PHOTOS OF WASHINGTON HEIGHTS
click picture to view larger images
