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About the East New York ProjectThe East New York Project is a multimedia archive of the history of my childhood neighborhood. In general, it is the area currently referred to as the Highland Park area in Brooklyn, bordered by Atlantic Avenue to the south, Elderts Lane to the East, and Broadway to the West. However we also feature pictures and history south of Atlantic as well. It is intended to be a collaborative effort, and contributions in the form of stories, pictures, and even video are welcome. Use the menu bar above to navigate to areas of interest. |
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Brian Merlis and I have engaged in a three-year collaboration to produce the largest
and finest book yet in his series of works on Brooklyn neighborhoods. The 336-page hardcover
book contains over 600 black-and-white images and a detailed history of our East New York neighborhood. Based on Brian's
extensive photographic and memorabilia collection, my own resources and research, and
rare maps and images licensed from the municipal archives, libraries, and museums, we
cover the entire neighborhood from the Dutch settlers to today. |
 July 16 - I received a tip that the actor Vincent Schiavelli lived on Etna Street. Schiavelli (1948-2005), appeared in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Ghost as well many other movies. I did confirm he was born in Brooklyn, but he attended Bishop Loughlin High School so I have no confirmation of any ENY ties. When Rod Maggio solved one of our mystery pictures, it triggered some research on Euclid Park which I have compiled and placed in Zone 6. July 11- I managed to find a search engine that covers the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to 1954, and while researching various subjects I stumbled on some images - though the quality is weak they are pretty rare so I put together a page I call the Brooklyn Eagle Special to pull those together. Meanwhile Rod Maggio solved a tough one of our mysteries, visit the Mysteries page to see what he spotted. I'm also enjoying the Willie Mays biography, and they reference to the liquor store pictured below under the May 10 entry. It seems Willie was looking to open a liquor store up in Harlem (where he lived near the Polo Grounds) but couldn't get a liquor license, so they opened the store in Brooklyn with hopes of transfering the liquor license over. That fell through, and the Brooklyn store became a bust for him.  July 8- I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! The new computer finally arrived and I have a lot of catching up to do. Rick Constant had sent this terrific panoramic view looking south towards Jamaica Plank Road in 1892. Those farms in the foreground would all give way to Highland Park, except for the one at the far left which is sitting where National Cemetery is located today. Sharp eyes can spot the Essex St. tollbooth on the Jamaica toll road (it would burn down several years later.) The Stoothoff house, which is still standing, is also visible. To enable a closer view, Click here to see the left-hand side enlarged, and click here to see the right-hand side enlarged.  June 15 - While I'm battling a computer crash, I thought I would post this image sent in by Bernadette (Nicholson) Gill. She's on the right in this 1957 photo with her friend Laurie Marino, on their way to first communion at St. Rita's. We believe the view is looking east down Fulton Street from Shepherd Avenue but maybe someone can confirm that. Bernadette also sent in a 1955 kindergarten class pic from P.S. 108 which I posted on that page.June 2 - A road trip and a computer crash have set me back a bit, but I have been hearing from a lot of folks so I'm still busy with the site. Peter Stango reminded me about the Knights of Columbus Hall on Jamaica and Hale Avenues, and that set me off on a research binge. The results are all on the Hale Avenue page , and if you scroll to the bottom of that page you will also see a 1909 photo sent over by co-author Brian Merlis. Peter also sent over a 1955 image of his sister in front of Andrews Methodist (Richmond Street page) and a 1992 article on Andrews' entry into the Register of Historic Places (Andrews page under Zone 3.) Rick Constant used to live at 101 Linwood Street, and he sent a 1916 image as well as a view across the street in the 1960s which can be found on the Linwood Street page. A number of people confirmed the Willie Mays story, with Tom Valenza supplying the most details; "Willie Mays visited the Apprigliano family to see their daughter. Sadly, she passed away not too long after the visit. He indeed did show up in a pink Cadillac with a 'Say Hey' license plates. " Tom recalls the house was on Ridgewood, near Logan, but thought it was closer to 1974-75, not 1972. If anyone has more details, drop a note. We've also had a couple of confirmations on the Lena Horne story, apparently she was a neighbor of Lou Alba on Highland Boulevard. Lou, if you're out there we would like to hear from you! Laurie Marino gave me a technical correction on our featured postcard below, you have to click the trivia button so we don't give away the answer. Marylu Howell-Kelly corrected one of our 'mysteries' entries, visit the Mysteries page to see those details.  May 22 - Sorry I cannot be at the Blessed Sacrament Reunion today, but they declined my offer to attend. I wasn't ready for an update, but I found this very cool picture and had to post it. It is circa 1915, and you can try to figure out where it is - the answer is under the trivia button.   May 15-
No response yet on our Willie Mays story. I've been working on 2 projects, one of which is my "Lost ENY" series. I've added to the "Lost" Newspapers section, adding a 1944 copy of the City Line Post and a 1948 copy of the East New York Savings Bank's "School Bank News". My second project was a building a page for Highland Park for just the postcards; many of the cards showing the bridge and flower garden are fairly repetitive so I will keep them in one location. I added about 9 card images that were previously unposted.
