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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. |
Now Available!
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. This limited-edition book (1000 copies) is now available. |
Reunion Alert!"St.Rita's,B'klyn,NY--Class of 1967(Sister Andrina's Class)" Thomas Atanasio is organizing a reunion and has set up a page on Facebook with that title. The date has not been set yet, you can also reach Thomas at attommas@gmail.com if you are interested. |  On the left is pictured Charles Carillo's novel "Shepherd Avenue", published in 1986 and now out of print. However, Charles recently dropped me a note to tell me it is now available as a Kindle download on Amazon for 99 cents. Click here to visit the Amazon order page. |
 January 8 - A Happy New Year to everyone. Gloria (Profeta) Gallaway sent over some great ENY shots from the 1950s, this one here giving us the best view yet of the old Tennis Pavilion that stood in the park until the late 1950s. She sent more of Highland Park (Lower Park page). a number from P.S. 108, a 1957 parade shot along Arlington Avenue and even shots of her dad playing stoopball on Sunnyside Avenue . Dec 21- Wishing everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Dec 13 - My condolences go out to the Figowski family. Officer Peter J. Figowski of the 75th Pct. was killed in the line of duty while responding to a burglary at 25 Pine Street yesterday. Dec 11 - Some nice images have been sent in by new contributors. Richard Nowak lived on Vermont Street north of Jamaica Avenue, and returned recently to discover a neighbor still there after 40 years! He sent a great color slide from the 1960s which forced me to dig into the archives for a 1923 shot. Those can be found in the Sunnyside section where I cluster that section north of Jamaica Avenue. Rich also sent over a picture of his mother's 1946 graduation class at St. Malachy's. Dennis Hehl sent over some 1960s images by 112 Linwood Street. Lou Ectoras sent over some great class pics from the 1950s at P.S. 108. We also received 2 class pictures from Tony Della Croce's brothers which are on the St. Rita's Class Pictures page. November 28 - It's Cyber-Monday, so I suppose I should remind everyone we still have copies of the book available and they make a unique gift for friends and family from the old neighborhood. That "old neighborhood" was mentioned in the Times today, in an article about the old New York Press Club's burial section in Cypress Hills Cemetery. I recently received several old pictures for addition to the site. Long-time site supporter Tony Della Croce sent over holiday greetings and a 1948 image of the St. Rita's Altar Boy Society. Thomas Schmidt sent over a 1932 image of his mother's graduation class from St. Michael's. Steve Charleston sent over a 1920 image from the old P.S. 72, along with some great memories of the school from the 1940s. That can be found under Zone 5.  November 16 - Kudos to Tom Hammond for spotting the new entrance to Cypress Hills Cemetery and grabbing a shot for us. Its not an exact replica, but a pretty good acknowledgment of the original entrance, and they deserve credit for bringing it back. 
October 30 - Unwelcome snow hit the New York area yesterday, but this snow shot from Kurt Eger was welcome. That's his sister Ursula standing next to the family's Plymouth Fury in 1963, with F. K. Lane in the background. On the right is the familiar "Dawn of Glory" statue in Highland Park. For years the rumor was that Charles Atlas posed for the statue, and now Ronnie Amerise has provided the proof. You have to visit the Lower Highland Park page to see it. We also received images from two new contributors. Evelyn Israel sent material for JHS 149, and for two schools we have not covered, JHS 166 and PS 213. Zevi Isseroff sent history and images for Yeshiva Toras Chaim. You can find all that material under Zone 5  October 14 - I've fallen behind with updates, so while I'm updating the site I constructed an update page with a collection of images I recently acquired which documented the building of the IND line back in 1939. This line eventually replaced the elevated line which ran along Pitkin Avenue. The view here is south down Pennsylvania Avenue from Atlantic Avenue to Liberty Avenue in 1940, as they were recovering the roadway that had been opened up to construct the subway line. For the full series, visit the Update Page.  