@@a.t.6322 As of the 1st of the year 2023 Macy's or its parent corporation has decided to close many stores. I understand Parkchester's Macys is on the list.
What a wonderful walk down memory lane. Many of my friends were named in this presentation. Amazing. All of us who grew up there know how special it was and at times miss it a lot. Thank you for this delightful video. Maureen Kelly Parkchester 1943-1980.
I played hand ball at Parkchester.We always had breakfast at Step-ins restaurant.As a kid my grandmother always dragged me to Macy's.My friends and I always watched movies at the Circle,Loews and Palace theaters.There was a great Italian bakery right on the circle,I can't remember the name but they had the best cannolis and bread.I can go on and on..I miss you Bronx.Always and forever..
My fathers parents lived in Parkchester. I went there once at night when i was small. My first impression was that it was upper class. Lots of room and greenery around the buildings. My grandmother had white carpeting. Very luxurious for the times. This was in the late 50's. My dad never mentioned all the supervision in the complex. Happy to see it was there. Good video from Sacramento
@@helenmurphy3143 my family first moved to the Bronx in the 1940s it was a beautiful place to live and raise children all buildings were well kept and clean people left there doors open 24 7 a different type of people back then very cultured and educated
@@edwinjimenez3802 we closed our doors in 1963 when some one tried to rob us, but we had a great dog then, no robery took place, still till this day i will lock my door even to toss the trash, never let neighbors in, u get robbed that way, i do not invite any neighbors in, i learned the hard way and never take any one in, ya get no thanks, they sponge off of u, they will find a way, the helpfull hannhana days are over with, ya get no thanks but a slap in the face take it from me send them to a church, or hra trust me ya get a slap in the face, ya learn
Thank you so much for posting these amazing memories!!! Life was so simple and Parkchester was a retreat for me when i had the chance to hang out there. I lived in Morris Park very near by.
I grew up there in the 60s and 70s. My family moved in when Parkchester opened and 2 generations lived in the same apartment for over 70 years. Those metal slides would burn your butt in the summer. Thank you for this video.
YOU KNOW IT. 75 Degrees was enough to heat those slides 150 degrees of reflected sunlight to cook a meal. Yeah the original Solar Cooker. Kids today are so weak due to the NANNY-STATE.
If you can remember Parkchester from the 60s and 70s, you may recall these stores that are now long gone: 1) Cornells - children’s store 2) 3 movie theaters - American, Circle, Paradise 3) Florist next to where Dunkin DOnuts is now 4) Where Walgreens is now, it used to be Buster Brown shoe store, Hallmark, Liberty Travel and Plymouth 5) Macys used to take up the entire block and had many entrances 6) Where Appleby’s was (closed now) it was Lerners. 7) Woolworth 8) Bonds - Men’s clothing store 9) Arthur Treachers where Burger King is now 10) Zaros - it’s now a Boston Market
There also was a great restaurant called St. Clairs . A place for special occasions. Learners and “ The Plymouth Shop “women’s clothing stores. Don’t forget about the Hat shop on the circle a Easter favorite store. The ladies lined up every April to sit in beauty shop style chairs and have a clerk fit them with the perfect “Easter Bonnet” don’t forget about the annual “Easter Parade “ walking around the perimeter of the circle of cascading water fountains. Everyone dressed in their best the men dressed in suits & ties and highly polished shoes women in dresses and new shoes and matching handbags and children proudly wearing their new Easter outfits little girls with straw hats with pastel ribbons . It was a beautiful time and place to grow up.
From 1946-77 I lived on Wood Road, parallel to West Ave, which was accessible thru a tunnel in the middle, which IIRC had these shops, going from North to South, downhill: Safeway, Good Humor ice cream shop, Deli with a picture of a boar’s gnarly head, Western Union, liquor store, Shoe store with an X-ray machine for feet, Corsetorium with a little plaza in front (both later replaced by a post office), big toy store (later replaced when Macy’s expanded and blocked West Ave and the tunnel), and a large bar at the lower end of the block.
Didn't live in Parkchester but have wonderful childhood memories of shopping there with parents. Never went home without the latest Hardy Boy Mystery from the old Womrath book shop. Not to be forgotton.
Moved to Parkchester when I was fourteen and loved every moment of living and growing up in such an great area. It was just my mom and myself and fortunately the rent was affordable for my mom. Made many great friends and still in touch with a few.
At 2:55 I laughed out loud when you say, "you got your name taken by the Parkchester Police." As a pre-schooler (St. Raymond's), I took that expression quite literally, and wondered how you got it back! We moved out in 1960, when I was 9, but I have great memories. Thanks for the trip back in time.