Louis Passantino sent over his I.S. 171 Class 8_L picture from 1972. May 10- I hope all the mothers out there had a nice Mother's Day, today we are doing a little celebrity research. I found this shot in the Daily News archives, taken Dec. 1, 1954. Willie Mays used to own a liquor store along with teammate Monte Irvin at 556 Pennsylvania Avenue. Frank Calderone recalls Willie once visited a sick girl on Logan Street around 1972, arriving in a pink Cadillac with "Say Hey" license plates. Does anyone else recall this, or better yet, have pictures? I also noted today that Lena Horne passed away. One legend that is that she once lived on Highland Boulevard
though I have never been able to verify that. If anyone has insights on these two stories, drop
us a line. May 5 - Richard Woitowitz nailed 2 of our mystery photos, check that page out if you were stumped. Frank Calderone sent a number of contributions for the Blessed Sacrament page, and a shot for our Chestnut Street page. For theater history buffs, I found some early articles on the Warwick Theater I have posted to the Jerome Street page. April 20 - I have accumulated some submissions where the location is unknown, and I used that as incentive to update the stale Mysteries page. If you recognize the location, drop us a line. Anyone reading the papers will note that Goldman Sachs is in the headlines, for better or worse. Did you know that Lloyd Blankfein, CEO, was a Thomas Jefferson grad? I've created a new Thomas Jefferson High School page which includes a few outtakes we did not use in the book. Zone 3 gets some attention, as Thom Henrickson sends over early photos of 109 Shepherd Avenue, Joey Perrone adds early photos of 175 Essex Street (check out the car!) and Joanne Kirk suppies a pic of 666 Jamaica Ave. (Norwood Ave. page). April 10 - Richard Woitowitz sent over a treasure trove of pictures. I've created a Hendrix Street page under Zone 5 (south of Atlantic Avenue) to accommodate his pictures from the late 1950s and to raise the trivia question, where does Hendrix Street end? Richard also lived on Wyona Street down by Livonia in the early '60s and those pix can be found on the Zone 5 page.By the 70s Richard was on Lincoln Avenue, and those pix can be found in Zone 4. Jean Kestel sent over an early pic of Hook and Ladder 107 on New Jersey Avenue and I added another historical photo with it in Zone 1. Shelly (Wall) McNamara squeezed in a Franklin K Lane 1954 baby day pic to add to our collection. Mar 31 - Anyone checking out the New York Times today, in the New York section there is an article about Martin Raskin, who lives on the Upper East Side and maintains a collection of old public school memorabilia including desks, chairs, doorknobs, etc. Some of the material is from his alma mater, P.S. 202 on Hegeman Avenue in East New York.   Mar 29 - It's Easter week, so what's more fitting than a chocolate Easter egg? Marianne (Giugliano) Kobbe sent this, it's from her husband's side of the family. The egg was won from a local candy store, and the view is looking north across Atlantic Avenue around 1940. The Cypress Hills Laundry sat between Euclid Avenue and Pine Street, I know it was there since 1929 but that's all the history I have. I've also created
an Evergreens Cemetery page under Zone 1. On the right, "Subway Al" Zelazo adds to our pony collection with a shot of his Aunt Nettie in the 1930s on Williams Avenue. Al also sent in a cool shot of his mother on Williams Avenue, which prompted me to finally generate a Williams Avenue page under Zone 5. Al didn't stop there, he also added out first P.S. 190 pic (Zone 5) and his report card from the Talmud Torah on the Pennsylvania Avenue page.March 21 - Following up on Marianne's picture of the East New York Savings Bank team, Peter Stango spotted his Uncle Ray in the picture! Uncle Ray provided some names: "Back row: Jim Mullins, Ray De Stefano - Middle row: Fred Hinck,, Chester Kubik,, Bill Bischoff, *Petriano - Front row: Tony Barbagallo, Joe Giugliano,***, *Petriano". Ronnie Amerise, our Highland Park expert, does not believe this is Highland Park. Marianne's family suspects it is Victory Field over in Woodhaven. (Update: Matt Wasilefsky has identified it as 125th St and Atlantic in Richmond Hill.) Marianne also sent a 1965 St. Rita's class picture, and while we're on class pix, we received the Blessed Sacrament 1967 class 5-2 pic from Mike McGrath. Richard Woitowitz noted his presence in the Russian Trinity Orthodox Church Sunday School pic I posted recently, and follows up with a number of shots from the 1960s of a Christmas play held by the sunday school. Those can be found on the Pennsylvania Avenue page. Ed Mannarino follows up his work on 55 Doscher by tracking down the 1940 and 1980 tax photos whch can be found in Zone 6. Under the "Home" button I have added a new page called "Lost ENY". It is an attempt to organize my research on lost synagogues, banks, newspapers, etc. JoAnne Montgomery tracked down some tax photos for the synagogue page, and Marty Moscicki tipped us off to a bank we could add to the list.  . First, thanks to everyone sending in their rave reviews on the book, its very much appreciated. Evelyn Nieves sent in some shots from her 1975 Maxwell Vocational yearbook and tipped me off about their reunion. I've posted reunion announcements above for Maxwell Vocational and Blessed Sacrament. On the left is a great image sent in by Marianne (Giugliano) Kobbe. It's the East New York Savings Bank softball team in the late 1930's and her Uncle Joe Giugliano was on the team. We belive the shot was taken in upper Highland Park, we're wondering if any sharp eyes can corroborate that.  The books are in!! I've got a long weekend of packaging and shipping the pre-orders ahead of me, but in the meantime we received a great picture from Joanne Kirk along with some history for the Russian Orthodox Church on
Pennsylvania Avenue. Kathryn Villacci Caputo and her brother Paul
sent over Kathryn's 1961 St. Rita's Class pic which I added to the class pix page. Mar 5 - The publishers are shipping the book to us today and we hope to have them by Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime, Ed Mannarino contributed a series of images that were taken off of family 8mm footage. His grandparents lived on Loring Avenue, south of Linden Boulevard where the Pink Houses stand today. Later his mother would move to Doscher, and we placed a bunch of contributions in Zone 6. I'm also working on a layout to store some research projects, and the latest page is devoted to the "lost" banks. Click here to see the progress on that one. Eventually I will create one "Lost East New York" section to help log all the information I have on synagogues, churches, banks and theaters. Finally, Jose Flores sends over his 1966 2nd grade class pic from St. Michael's  Feb 20 - Florence Harnos answers the call on our 'pony challenge'! That's her husband Frank on a pony in 1952 taken on the corner of Fountain Avenue and Pitkin Avenue in front of a candy store known as "Laura and Herman's". That pony looks awfully similar to Judi's below- can they be the same?  Feb 19 - Joe D'Alessandro sent these graduation pix taken in Blessed Sacrament in 1969 and 1971. I'm using them to let people know that Blessed Sacrament is holding a reunion on May 22. Paula Curci informed me that current principal Marylou Celmer is sending invitations to those on the alumni mailing list so