September 18 - Under the 'Lost ENY' section of the website I have 'lost newspapers'. I've added two more; The East New Yorker issue is from 1980, I am still researching start and end dates. I inserted a number of articles, with references and pictures to the Piels admin building, P.S. 108, P.S. 273, St. Sylvesters, and Franklin K. Lane High School. I've also added some excerpts from The Chat, a Bushwick-based local which was issued from 1900 to about 1945. I've included an amazing article about an attempt to bring the Brooklyn Dodgers to East New York. I also found a 1964 edition of School Bank News, published by the East New York Savings Bank. These can be found on the Lost Newspapers page. August 21 - Ironically, Therese Panariello tipped me off to a reunion of St. Michael's High School Class of 1976 (see above for details) the same week I acquired a 1967 yearbook for the school. It was very well done, and all the undergraduate classes were photographed as well. I have built a sample page of The St. Michael's Commercial High School for Girls 1967 Yearbook and if anyone would like a specific scan drop me a line . August 6 - Well I'm sticking with a summer theme, and there's no better way to do that than use a shot of the Cypress Pool. This gem comes from Jack Auld, and it was taken in the early 1930s. I heard from Alison Kaplan Dillworth who told me her family was the first to move into the Linden Veteran Houses back in 1946, and she wasn't exaggerating- I found a the front-page picture from the Eagle and the pictures, articles and her story can be found at the bottom of Zone 5. "Subway Al" Zelaso always has a few gems, and sent over an early shot of Williams Avenue, which prompted me to follow up on a tragic event on Williams Avenue involving Irving Berlin's sister. Check that out on the Williams Avenue page of course. Al also sent a Hadassah card I plaed with the New Lots Talmud Torah on the Pennsylvania Avenue page. Tome Kehoe followed up on a 1956 St. Rita's class picture with not only corrections and more names, but the 1961 graduation picture of the class as well. And if you're on the St. Rita's class pictures page, check out the 1936 picture sent in by Peter Stango . July 15 - A while back George Kowalczyk sent over information regarding the large number of Polish-owned businesses that surrounded the area around St. John Cantius Church on New Jersey and Blake Avenues. Ironically this flyer is for the business owned by his father and his uncles, Henry and Mickey Golasewski, which was located up on Liberty Avenue off of Bradford. The business ran from about 1953 to 1966. It was not until I received a collection of images from Stephanie Johnsen that I returned to this material. Stephanie's images can be seen on the new New Jersey Avenue page, all around the St. John Cantius area. July 12 - Here's another summer memory. Vacation Bible School was a two-week program, a couple of hours each morning consisting of arts and crafts, learning a few songs, recess (punchball; hey, this is Brooklyn) and snacks. There would be a little service at the end of the two weeks where the songs would be performed. This program is from the end of the 1967 session. We attended Reformation on Barbey Street but this service was at Arlington Presbyterian on Elton Street. In the program, George Kraus was the Pastor at St. Peters, Rev. Ittner was Arlington Presbyterian and Pastor Messina was from Reformation. I never realized Blessed Sacrament was part of the group, I don't recall them being part of any activities. Maybe someone who attended the Blessed Sacrament program can share some memories. July 1 - Brian Merlis sent over this great shot of the class of 1936 at St. Sylvesters, which serves as a reminder that the diocese is also
closing this school and merging it into the Salve Regina Academy. Bobby "Flash" Gennaro put up a video on YouTube he made on the farewell ceremonies which can be found here. I did some additional research on the school and church and that can be found in Zone 6. Thanks also to Alan Miner, who sent over a 1954 P.S. 171 class pic and a neat 1949 image off the corner of Nichols and Fulton which can be found on the Nichols Avenue page.  June 23 - Summer's here! Things have been quiet so I found an appropriate summer photo. This is Brian Hyland, appearing at the Highland Park YMCA in the 1960s. Brian was from Woodhaven, and attended Franklin K. Lane. His summer hit, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" hit #1 on the charts in 1960, and he later followed with "Sealed With a Kiss" which reached #3 in 1962. If you recognize yourself in this photo, or remember the occassion, drop me a line, I would love more background. May 29 - There haven't been many submissions lately, though Carol Leone sent in an East New York Savings Honors Thrift Class picture from 1951 for her third grade class at P.S. 64, which can be found on that school's page under Zone 6. I did receive one great submission, which prompted research about the odd three-block stretch in Cypress Hills known as O'Brien Place. Why does it exist and where did the name come from? To see the answers, visit the new O'Brien Place page.  May 1 - I hope everyone had a terrific Easter. It's been a little slow on new photo submissions, which is good because I've been busy. I also have some
old photos I've been investigating, including a picture of 676 Jamaica Avenue. The picture on the left is how it looks today, pretty bland, but to see what it looked like 100 years
ago along with some other old gems and a few submissions visit the May 2011 update page. Mar 23 - We have a TV alert! Therese brought to my attention that on the Friday night NBC show Who Do You Think You Are? will feature actor Steve Buscemi. Steve lived on Liberty Avenue until he was 8 years old, and there's even a trailer on the NBC website showing Steve driving through ENY.