Yes they took your name and it went on record. If you got caught and name taken your parents got a letter stating your misbehaving act and this quoted sentence at end of letter “if this continues your family maybe EVICTED. They tried eviction many times on my Future Mother in law in 50s and when we applied for residence as newly weds in 64 was refused because of so many letters on my husbands record .It didn’t matter he had a honorable discharge from service or was employed as NYC police . I was also resident without letters on our records but we were refused and dismissed from the office.
Great video, thanks for posting it. Does anyone know what the rent was for a 1 bedroom? Great narration too. Lived there from 1945-1962. 18 Met Oval and then 20 Met oval. Anyone remember Stan the Good Humor Man and his pushcart parked under the flagpole in the East Quadrant? Great guy. One amazing thing, when you think about it, is when the Parkchester cops took your name for walking on the grass, you actually told them your right name and where you lived! Went to 106, then 127, then James Monroe. The train ride to Elder Ave was 10 cents, but 5 of us could grab a cab at the Circle and take it to Monroe for 5 cents each! The outdoor showers were still on in the East Quadrant playground in the mid 50's. Big fun climbing on the monkey bars with concrete or blacktop to break your fall if you fell. Don't remember that anyone ever did. Even as young kids we could go anywhere we wanted to after school safely without our mothers. Brought back nothing but great memories. Those were good times, I am sorry to hear that it has turned into a far less attractive place to live.
My grandmother lived 20 Met oval and I was always there. Remember Stan well on the Good Humor bicycle freezer. I lived on Unionport and grew up there. Yes it has gone down hill with lots of crime hate to say.
My mother grew up at 34 Metropolitan Oval in Parkchester. I am pouring through this wonderful video, hoping for a glimpse of my mom - thank you so much for posting ❤️
I worked in Macy's for most of the 70's. It's almost half in size now. They chopped off the upper half beyond the PO and made it into other stores. There is a clear space now between the two parts.
I'm still here. Been here for over 20 years. Nothing as nice as what's seen in this documentary. Though it still holds some of that today. The best thing for me is taking a simple stroll in the neighborhood to my favorite tree🌻
Wow sir thank you for posting this video and sharing the rich history of this section in the Pelham Park and Morris Park areas. My late Great Grandfather established A ice distributorship in Parkchester ...then my late Grandfather of whom I am named after ? Turned it into a beer and soda distributor in the Parkchester community. My Grandfather sold the business back in the late 1970s. My late father and us lived in the Parkchester apartment community lived there for a little time in the 70s... The early 70s . in close sir? You are very correct of this wonderful communities rich history . In close ? I am now in my mid 60s and to this day ? Have rich memories of not just my native birth place The Great Bronx but also? Parkchester ...well sir ? I could go on for hours but I will leave my personal small nugget of a comment here and as a fellow Native New Yorker Italian American who always has been a proud and still proud guy of the Bronx as it stills lives deep and rich within my heart. Grazie mille ...Ciao. Who knows maybe ? Just maybe your father and Grandfather also? Use to go to my late family's business Parkchester and bought some beer and soda flats then huh? Small world indeed. Again ? Grazie ... Ciao
I was born in Parkchester Hospital. Thanks for this! This looks like two completely separate films, film 2 at 21:47, with no attempt at blending or continuity. "Film 1" has amazing photos, and a pretty rich historical context of the development (at least from the 1930's, nothing before that). While there were a few words about the "elephants in the room" at the beginning, what proceeded was some highly over-romanticized nostalgic narration, bordering on weepy and saccharine like "Happy Days". Everything was brand-spanking new and it was all so wonderful for select Boomer children, whose middle-class, mostly immigrant parents moved uptown from shabby 19th and early 20th century dumbell tenements in Manhattan, right after a decade of Depression and in the middle of a World War. Parkchester was literally a wartime corporate curated, manicured, and regulated community intended as an investment and public relations showpiece, after corporations in the public perception were in the doghouse for years since the Depression. So, you betcha, it had to be nice to live in a private housing project Disneyland! Then there is "film 2" which jumps ahead 50 years to the 70th anniversary. No discussion of what happened in the interregnum. Why did everyone leave this "Paradise"? For sure, the "8% Rule" was in full-effect sometime in the 1970's, when white flight takes effect when 8% too many POC families move in due housing segregation being made illegal. From some of the awful comments below, presumably from at least some former nostalgia residents, that is confirmed. Also, right at the outset, being "too poor" was a disqualifier - one good way to screen out "those people". Could be that by the 1960's, MetLife had little interest in maintaining a now more aging infrastructure, and could happily focus on other lucrative investments, especially at NYC headed toward bankruptcy in the late 60's. But one might say that Parkchester's expiration date was built in. Like buying a new car, the first 3 years are the best, then the investment steeply declines - which is why the City had a rule of not having insurance corporations owning developments such as this one. Corporations never stick around for the long haul when things go south and money bleeds. Lastly, at the end of the day, there was the lure of an even "better" suburban life Upstate or in NJ, houses that could accommodate those larger families that these mostly 1-2 bedroom apartments could not, while also moving far away from "those people". Within the very design of Parkchester and in the context the so-called "American Dream," the seeds were planted for this place was to be transitional. As soon as a family made too much money, they had to move out anyway. The anniversary celebration looked great, and the investment for some rehab was a good thing. It was good to get the history, but I have greater interest in the future.