if you're looking to attend, get on that list! Joe also sent a series of shots onEtna Street from 1963, and a series taken on Nichols Avenue taken in 1979. A while back Mike Pettersson sent some shots of police action on Pine Street and I recently heard from Debbie (Neil) Maynard who provided some background info- that prompted me to post more pictures of the series from Mike. Rich Jaworski sent over a 1959 class pic for the I.S. 171 page.  Feb 18 - It didn't take long for Peter Stango and Tony Della Croce to meet the challenge! On the left, that's Peter on a pony behind his neighbor's house on Richmond Street in 1963. On the right is Tony's cousin Lou Gelato atop 'Cicio' on Atlantic and Essex Street in 1939.  Feb 17 - I'm in the middle of working on updates but Judy Zimmer throws us a challenge; that's Judy on a pony in 1952 on New Jersey Avenue. She's challenged us to come up with another picture of someone on a pony in East New York. (a real one) Judy explained that there used to be guy who would come around with the pony not for rides, but to pose for a picture (for a fee of course.) Can anyone respond to this challenge?Feb 11- We've got quite a few updates, starting on the Wyona Street page. Karen (Baney) Pineda supplied us with material fom the 1940s for the old P.S. 76. John Clemente II lived on Wyona and Atlantic, and he supplied us with a series of shots of that corner. John also sent some class pix from St. Malachy's, and some material for the P.S. 108 page. That prompted me to add some overdue updates to that page (did anyone know there was P.S. 108 song in the 1920s?) John also sent a shot of Essex and Fulton and prompted friend "Roni" Perrone to contribute a shot to the Essex Street page. Roni also sent a cool shot from the 1940s I placed on the Ashford page in Zone 5. Roger Hulslander sent in shots for our Crescent/Hemlock page, and I used an "outtake" from our book for comparison. Jan 30- Back from a road trip, and here's the updates. The book is with the printer, we're waiting for proofs, we have a tentative Feb 20 print date. I'll post ordering details shortly. In the meantime, we had a number of submissions while I was on the road. Karen (Baney) Pineda, a younger sister of a friend of mine, Kenneth Baney, sent in shots of her family's grocery on Hendrix and Fulton, found on the Hendrix Street page. She also submitted some P.S. 108 class pix from 1968, 1971 and 1972 and we could use some help with IDs. Mike McGrath adds some more shots in Zone 4 of Grant Avenue from 1972, and one shows a building that housed an American Legion Post we are searching for background on. Mike also sent a series of parade pictures taken on Arlington Avenue that he marched in with Blessed Sacrament. Speaking of Blessed Sacrament, Rich Troiano sent over his 1962 class picture and Lillian Morisi sent in all 3 graduating class pix from 1971. Lucy (D'Amato) Ragucci sent a first communion pic from 1971 and a 1965 shot of herself in front of 97 Nichols Avenue. Peter Stango sent over 2 pics of his kindergarten graduation party at P.S. 65. January 10- As you might have guessed, the book has kept me quite occupied but I do have some updates. Agree Vasquez's family has lived at 164 Arlington Avenue and he sent over some photos as well as our first class picture from P.S. 290 (Schenck Ave., Zone 1). Bob Leonardi sent over a 1954 graduation pic from Blessed Sacrament. Kurt Eger sent over the Franklin K. Lane 1970 Spring Festival program. We've also received some info- Doris Merrick's uncle Edward Herrschaft was the publisher of the Record and Advertiser and other local weeklies; I added some details to the Shepherd Ave. page where it was published. Gerry Carter sent over details of the Highland Park Raiders which I added to the Lower Park page.  Dec 24 - A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FELLOW EAST NEW YORKERS.Pictured on the left, your webmaster looking out the front window at 120 Ashford Street at Christmastime in 1964. Dec 16- Like everyone I'm swamped with Christmas decorating and shopping, but Kurt Eger sent over some great shots including a few more Cypress Hills rock and roll bands. Check out Zone 4 as well as lower Highland Park for those shots. He also supplied 1960s pix of the Cleveland Street and Norwood Avenue stations which can be found on those pages. Kurt also sent his 1965 class 6-1 pic from 171. Joann Montgomery sent a picture of her aunt by the reservoir which I've paired with a recent postcard find (upper Highland). I met a George Kowalczyk through Brian Merlis who attended St. John Cantius from 1954 to 1962 and he supplied me with some wonderful information and a class picture (under Zone 5). A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow East New Yorkers and their families!!  Nov 20 - A bit of different trivia here. This building sits on Glenmore Avenue off Crystal Street, and has served as a tile store since the mid-1960s; guess its original purpose. Al Durant sent some shots of the Linden Projects from the 70s along with some good stories so I added some history all found in Zone 6.Tim O'Reilly added some Blessed Sacrament pix and helped me get some contributions from Pat Howard for Essex Street (Zone 3) and a 1961 PS 171 class pic. Tony Cuschieri supplied a pic from the FK Lane 1971 reunion on the reunions page. I've been researching the lost synagogues and have started building a page to collect the research here.  I wasn’t ready to post an update, but the Norwood Palace made the news when police shot and killed a security guard who was working there on Sunday night. I’ve chosen to offset that bit of bad news with some historical trivia about Norwood Avenue courtesy of Gerry Carter. He reminded me that Tommy Gallagher, who won the 1959 147 lb novice class Golden Gloves title, lived a few houses away from him on Jamaica off Norwood. Tommy also starred as the trainer in the TV reality series, The Contender. Gerry had the Daily News archives post up a photo from the fight which I am posting temporarily as a plug for their photo archives. Nov 2 - This one is not a trivia question. I was tempted to title this update "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Muni Archives". While researching other locations on microfilm I stumbled on some interesting things and this magnificent house used to sit on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was built for a lawyer before 1910,
and was occupied by another lawyer in 1930. That small octagonal building to the left is still standing. For other tax photo gems, I added the little-known Sheridan Theater and a house
that appeared to have a graveyard for a front lawn on the Liberty Avenue page in Zone 6. On the Wyona Street page (Zone 1) there is some lost architecture, and on Highland Place (Zone 3), the building that was lost to St. Peter's Church. On Elton (Zone 6) Anthony Cuschieri adds great background to a photo of Sutter and Linwood. I also added one to the Pine Street page (Zone 4). From new contributor Dee Gordon we have two shots of Ridgewood and Essex from 1963 as well as 2 P.S. 108 class photos. Ronnie Amerise sends over 2 1935 pix of his birth home (Ashford, Zone 5).