I also discovered another celebrity from ENY, but to find out who it was you must visit the P.S. 149 page. I posted a yearbook from 1951 and new contributor Jimmy "The Pea" Warren supplied material from 1963. As to the picture on the left, Phil Mastriano has been sending in some beauties and this one is a great timestamp. The view is north along Ashford Street across Fulton Street around 1945. Check out the football helmet, the car, the availability of parking and even the woman curbing her dog. Visit the Ashford Street page and the Essex Street page under Zone 6 to see more great images from Phil. Longtime site contributor Peter Stango sent over a shot from the 1940s in front of the Blessed Sacrament rectory with his uncle and the rectory cook.  Mar 10 - I'm dubbing this my "tips" update, for the tips that people send me about ENY. Several people, most recently Art Piazza, tipped me off that most of "Death Wish 3" was shot in East New York. It's an awful movie, and certainly not ENY's shining moment. Shot in 1985, that's Charles Bronson
running around the corner of Hendrix Street and Pitkin Avenue. For a montage of additional screenshots, click here. Al Gavin tipped me off that his dad Al Gavin Sr. grew up at 110 Richmond Street and was in the boxing business for 57 years, working with heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis and with Mickey Ward (the boxer Mark Wahlberg plays in "The Fighter".) Al supplied a link The Cutman for more background. Jack Strauss tipped me off that Ilene Graff, the actress who played Bob Eucker's wife in "Mr. Belvedere", grew up on Wyona Street. Apparently her father was a singer, and I'm trying to get more background. Not so much a tip, but Joe DeBlasi sent over some pix from his group "The Classmates", won the talent show at Franklin K. Lane in 1966. You can find those pictures on the Lane page. I just heard from a Margaret Arnold who informed me that St. Sylvester's School will also be closed and merged into the new Salve Regina at St. Michael's. Speaking of St. Michael's , Phil Mastriano sent another fantastic early photo of his mother's class from about 1915.
 Mar 1 - Phil Mastriano sent this great early image of his mother's first communion at St. Michael's, circa 1911. I haven't quite pinpointed the location though I assume it was on the grounds. Phil, who solved a mystery photo for me, also sent in an image on Ashford Street circa 1939. Tony Della Croce sent over an image of Father Manno, who was instrumental in the building of St. Rita's school. I received a image of an early menu from Cordes, a neighborhood favorite, along with a lot of interesting background which can be found on the Norwood Avenue page.
 Feb 21 -A little tidbit of ENY-related news in today's Times. In Evergreen Cemetery there is a monument to a number of unidentified victims of the famous Triangle Waistshirt Company fire of 1911. Today the Times reported that Michael Hirsch (pictured at the monument) had identified the last six unidentified victims, all buried at Evergreens Cemetery.
Feb 17 - A quick list of updates. On the back of that sad news from St. Rita's, Tony Della Croce supplied an image from 1952 of the Sisters of Notre Dame who were called there. Maureen (Collins) Heilig sent in her 1960 class pic from 171 along with the names. Vito Messina sent in material from his 1959 East New York Vocational Yearbook. Those images are under their respective school pages in Zones 4 and 6. Rich Adazzio, who always sends in great material and stories, sends in a 1941 tax photo of 262 Cleveland Street (Zone 2) and 132 Pennsylvania Avenue. On the Richmond Street page I added some material and history on the Roberts Numbering Company.  Feb 15 - I'm doing an update shortly, but I received news that St. Rita's school is closing this spring. I had recently received this class
of 1946 image from Phil Mastriano, so the timing is ironic. The school will merge with St. Michael's and be renamed Salve Regina Catholic Academy. They will use the St. Michael's building. There is no word on the future of the St. Rita's school building or the parish. Thanks to Therese and Maria DeGennaro for forwarding the info.
