My grandparents lived down the street from Yankee Stadium in the late 60s and into the mid 70s. They kept having to move to a safsr part of the Bronx every 5 years because the crime just kept getting worse. They finally moved to NJ in the mid 80s. I was so disappointed because I looked forward to my visits to NYC as a child and young teen.
Thank you Avery. As a 70 yr old guy I was born in the OLD LINCOLN HOSPITAL. I LIVED IN THE BRONX TILL 2005. ONCE AGAIN THANKS FOR THIS INFORMATIVE WALK THRU HISTORY
I remember PS 33 and the Muffin Man game, too. I was there in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Your memories parallel mine. I still have my First and Second Grade class pictures, taken in the auditorium. I never thought I’d feel nostalgic, but I do.
Born in 1946, many memories overlap. In the background of the first location is the building that was once Alexander's Department Store. Its opening was a seminal event for the Fordham/Grand Concourse shopping area. Saw JFK give a campaign speech on the SE corner. My high school graduation ceremony was held at the Paradise theater. Many movie dates followed at the Valentine and Astor. My mom was the bookkeeper for the Florsheim shoe store across the street from Alexander's. Rode the #20 bus past Poe Park on the way to high school. Wish Mr. Corman would have mentioned Jahn's ice cream parlor at Kingsbridge Road and Fordham Road where a group of 12 could enjoy the infamous Kitchen Sink sundae.
It's amazing how safe my old neighborhood used to be. There's so much history in that area that unfortunately many people living there now may not be able to appreciate & even be aware of.
You’re absolutely right. It’s a shame. Just hearing about the parades makes me wonder if the same sense of culture and community still exists in many areas in The Bronx.
Born in 1939 ,relate to much of what says V.E day , V.J day went to P.S 74 now Grace Dodge Voc. H.S. Then P.S. 45 ,finally Theodore Roosevelt H.S. It was a different world then lived on Beaumont Ave. and 187th. Street until I married in 1961. Much of my generation is gone now ,many many memories.
Great story just a little before I was born. Went to P.S. 33. , new every corner of the Paradise theatre. Me and my brother went all the way up the red carpet stairs to look at the man in the film projections room!!! It was a magical place for children. Also the lobby had a gold fish pond . But the best was the ceiling with clouds and stars.
In the early 50's on Andrews Ave, by Burnside, we played a spalding/chalk game called War. To play with 5 kids a circle on the sidewalk was divided into 4 countries - England, France, Germany, Italy. Each round one kid was somehow assigned to each country, and the 5th kid got the ball. The kid with the ball would raise the ball hand in the air and dramatically proclaim "I declare war on .....ITALY!" and slam the ball down on the chalk circle. All the other kids scattered;the kid who was Italy retrieved the ball and hunted down one of the other kids, tagged him, and then the tagged kid would have the ball for the next round.
I walked from 205th str with my girlfriend in the late 50’s early 60’s. PS 56, PS 80 and Evander Child’s . How bout Freedom Land ? Orchid beach and city island. Thanx for waking up the old gray matter.
You are so RIGHT about how people didn't root against their local ball clubs. I remember that if your team lost, you'd ask how did the other team representing the area did, wishing them best. Nowadays they fist fight and jump each other in the stadium rest rooms, and knife each other out in the parking lots.
In the 1950's the Yankees played a lot of day games, and admission was free after the top of the 5th. After school I sometimes walked to the stadium and watched a couple of innings. There was a recreational field next to Yankee Stadium so when I had to wait for the gates to open I practiced handball, or played a pick up game. My last visit to Yankee Stadium was Game 1 of the 1963 World Series. Koufax vs Ford. I played hooky and paid $2 for standing room, underneath the overhang just inside the left field foul line, next to the visiting bullpen. I can still hear the clang of Tom Tresh's home run, which Tommy Davis would have caught had it not nicked the overhang. Drysdale was warming up in the bullpen for Game 2 at the kid and expressed some choice words at Koufax's loss of a shutout, but Koufax completed a then record 15K performance in a 5-2 win.
@@kathleenbonner4146 Is that right? My memory must be wrong. I also remember Maury Wills stealing 2nd but just looked at the box score and see that it was actually Willie Davis. For sure it was a thrill.
My great aunts lived on Grand Concourse and my grandparents lived on Parkchester Blvd (now Rd for some reason). But that was back in the 40s and 50s. Bronx went downhill after 1964 and gets worse each decade
STRONGLY disagree. In my experience, the low point for the Bronx, and for many neighborhoods in NYC was the late 80s/early 90s....the crack epidemic, as real estate values seemsed to bottom-out. Since then, in MOST NYC neighborhoods, there's been some form of revitalization: apartment buildings renovated, some new homes rebuilt, and new businesses, many owned by new immigrants. It may be a bit "boring", with (arguably) too many chain and franchise stores taking the place of the old "mom and pop" stores, mostly owned by white ethnic people, but the education stats., job growth numbers, are not really arguable...as my city reaches 9 million....10 million people, and crime stts. are at their lowest in decades. People seem to be getting along.
That is true. If anyone remembers the late 70s and 80s the south Bronx was shell. Compared to the moon by the president at the time. I was a sanitation worker. We built bunkers of dirt along the sidewalks so people could not dump out. It was a site. I couldn’t find an apartment building occupied if I could even find one standing upright! Today well it isn’t the most desired places to live by many from that day and era. It is 100% functional, and occupied And the rents are not cheap.
In the 80s on university ave.we played skelzies...bottle caps filled with wax and shot like marbles on a drawn board on the concrete....i also played marbles in the north bronx family service center after school.... From 77 to 92..i will never forget my upbringing in the bronx...
Hi Daniel ,are you the same Daniel thats on pictify?If not ,sorry to bother you.If you are him ,get cracking ,this place is a great venue for artists.Way more exposure than pictify.Ciao!
Lovely commenataries, thank you for your information.. When it comes to the teaching profession, I beg to differ from you, dear friend. Teachers ARE still the BEST crowd of ppl...it is not true that we go into teaching bcc we cannot do anything else..that is a downright lie. Many of us LOVE CHILDREN, love teaching. Thank you !
+Rita La Cantadora Much thanks. I love teachers and the teaching profession. I wasn't suggesting people go into teaching for anything but positive reasons. But in the 1940s and 1950s, the period I'm referring to in the video, people from minority groups often went into teaching because they were barred by unfortunate prejudice from working in corporate America.
Yes, I was aware you were mentioning.a "now gone" crowd.. Though similar conditions apply nowadays.... For ex. myself (others I know.. Ppl who in their country were an MD, and they come here and become Biology teachers)... Accent, etc.. Other (usually pretty ridiculous and superficial reasons) make some of us gravitate towards the teaching profession However, - and in general- teachers (exceptions existing as they do in EVERY profession) are a pretty smart lot..we get lot so bad rep. I know.. Unfair, totally unfair
I had the same experience with calling it the "Low-eez" Paradise as opposed to "Lows", which was pointed out to me by one of my girlfriends later on in life, thus making me feel like a total jerk.
Amazing when I think of it, actually could hit the Spalding straight down the street with that thin bat?..once in a while had to lean over a car hood to catch it!..
If you ever come to the Bronx I invite you to come with me and see it today. The times may have changed the demographics may have changed but it is just as beautiful and just as sacred a place, I assure you.