 Oct 18 - This one is also easy, but if you need a hint I chose it because Lynda Maggiore-Durand sent over pictures of 2 Cypress Pool lifeguards from 1960, including "Buddy", the longtime head of the lifeguards at the pool. We also received a 1974 shot of Logan and Jamaica from Debbie Brodzinski (Logan page, Zone 3). George Power sent over the 1968 St. Rita's graduation picture which prompted me to post Therese Panariello's 1972 Washington DC panoramic image of the class trip along with a number of the names (we need more). Ronnie Amerise sent some update photos for Elton and Ashford (Zone 6) as well as Highland Park. Daniel Mauro sent over an early pic of 55 Williams (ZOne 1) along with a great story about the synagogue across the street.  Oct 1 - The last one was easy, but this one is tough, so I will provide a hint. This 1948 graduate of Franklin K. Lane was the team's pitching star. Mike McGrath sent over some shots of Grant Ave. (Zone 4) which prompted me to add a mini-mystery about Grant Ave. along with it. Joann Montgomery sent over some great tax photo shots added to Norwood, Ashford (Zone 2), and Atlantic (Zone 5). Tony Cushieri adds another shot from Elton (Zone 6) and Donna (Gordon) Covucci passed me the names of my classmates in our 1967 PS 108 class photo. Sep 22- The updates are pretty spread around with no particular theme, so for fun I'll start posting some ENY celebrities. I'll start with an easy one, the answer is under the trivia button. Ronnie Amerise continues to send in pics of the area from the 1950s, see Elton Street (Zone 6) Ashford (Zone 5) and ENY Vocational. Bob Alvarez sent over a 1974 YMCA program and pics. Roni Perrone sends over a shot of his dad and the luncheonette across from Liberty Park. In Zone 1 I uncovered some interior images of the old BRT building, and Tony Davenport loaned me a copy of ENY Saving's 100th anniversary program in 1968. There's a shot from that issue in Zone 1 of Pennsylvania Avenue and Fulton Street. Al Durant sent over some early postcards of upper Highland Park missing from our collection. Danny Blanda adds a 1966 kindergarten class pic to our St. Rita's collection and I found a 1938 autograph book with an early picture of the school. Aug 31- It's not a good picture, but it was good detective work. I finally nailed the famous fire at the toy warehouse on Atlantic Avenue. It was Feb. 3, 1965 and this picture is from the centerfold of the Daily News the next day. Ronnie Amerise followed up with more great pictures of the Children's Garden (HP Lower), as well as an upper park shot and when he added more 1940s shots of Cleveland and Ashford Streets I finally set up their own pages under Zone 5. Donald Hulslander not only came up with some more great class pics (171 - 1952, 1958 and 108-1955) but also a great 171 kindergarten Christmas shot from 1949.August 17- When Cora sent in all those yearbook shots, she also sent in some family photos, including her house by the Vermont Viaduct; I updated the Sunnyside page to include those as well as a rare early shot from 1889. She also included some Highland Park shots. Speaking of the park, we received some great 1960's shots from Ronnie Amerise, who worked at the park, including the children's garden (Lower HP) and shots of Upper HP and the reservoir. Ronnie lived on Ashford Street south of Pitkin, and he also supplied some early shots of the area which can be found in Zone 5. Peter Stango sent in a shot of the YMCA gameroom from the 1970s. August 10- Yearbooks Redux! No sooner than I post the 171 series when Gail Heimers sends over the 1970 set. I added that as well as a menu to those pages to move easily between the years. Therese Panariello is the first to send over yearbook shots from St. Michael's High School (1976), posted on the St. Michael's page. Frank Cassano supplied us with a series of shots from his 1962 Berriman (P.S. 64) yearbook, which has been added to the P.S. 64 page.  Yearbooks!Aug 4- Cora (Gavin) Modica attended the same church as my family, and I recall her very large family helped fill the pews! The benefit to all of us is that Cora has all the 171 yearbooks from 1963 to 1969, as well as 1973, and she took the trouble to scan all the senior class pix for me. I have created a seperate page for each year, and anyone who lived in Cypress Hills in the 1960s will recognize many names and faces. Head to the 171 page to start checking them out. I have set up a page on Facebook for the East New York Project, so you may receive an e-mail if you have contacted me in the past about connecting there. July 10-I put up some reunion shots, there are quite a few more but I know we like the old pix!- A new contributor, Lynda Maggiore, sends over a mix including 171, Blessed Sacrament and Chestnut Street. Diane Marinconz shared shome shots via Facebook found on the 171 and Nichols Ave. pages. July 3- A happy 4th to everyone! We're on a St. Rita's roll, so I added a 1916 raffle ticket on the page, used to raise money for the building fund of the original church. John Holotko Jr. sent in a series of shots from 1962 featuring a classroom visit from Santa and the Christmas play, we're hoping some St. Rita's veterans can help ID everyone! I may be slow getting up some reunion shots, but I did add one from Joey "Roni" Perrone on the Cleveland Street page (Zone 2) alongside a gang shot from 40 years ago!  June 30- It seems appropriate after the St. Rita's and Liberty Park Reunions on Saturday we receive a great St. Rita's contribution from Therese Panariello. In 1972
several classes made a trip to Washington D.C. This is a pretty well-worn shot of the group and we are hoping to ID everyone (and maybe find a better shot). We also received shots from Roger and Donald Hulslander of Trinity Episcopal confirmations (Schenck Ave. page, Zone 1) and P.S. 171 class of 1962. Gene Padakowski sends a shot