 Feb 4 - I have returned from traveling, but sad to report I lost my Uncle Rich yesterday. He's pictured on the left in front of Reformation Church on Barbey Street in 1967. A long-time East New Yorker, he was a great source of information about the neighborhood, and he will be missed. I did some catching up, posting Ray Tuthill's early 1960's pictures of Etna Street , and Jack Auld sent in some more great early photos of the Fanchon Place/Marginal Street area in Zone 1. He also sent a couple relating to Christ Baptist Church on the Hendrix Street page. Charlie O'Berry, a new contributor, sent in a 1967 pic on Hale Avenue and a series of pix that can be found on the St. Rita's page.  Jan 29 - Fortunately for me I've been on the road and missing all these snowstorms hitting the northeast - but Ray Tuthill sent this image in of him and Gary Wahlers digging out in front of 407 Etna Street back in 1961, so I though it was appropriate for the moment. Jan 16 - A few years back I posted this image taken from a parade in 1942. The location was Pine Street and Sutter Avenue. I've now obtained the entire series from that parade, and have a built a page to display the set. There's a chance someone may remember the event, feel free to drop me a line. Visit the Sutter Parade to see the series. Jan 10 - Sorry to report that St. Malachy's has been demolished. Tom Hammond has been keeping me posted, and sent this image yesterday of the cleared site. Dec 31 - History Lesson#3 (No Tim, there will not be a test!) A very Happy New Year to everyone. We finish with a great picture sent to us by Noreen Lavan. I received this several weeks ago and its hard to believe this house was located in Cypress Hills. Known as the Kelly Mansion, Noreen supplied some
family history and I added my research to try to uncover the history of the mansion. So if you want to learn about ropewalks, Pine Street before it was Pine Street, and some early Cypress Hills history, visit our Kelly Mansion page. Dec 28 - While all of us in the tri-state area dig out from this snowstorm, Joann Montgomery sends over a blizzard of 1964 shot looking up Norwood Avenue towards Fulton, with the Norwood Palace in the background. Joann even IDs the crowd; " The little boy is Joseph D'Auria, his Mom Harriet D'Auria,myself on the snow bank , and Margie D'Auria Kavoures holding my hand."
 Dec 22 - I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Since I'm on a history kick, I thought I would post a picture of sleigh riders from 1896. This image appeared in a 1951 Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper, along with some neat background. I haven't figured out the specific location yet.  Dec 17 - History lesson#2 - This image comes from Gary Davidson, who still resides on Logan Street. This arbor-style "Heroes" monument was dedicated in Highland Park on Dec 1, 1918 by Mayor Hylan. It contained the names of 600 Queens residents who lost their lives in World War I. We believe this was in the Upper Park. My research also turned up something called "Heroe's Day" which was celebrated in Brooklyn on Sep. 1st of each year, though I'm not sure how long the tradition continued. I'm not sure when this memorial was removed, but I suspect when they dedicated the "Dawn of Glory" statue in the lower park in 1924, this may have been considered redundant.  Dec 10 - History lesson#1 - I've received some photos recently that have triggered a lot of research.
This shot came from Howard Rubin. It was taken in front of a drug store on Hegeman and Pennsylvania Avenues around 1942. Howard IDs Murray Finkel, middle - top row, who fought in Anzio and was wounded in southern France. He also IDs Herman Rubin, top row right, who served as a weatherman in the Pacific. It is the signs in the background that intrigued me. "Buy blades now while we have" is a WW II timestamp. "Rent to Read Lending Library" was explained to me by Howard. There was no library down in the New Lots area at that time, so stores would stock popular titles and rent them out. The I.O.W. sign on the left stood for International Order of Workers, a communist -led organization that provided health insurance, mutual benefits and social organization. Howard added; "The IWO, known as the Wobblies was a left wing labor organization, which still has a small membership, according to an article I recently read in the NY Times. It is mostly defunct. They probably had a health plan which that drug store subscribed to. Remember, after WWII the left wing American Labor Party was strong in ENY. They even had a few elected politicians and were very active in the 1948 presidential election by supporting Henry Wallace. I remember a rally was held in Jeff Field, on Pennsylvania Avenue between Livonia and Riverdale Avenues, where Henry Wallace spoke. I would bet that he garnered many votes in the Jewish areas of ENY and Brownsville." Howard also sent additional images of the Sheffield/New Lots area which can be found in Zone 5. Stephen Lorber sent over a P.S. 64 class picture from 1953.