You mentioned that it was "middle class", not too poor or rich. Well I guess I was too poor as I attended school at St. Anthony's in Stratton Park. We were allowed to go to the various movies theaters, Macy's Woolworth's and the Public Library. If "caught" by the Parkchester Police we were escorted out. Many a times I recalled being in the back of the swaud car and driven to White Plains and Wood Ave. to be let out. It sure seemed discriminatory to me but if you couldn't make the grade... too bad! Spending our money at the shops was allowed though. Hey! Who remembers Hamburger Express and Zaro's bakery in Hugh Grant Circle?
I remember going to the movies there about 20 years ago. I was mesmerized by how well they maintained its vintage interior. I don’t think it’s there anymore or maybe it has been converted into something else. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool. I’m not a huge fan of the neighborhood. It just always felt a little scary and suspicious to me. I’ve walked through it a few times and taken the bus through it 100s of times. Not my cup of tea but I can see how folks like and enjoy living there.
That movie theater closed about 10 years ago. At that time it was showing movies for $5 per person, which was the cheapest in the Bx. It is now a Marshall's. Funny that you think Parkchester is scary. I consider it one of the least scariest neighborhoods in the Bronx, and we got a lot of them.
As an African American whose father was stationed in Okinawa in the 1960s,I and my brother and sister had the honor of visiting him on many occasions.I was shocked how well treated we were by the Japanese.But in America the hatred was unbearable, especially if we ventured out of our neighborhood.As I got older I began to understand what that kind of stress does to the human mind and body.In Japan I felt so comfortable with my existence.What I learned from that experience is that that all human beings deserve the presumption of innocence and to be treated with respect unless proven otherwise.How else can human beings develop into happy productive adults.When I asked my older brother and younger sister why they decided to return to Japan as adults to live,they both agree that freedom and prosperity are wonderful attributes of America but the Japanese make them feel that they have something to offer and that all of their institutions adhere to the concept of positive reinforcement.
Let me just say that I was white and lived just outside of Parkchester and we faced a lot of incrimination from the residence of Parkchester simply because we were from the other side of the tracks, so to speak.
Do you have a video of st Mary's Park from 19? - 1970s ? This video is awesome, and I shared it with my younger son just like myself. My son finds these history videos of the good old Bronx amazing .There's also Pelham Bay Park. I was watching pictures of it, and I remember the big concrete arena I used to run up and down the concrete stairs. Imagine I'm talking about myself when I was a little kid awesome place.
Thank you for posting. Loved seeing a young Mrs. Chess (South playground rec. teacher.) Just a quick correction: the showers were turned back on - at least in the South playground, in the early 1960s.
This was a little before my time; grew up there in the fifties and sixties. No mention of the Glee Club singing Christmas Carols at the Oval? Got my name taken once by the Playground Teacher but nothing came of it. We used to tease the Parkchester Cops and then run from them knowing they couldn't possibly catch us! But where has my Gristede's gone?
@@MrBillie1234 Yep! I remember bakeries and drug stores were the only commercial businesses in the 50's and early 60's opened on Sundays. The bakeries were closed at 1:PM and the drug stores rotated between various competing outlets to see who had to be open on Sunday in case of emergency need.
@@angeloreyes6202 I too lived on Rosedale Ave just over the CBx Expressway and attended St. Ant'nys. This was back in the 50's, 60's and early part of the 70's before getting my first apartment in Ft. Lee, NJ
@@angeloreyes6202 Hey! Maybe we know each other? I might be older though. BTW, St. Anthony's in now closed permanently as of late last year and is up for sale. Since the neighborhood is now predominantly Moslem maybe they will buy it to make into a mosque. Yikes! Those old Sisters of Charity will turn in their graves at that prospect.