of 202 Etna (Chestnut page, Zone 3).June 13- Anthony Cuschieri adds some pics and memories to the Belmont Ave./ Elton Street area (Elton page, Zone 6) as well as pics for the Franklin K. Lane page. Peter Downey sends a 1974 St. Rita's class pic via Therese Panariello. By far the coolest shot was tipped off to me by Tim O'Reilly, a shot of the removal of the LIRR connection to the Jamaica El seen on the Euclid Ave. page in Zone 4. I've also added early research to the old 26th Ward YMCA building in the form of a new page with material from the YMCA's archives. There's a also a sinister ending to the building, making the story even more intriguing. May 27- Back from a road trip, and Mario Zambrano sent over some great shots of Hendrix Street taken in 1958 during a parade to commemorate the groundbreaking for St. Malachy's new school. Maybe a few folks will recognize someone, we are looking for IDs on the marchers. Peter Stango sent over some 1954 memories for the Blessed Sacrament page, and I've been doing some tweaking of the Upper Park page, adding some pix and updated information. May 6 - Some updates - Marie Cocozelli sends over two class pix of the I.S. 171 class of 1970, and is looking for classmates to set up a reunion. Drop her a line at Design5184@aol.com if you're interested. Roseanne Neill sends a shot of 97 Jerome circa 1965, and Charles Jannace is the first to send a tax photo from the 1980 series, on the Wyona Ave. page. Tom Hammond sent an update of the progress on the new I.S. 792, on the Richmond Street page. Tracy Evans sent over 2 shots for the Blessed Sacrament page. Please don't forget our call for help below! I'm in the middle of updating but Therese Panariello brought to my attention that one of our own needs help. Jacqui (Ruvolo) Ascenzi is battling serious health problems and an account has been set up to help with the mounting health care costs. We have several images of Jacqui on the St. Rita's pages and if anyone would like to assist donations can be sent to: Webster Bank 10 Kruskyville Rd. Bridgewater, CT 06752 I'll run through our most recent updates shortly.  April 19- Roger Hulslander scores BIG points by sending over an image of the Gem Theater, which used to sit next to the Hamburg Savings Bank on Fulton and Crescent. We've been searching for 5 years without success and Roger came up with a beauty, taken June 6, 1950. He also sent over shots of his childhood home on
Hemlock Street (Zone 4). Louis Caracappa kept his promise and sent over a shot of his father's pharmacy on Fulton and Elton (Elton page, Zone 2) as well as their house on Essex Street (Zone 3). April 6- Play ball! Opening day and I thought it appropriate to slip in a baseball pic. It was taken at Dexter Park in 1947 and that's none other than Yankee Phil Rizzuto in the shot. Mary Davis (Perrone) sent in shots of her Cleveland Street home (Zone 2) and super contributor Tony Della Croce sends in some more shots from 1955 that I placed in Zone 6. I also placed a shot of the first building used by ENY Vocational High
School, but I doubt we will find anyone who remembers it.March 21- Thanks to everyone who sent kind words of condolence either directly or through the Guestbook. As I've said to everyone, the website is not only a welcome distraction but a fitting tribute, and I appreciate the contributions of family pictures that keep this growing. In that spirit, thanks go out to new contributors Johnny Molloy who sends over shots of the candy store at the foot of the Crescent St. station (Crescent page, Zone 4) as well as a 1968 171 class picture. Frank Lanni sent over a shot of his house at 103 Shepherd Avenue, and Charles Jannace sent over shots of a store and apartment on Wyona Street that was in his family for close to 60 years! Frequent contributor Tony Della Croce sent over a great shot from his 1946 kindergarden graduation from St. Rita's.  March 10- In MemoriamAn East New York tip of the hat to my dad, who passed away this week after a battle with cancer. He lived most of his life in East New York, first above Pinky's Drugstore on Warwick and Fulton in the 1930s across from the Warwick Theater, and later a little further east on Fulton between Linwood and Elton. He attended St. Michael's, married my mother at St. John's, and we grew up on Ashford Street. He put in most of his 25 years at the Transit Authority in the East New York Depot, so we can say he was a tried and true East New Yorker. This shot was taken around 1943 in Highland Park. March 4- Mike Raffio and Danny Blanda added some background to the Feast pictures I posted 2 days ago, they can be found on the St. Rita's page. If anyone else can identify people in the photos or confirm details, drop me a line.  March 2- On the St. Rita's Page we have some material on the Feast of Cosmo and Damien, and today I
added 6 shots of the feast from the early 1960s. The shot here is off the corner of Essex
and Liberty, and we are looking to double check the locations and orientations of the other
shots. If anyone recognizes people in the photos, we would be interested to know that as
well. Joe Peluso sent over a shot of Linwood Street in the early 1970s (Zone 3) and Mike Shulman sent over an early 1950s shot of his father's grocery store on New Jersey and
Glenmore. (Zone 5). Feb 14- Happy Valentine's Day! On a melancholy note, Brian Merlis informed me that Lane's principal, Evan Ahearn, lost his battle with cancer last week. Our condolences to his family and friends. We have some interesting updates scattered around. Margaret Paxton sent me a tax photo of 170 Barbey Street along with an interesting history, and I added an update photo along with it on the Barbey page. Peter Stango sent over a family shot taken inside of Weismantel's (Zone 4) back in 1947. Tony Della Croce sent over a 1952 image of a dinner held in the old St. Rita's school auditorium. I paid a visit to Evergreen Cemetery and have started adding some interesting shots in Zone 1. . Joey Perrone and some Cleveland Street pals had a mini-reunion and some of Joe's photos are on the Reunions Page. In the trivia category, the New York Times recently ran an article about 100 year old city bonds maturing that were issued to build Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. This was named after the same Leonard Jerome for whom East New York's Jerome Street is named. Finally, Carrie Blanda reminds everyone that a St. Rita's reunion in Eisenhower Park is being planned for June 27. I'll post contact details shortly. Feb 2- I'm back from warm Florida in time for the Super Bowl, but while I was on the road Richard Adazzio sent some great material on the houses around 167 Arlington. They can be found on the Arlington Page under Zone 2. He also sent in some shots of Warwick Street he took around 1973, and shots of where his cousin lived at 275 Etna. Those can be found on the Zone 4 page.  