December 4 - I have posted a number of recent contributions. Theresa Libretti-Kernisan (the same Libretti family that owned the typewriter store on Liberty Ave.) sent in her 1976 St. Michael's class pic. William Marino sent in two class photos from St. Rita's, 1962 and 1967. Roger Gapinski sent a batch of 171 photos, including the 1961 class play. Roger Hulslander sent in a 1958 backyard shot from 304 Hemlock, and Peter Stango another great early 1940's shot by Fulton and Pine on the Pine Street page. Phil Gallagher sent over a reunion shot with Mike Long that I posted in Zone 4 next to a 1950's shot of Phil, John Riccardi and their gang. November 29 - Some of us are old enough to recall the old Fulton Elevated line that ran along Pitkin and Liberty Avenues. I've put together a new photo collection, my research, and even a video clip on a new Fulton Elevated page as part of my "Lost ENY" series. November 24- I would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. PBS has posted the web project for which I was interviewed, and can be seen on their The City Concealed page. November 13- RPPC (Real Photo Post Cards) were popular at the turn of the century, before most people had cameras. Since they were not mass produced, they are hard to find but often provide rare images of lesser-photographed buildings. I have created an updated Postcards Page with a number I have collected recently.  Nov 6 - Art Pirozzi tipped me off that it appears they are preparing to demolish St. Malachy's. If anyone is in the area and can grab some pictures (apparently they
have raised a plywood wall around the area so it may be difficult to see much). Art sent over the picture on the left.  Nov 1 - I seem to be on a literary run. Those that recall Long's Ice Cream parlor in Cypress Hills might know that Mike Long's son Matt was a firefighter, but suffered horrible injuries one day when struck by a bus. This book is not about Cypress Hills (though it does have a picture of Long's) but describes his courageous battle to recover and eventually compete as a triathlete. All this prompted me to update the Crescent Street page , including a picture of Long's, as well as a number of items (the rifle club, the dog training school, the Hamburg Bank WWII plaque) that have been buried in my research.  Oct 27 - I'm back from a lengthy trip, so for those who sent book orders they are being shipped today, and for those who dropped me notes or tried to contact me, I have catching up to do. In the meantime I'll wish everyone a Happy Halloween, with a picture of me staring out the window from our porch on 120 Ashford Street back in 1963. Oct 12- Stephen Duer has authored a new book on Cypress Hills Cemetery, which has just become available. Stephen gave me a tour of the Cemetery last May, so I'm giving him a plug and I updated the Cypress Hills Cemetery page with some new images and information I gleaned from his tour. Oct 9- Danny Blanda to the rescue! ".. the building with the strange writing was the home to the Cosmas and Damiano Society...which ran the feast of the same name at St.Rita....as a kid I always wanted to go in here and take a look at the statues of the saints .....but my mother would tell me it was only for the society members.....Although St Rita's had their own set of statues, the society would use their own for the feast (when the new church was built, the society donated a new set of statues to the church and then the old church statues were used for the feast) When they left this building on Pitkin Ave around 1967, they relocated to a small storefront on the sw corner of Essex and Liberty." Ronnie Amerise added some additional history on the feast; "The feast originated on Glenmore ave and Ashford st., back in the 40's and early 50's. As far back as I can remember, the feast went down from Ashford St. to Essex St. and made a left to the Church. As I recall, the Feast started on Liberty ave in 1953." The St. Rita's page in Zone 6 of course has images of the feast.  Oct 8 - Site fan Tim O'Reilly tipped me off to a great photo collection on the Brooklyn Historical Society website that features the work of David Morrell. There are a number of pictures taken of the neighborhood between 1959-1963. The one on the left has us stumped. The image is too small and the resolution too low to
make out the details. The view is the north side of Pitkin Avenue between Elton and Linwood streets in 1963. There is a building with an odd sign