Wow Love this short film. I am 49. I visited parkchester in the 90s. It was not so great. Different cultures came in and destroyed it! Thank you for this wonderful piece of history. I never knew Parkchester was so beautiful at one time. Such a different time & liife.
@@rizzy6687 Thanks for replying. I just had a sense as a kid in the 60s Parkchester was somehow immune to downfall some sections of the Bronx suffered through 1969-72-ish. Please take care.
@@Bippy55 Your welcome... I understand what you mean by immune... I'm in Riverdale Bronx. It's starting to change here too..Slowly but surely. Have a good!
@@rizzy6687 I'm glad you understand. I thought the Parkchester Police, Landlords, Rec Department and tenants would keep things decent. I hope it returns to the way I remember mid 60s. Please take care!
George Befanis Who In there right mind would want to live in ParkcAster The groundskeepers Don’t Do they’re Job properly There’s no place to park the parking lot 1500 Union port The elevated never works they overcharge you to park there’s no parking in the surrounding area to park in the outside stalls they want you to pay $200 for a sticker and you don’t have any guaranteed parking it sucks to live in Parkchester today
@@helenmurphy3143Why not? I go there every week day or night. Never had any problems. Compared to where I'm live in the Bx, Parkchester is light. Never had any problems in my neighborhood either.
It's 2022. Pandemic Mgt changed and need sensitivity & empathy for every renter. No evictions. People first not profits. Even your stores going out of business. Be part of solution not part of problem. The present and future of our homes is what is priority.
Born and raised in Manhattan NYC and as kids we played in the playgrounds, neighborhood with not much supervision , we had so much fun,it was like that in NYC , it was a different time, now children can’t do that, btw had friends who lived in Parkchester in the 80’s. What is Parkchester now? Co-op?
@@joannekelley1808 did he have a sister by the name of patricia wow i wonder how he is doing now, he was a nice guy kid too, say do u have a sister named nancy kelly on virginia ave we knew each other, if so u played with my sister ethel
Now they Don’t Care about The Neighborhood anymore they walk in the grass pissing in the stairways. Dropping garbage all over the place. I’m from Harlem and came to Parkcaster. Because I got married and I regret living in ParkcAster
As a black kid I remember my mother taking us shopping in parkchester in the 60s. She was absolutely fearless when it came to traveling to so-called “White neighborhoods” if those neighborhoods had what she wanted. Sneers and dirty looks meant NOTHING to her. She was tall and pretty and admired by all but she brooked no bullsht! As far as living in parkchester she wouldn’t touch a housing project with a 10 foot pole.
Your mother was projecting her bigotry onto the residents of Parkchester while they were providing her with services her own community failed to provide. Sounds like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. There are many neighborhoods then and now 'white people' prudently choose not to travel and it is because they are rightfully concerned about much worse than perceived dirty looks.
It’s a shame what happened to Parkchester it was beautiful, but sadly as the rest of NY white people moved out others moved in and it turned ghetto....crime and drugs so sad. People took pride in themselves no one was out shopping with pajamas with socks and flip flops on that’s disgusting. People took pride in their neighborhoods. It’s a shame how society lowered its standards on just about everything
The parkchester folks you see in this video all moved down to a place in Central Florida called the Villages. They are down here living in Parkchester still. Way more women than men and there is lots of sex going on. Viagra and Cialis had been a Godsend.
Most moved to the suburbs as the neighborhood went down hill. Their kids and grand-kids now live in NJ, CT Lung Island, (not a misspelling) and Westchester. Here they listen to us old codgers reminisce and they just yawn. Those great days and memories are lost on them. Well, indeed, these were our own special times and experiences.
Yes it is getting dangerous. Different people now live there.I remember all the stores that used to be there that are no longer there now. It was safe to shop in Parkchester. Sadly not now.
My parents lived in The Bronx near Westchester Square and told me parkchester houses were beautiful till Jackie Robinson bought it and the Property went to shit
Sorry but they lied to you. Jackie Robinson never bought Parkchester. By the way that area Westchester Square area where they lived is a dangerous area now . Parkchester is nicer
60s Love-Child here. 16:44 - I miss those hard STEEL swings. We could stand on them. when I was young through the 1970s-1990s. The rubber straps across the ass they call swings today are so boring. Nanny-State Liberals took the fun out of swings, all due to a few stupid kids not paying attention or not being taught to WATCH OUT.
Her Dad had a legal firm in the Castle Hill area catering to Hispanics, mostly Puerto Ricans. While she was ensconced and sheltered in upper Westchester County. SO I guess she is not simply Sandy Cortez from the Bronx, the name she preferred in the upper crust more exclusive County,