January 15- We're in the middle of the NFL playoffs and this shot comes to us from Ronnie Basso via Joey Perrone. It's the neighborhood football team, the East New York Vikings, circa 1975. Joey is #24 (ironically, he is the ONLY one I remember from the team because of his hair!) and his brother Mike is #42. Ronnie "Dr. John" Basso is #79. We are looking to ID the rest of the team, and I posted better closeups of the offense and defense on the Lower Highland Park page. January 12- Briele Douglass tipped me off that the Norwood Palace has been re-opened
by a longtime ENY resident and even kept the name - I checked it out Jan 13, and though it was closed I snapped a photo. Two
of our biggest site supporters, Tim O'Reilly and Peter Stango, have sent material which I was finally able to post. Tim sends tax photos of some corner houses which can be found on the
Jerome, Arlington, and Essex Street pages. Peter sent a shot of Euclid Avenue, reminding us
it used to be a 2-way street (former neighbor Mike Pastore also pointed out an Ashford-
Fulton picture shows Fulton was two-way down by us at one time.) Peter also sent over an
early YMCA shot and Highland Park shot taken from his uncle's color slides, giving us some
rare color images from an earlier era. December 31- Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! I haven't had time to post so I thought I would share a gem of an old photo. The view is across Jamaica Avenue down Force Tube Avenue in 1923. Check out the old cars lined up in front of a car service company. A smokestack from the pumping station is visible in the distance.
There was also an article in yesterday's Times about the efforts to save Our Lady of Loreto. December 9 - This early photo of Our Lady of Loreto is a reminder note that they have a reunion scheduled for March 22, 2009. Use this link to find contact details. Updates are spread out. Some Fulton Street locations are highlighted courtesy of Richard Adazzio (Jerome St. page), my father (Linwood, Zone 3), Peter Stango (Euclid Ave.) An old friend Mike Ranieri sends in a snowstorm shot (Ashford) and Tony Pomila sends in some classic car shots taken on New Jersey Ave. (Zone 5). November 25- Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I had one of those great moments I hoped for when I built the site when I heard from an old
P.S. 108 classmate I hadn't heard from in 40 years, Glenn Youngelman. Not only that, but he sent over a
picture from his 1965 birthday party and yours truly is sitting there on the far left! Glenn also sent over some shots from the early 1970s of his apartment (Elton Street), the playground at
Highland Park, and P.S. 108. Meanwhile, Richard Adazzio sent over shots of the house his
uncle built on Jerome and Arlington in 1958 along with the history behind it (Jerome St. page).
Finally, Dorca Roman responds to our Maxwell Vocational page by sending over some shots
including images from her 1964 yearbook. Nov 18- Ed Farrell inquired in the Guestbook if any of his 1953 classmates from St. Rita's was still around- and Ed provided the class picture which I posted today. Marge Bivona sent over shots of St. Gabriel's school (Essex, Zone 6) and her class picture from 1964. We're looking for more information on the school if anyone knows the history. Marge also send over several shots from Montauk Avenue (Zone 6). Sunday's real estate section in the Times covered two new real estate projects, Glenmore Grove and Cypress Plaza Mews. Nov 11- I've been sidetracked a bit but Joanne Montgomery sent in some class pictures from St. Malachy's, and when I heard the church was closing its doors next year and merging with St. Michael's I set up a St. Malachy's page. Their alumnae website has some details but if anyone has more information, send it over. I also built a Maxwell Vocational page after finding a 1960 yearbook. Joanne also sent in a Norwood Avenue pic with a side view of the old Norwood Palace, and Dennis Hehl sent in a 1966 St. Michael's class picture. Augusto Torres sent in some more reunion shots from the Bella Vita Reunion. Sep 25- Kurt Eger dropped me a line and blew me away when he told me his family used to live in Mount Hope Cemetery where his father was a caretaker. Head over to Zone 4 to see some shots from the 1960s and Kurt's band days. Kurt also supplied some 1967 class photos from 171 which I posted as well. Sep 15- We very quickly realized that the picture below is in fact the Maimonides building still standing today on Jamaica Avenue. Have a look (in Zone 4). Check the fancy decoration along the roofline. The cemetery opened in 1879, we believe the picture dates close to that period.   Sep 14- Peter Stango sent over this great mystery photo,
taken in one of the cemeteries but we haven't been able to ID the building. The image hangs
on the wall of Joe and Sons, an auto shop on Jamaica and Autumn that has been around since the 1960s. Peter supplied photos of that (Zone 4) some new changes in Cypress Hill Cemetery, and I.S. 798 (Richmond Street). Tony Della Croce sent another early shot of St. Rita's and one
of Shepherd Avenue (Zone 3). Finally, East New York reading. "An Orphan Has Many Parents" tells the story of the Pride of Judea Orphan Home on Dumont Ave. I added pictures of the Home to the
Elton/Linwood page in Zone 6. August 31- Judy Zimmer has sent in some great shots, and this darling photo features her and a neighbor friend Larry Heintz, circa 1950.
They are pictured in front of her grandparents house on 275 New Jersey Avenue. That's some
contraption Judy is riding. She reconnected with Larry after all these years through the
website making for a nice story. We also received more great early photos from Joe Perrone
(Essex Street, Zone 3) and a fantastic interior shot of Blessed Sacrament from Peter Stango.
More reunion pictures have streamed in, though we are still looking for some IDs.August 18 - Judy Zimmer sent in a great pic of Pennsylvania Avenue in 1953 and the old YMCA can be seen in the background- that prompted me to work on a few things long gone. I added the Empire Title building to the Pennsylvania Avenue page and on Barbey Street I added the Barbey Street Republican Club, with pictures dating to 1918. Tom Hammond sent in a shot of the recently built Imperial Hotel on the site of the old Gotham Theater, and I added a 1911 shot to that as well. Joe Perrone sent in a shot of his Cleveland Street buddies along the wall of the old Moe's, and Kathleen Remsen sent in her 1974 class picture from St. Michael's. Of course Reunion pictures keep streaming in so updates were added there as well.  August 7- We're in the second half of summer so it must be time for a block party! I raided my cousin's photo albums for this shot
of a block party on Essex Street in 1972. I have been slipping in updates all over the site
but a special one comes from Tony Della Croce, one of our great contributors, who sent
an interior shot of the original St. Rita's. Peter Stango sent in a great early shot for Zone 4
and I have updates in the Highland Park pages as well. July 27- Fran (Mantopoulos) Volz caught an error when we posted several pictures circa 1950 as the corner of Elton and Fulton; Fran lived there and realized the shots were Linwood and Fulton and we have moved those images to the Linwood page. Meanwhile, Richard Woitowitz sent in some shots for FK Lane, Lincoln (Zone 4) and some for Nichols that prompted me to create a Nichols page to help lighten Zone 4. July 23- Back to some older pictures. Larry Rickert, a former ENY resident who has moved back to the neighborhood, hosts a St. Peter's Website which has additional material for that church. Larry has graciously allowed me to borrow some images of early houses on Norwood and Shepherd which were used by the church for services. Since I was working on Hale Avenue, I added pictures received from Denise Milo from the 1970s. Denise also sent over a 1970 St. Rita's class picture. To provide updates to a number of these photos, I used Google Maps "street view" service. July 21 - Angela Crescimanno sends over shots from the June 2008 reunion held over at La Bella Vita Restaurant. July 19 - Reunion shots from the June 21st P.S. 108/I.S. 302 reunion organized by Stella Mostacciuolo and Chris Liccardo are now up; thanks to Mario Zambrano for sending those over. July 15- I've been laying low, waiting for those reunion pictures, and a few have trickled in from the Liberty Park reunion. Thanks to our Amazin' Cin, Mary Jane Prizzi and Joey Perrone for the first shots seen on our Reunions Page. For those that need their fix of old ENY shots, I have been slipping in shots on the Lower and Upper Highland Park pages while waiting. July 3- Some class pictures have been streaming in, from some newcomers as well. Steve Adragna sends in 2 pix from P.S. 65 and one from 171, and Angela Stein provides a 1956 class pic from P.S. 158. Lenore Licata provides her 1963 graduating class picture from Blessed Sacrament, and Marilyn (Rosen) Cantor sends a 1955 picture from the auditorium at Franklin K. Lane. Marilyn also surprises me with a "Baby Day" photo for P.S. 64, I never knew they also had that tradition. Tony Della Croce, who always sends great material, sent two 1964 color shots of Essex Street by St. Rita's. June 28- Leonora Licata has sent in another wealth of material including our oldest class picture from St. Rita's, an early society at St. Rita's, and early material from P.S. 108. Lee also sent more early shots of Logan Street, enough for me to create a new page in Zone 6.  June 20- It took awhile, but we finally have a picture of Bill's, the purveyor of wax lips, jawbreakers, dots, and all the other candy that
those of us who attended P.S. 108 managed to consume as kids. The picture came courtesy of
Richard Moore, and was taken during a Memorial Day period in 1968. Ironically the school made the news the other day when a gunman tried to flee the police by hiding in the school.
(He was caught). I posted shots from Richard on the Linwood Street page, P.S. 108, and
St. Rita's. June 18- Reading Alert! Tony Danza's new book, Don't Fill Up on the Antipasto, is not only full of recipes but includes some stories and pics of his days on Euclid Avenue. Speaking of Italian food, our old pal Dom "Most" and his sisters visited from Italy and we have reunion photos on the Reunions Page. Thanks to our hosts Gigi and Rita Corso and also to the Amazin' Cin for sending the pix. June 17- Whew! A few road trips have left me far behind. I received a great set of shots from Leonora (Lee) Licata, but since they are spread out all over the site I also created an Update Page to consolidate them and make them easier to find. May 20- I've had some cool photos sent in for Zone 6. Tony Della Croce sends in shots in front of the famous Willies (Atlantic Avenue Page), and our Amazin' Cin sent in a shot of Blanda's Funeral home back in 1960. That appears on the Liberty Avenue Page along with a great photo from new contributor Mary Ann (LaNeve) Massey. Mary Ann also sent in photos of 317 Arlington, which appears on the Essex Street page in Zone 3. Finally, Tom Cooper sent in a 1973 class pic shot from St. Rita's. May 13- Longtime Cypress Hills resident Roy Tanner sent in a series of class shots and local shots featuring P.S. 65 and J.H.S. 171. Roy also sends over an early Chestnut Street photo. Joe Perrone sends over a 1966 class picture from St. Rita's. 
May 6- It's springtime, and this picture is not so much about location as it is about activity. Who remembers building Go-Karts? That's my cousins Richie and Johnny Cornell along with Linda
Visone and Mary Jane Prizzi in front of 24 Essex Street in 1967. For P.S. 149 alumni, I
finally scanned my mother's yearbooks from 1948 and 1949 and added material to the
P.S. 149 page.April 26- Finishing up the material sent in by Elise (Avella) Feiner, I updated the Arlington Avenue Page to feature her uncle's home at 135 Arlington and the Schenck Avenue Page where she lived at 81 Schenck. While capturing update shots I was dismayed to discover the historic Lang Casino structure (along with the house) has been demolished on the northwest corner.  April 19- Elise (Avella) Feiner sent in a slew of pictures and I liked this one so much I wanted to feature it on the home page as well- a shot of the kiddie swings at Highland Park in 1943. I have added photos from Elise to the Lower Park, P.S. 76 (Wyona Street), P.S. 108, P.S. 171 and Franklin
K. Lane High School pages. I also received some submissions from Nancy Mitchell, whose father was in the FK Lane Class of 1940. April 13- Bob Reddington sent me a detailed history of St. Michael's along with some images from the 1950s so I have rebuilt the St. Michael's page to include all the details including the history of St. Michael's Commercial High School. April 7- Everyone knows about the Ridgewood Reservoir, but only historians would know another reservoir existed up there as well. Anthony Messina helped me solve that mystery, which is on the reservoir and Upper Highland Park pages. Jamie Rubino sent over a 1967 Confirmation picture at St. Michael's and a picture of the 'gang' over her house at 231 Arlington on the Arlington Avenue page under Zone 2. Bob Reddington supplied a series of pictures of the Capuchin Fathers of St. Michaels and the Nuns which are all loaded up on the St. Michaels page Mar 28- As I said, the St. Rita's crowd keeps it coming; Robert Iannotta sent in some nice shots from the 1960s and a 1970 class picture. I'm also chipping away at some of the churches I am missing. I added Goodsell Memorial Methodist and St. Slyvester's to Zone 6, I can use more history on St. Sylvester's if any site fans know the background. Mar 21- Happy Easter to all. We always get good response from the St. Rita's gang, and Frank Lombardo recently sent over a 1969 play program for "Julius Caeser" while David Picascia sent over the 1970 class graduation photo. You can find those on the St. Rita's pages. Meanwhile I've been doing a lot of research on buildings that have long histories and have made additions in Zone 5 for Williams Methodist Episcopal, Riverdale Hospital, St. Paul's Lutheran, and Tabor Lutheran. Of course if anyone has additional information send it on over. Mar 14- I've returned from a nice trip and want to make sure people know that St. Malachy's is attempting a reunion so you should visit their "alumni" website here if you are interested. I've updated the directory, so if you sent in a request while I was away you should be in there now. My attempt at a quick update was to post a number of contributions from Bob Reddington, which can be found here Feb 29- Joann Montgomery sent some cool pictures circa 1950 of the area around Bradford Street so I spent some time tweaking the 5 individual streets under Zone 1 while adding her shots. Feb 25- We have a reunion alert, albeit for a small group (see above). Stella sent over the 1972 class picture for that reunion which is on the P.S. 108 page. Over to Franklin K. Lane, where we managed to span 26 years when Joann Montgomery sent over a 1953 prom picture and Felix Orengo sent over some shots from the 1979 yearbook.   Feb 20- They're predicting snow today, so a sledding picture would be appropriate. Felix Orengo sent in this 1965 family pic, along with another 1942 picture that purports to be in Highland Park. I can't quite identify the location, I think perhaps in the upper park behind where the monastery is today. Felix also sent over a Lane picture which I added today.Laurel Facey's great grandfather built the house at 112 Linwood, so when she sent me a picture from about 1890, I made a point to visit the house and capture an update shot as well as a few others over there- visit the Linwood Street page. Monica keeps pouring on the St. John Cantius updates so that gets some additions as well. Feb 16-Once in a awhile I receive a submission that is worth a page in itself. Ted Maciag sent over a nice batch of material on St. John Cantius Church and school, so I've added a new St. John Cantius Page under Zone 5. Feb 10- I have reworked Zone 6, breaking out Elton, Linwood and Essex Streets to help organize and lighten pages. Of course more pictures have been added as well. In addition, Joann Montgomery sent in her mother's 1945 confirmation class picture at St. Peter's (Hale Avenue) and her 1946 class graduation picture from P.S. 171. New contributor Vinnie Sanzillo sent over some 1972 shots near his Lincoln Avenue stomping ground which can be found in Zone 4. Feb 3- GO GIANTS!!! Sweet New York revenge. I got back from my road trip just in time to enjoy it; I also created a new Update Page to share a number of terrific recent contributions. Jan 23- I'm on the road, but I managed to sneak in some contributions to Shepherd Avenue in Zone 3 and 1 from Joe Perrone On Essex Street in Zone 3 as well. Jan 16- I'm hitting the road for a bit, but with news circulating around the Ridgewood reservoir I tuned up the reservoir page, adding some more images, improving a few others and adding more history. Jan 4 2008- The Highland Park pages need an update, so I did some work on the Lower Park page to start. Mike Pettersson sent in some shots of Pine Street and a few contributions to the St. Rita's page were also added. FOR BLOG ENTRIES PRIOR TO 2008, CLICK HERE |