on the face, a series of strange symbols and we're wondering if anyone can identify it.Oct 5- Our condolences go out to Rod Maggio's family. Anthony Ritsua noted his passing in our Guestbook. Rod was an avid fan of the site and supplied me with tons of information about East New York. He will be missed.  Oct 1- This very cool shot comes from Jack Auld. According to Jack, Mondone's Stables were located on the northeast corner of Sheffield Avenue and Fulton Street. Jack sent over some great material of the west end of Jamaica Avenue, so I did a complete overhaul of the Zone 1 page,
adding 26 shots. For fun I even added the Lutheran Hospital bill from my birth on the page, but you have to take a guess before you peek. Jack also supplied a series of
class photos from P.S. 76, which is on the Wyona Street page.Sep 21- Alice (Hetherton) Price sent over some images from the 1940s by 228 Etna Street, which can be found on the Etna Street page under Zone 3. Roger Gapinski noted Cub Pack 179 used to meet at the United Presbyterian Church on Etna and Elderts Lane, so on the same page you can find a Cub Den shot and updated material on the church. Alice also sent contributions for the Blessed Sacrament page and a shot of Lincoln Ave. (Zone 4 page). Ronnie Basso sent over shots from the Liberty Park reunion which can be found on our Reunions page. 
 Sep 10 - I'm calling this a 'fun facts' update. On the left is a view east on Liberty across Jerome, and St. Michael's school is visible on the left. What I circled on the right is 606 Liberty Avenue, and I
discovered that actor Steve Buscemi grew up there. On the right, Brian Merlis tipped me off that on Essex Street and
Liberty Avenue there is building that has the pre-1887 name for Essex Street (Eldert Street) on the side. Meanwhile,
Cathy Reydel tipped me off that you can still see a sign for Fortunoff's on Pennsylvania Avenue down by Livonia Avenue. Thom Henrickson sent in a picture of Cordes from 1963, which can be found on the Norwood Avenue page. Finally, I took a trip to the reservoir today to help PBS on a
web project, and I grabbed a number of unique shots which I have posted on the Reservoir page.Aug 31- John Riccardi, longtime Chestnut Street resident, has filled me in with a lot of great stories I need to get on the site but in the meantime he sent over shots of Chestnut Street from his days. He also sent over a shot of grandfather in the rear of 107 Pine Street, the house with the infamous columns. That led me to post my research and theory on the appearance of those columns on the Pine St. page. Gerry Carter supplied a picture of the Eagles baseball team posing in upper Highland Park in 1962, and from the same year, a picture of him in his baseball uniform on Jamaica Avenue between Logan and Norwood, seen on the Norwood Avenue page.   Aug 19 - Thanks to Mike Biscuiti and Charlie Passantino for sending me pix of the St. Rita's 1960 50th Reunion held recently. Pictured are Mike, Joe Lombardi, Chet Vinci, Tom Ruvulo, and Charlie. Mike also provided a picture of the same group back in 1967 in Germany (along with the story), and that can be found on the Zone 6 page. Hank Rich sent in a great 1945 class shot from JHS 171 which included members of the family that owned Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor and Weismantel's. On the right is my most recent project. These rare postcards of Cypress Hills date to 1910-1915, and we used a whole series of them in the book courtesy of collector Bob Stonehill. Brian Merlis had graciously sent me copies of ones we've never seen, and I added them to some "outtakes" we didn't use in the book to create a new Postcard series.  Aug 11 - A quiet but hot summer, and today I stumble on an article in my local paper about Willie's lemon ices. The author was reminiscing, and yes, he found my site when trying to research it. The article can be found here . Though he
didn't credit me, he did respond to my e-mail and it turns out his father grew up on Warwick Street! Small world. On the left is a picture sent by Tom Hammond. He took it very recently from his cell phone to show me they were building volleyball courts in the upper park where the bandstand stood many years ago. While not unraveling the mess made by my computer crash, I've been doing research. Over on Hale Avenue , I posted some research back in June on the location where the old Knights of Columbus building stands- and uncovered what I believe was ENY's first "mobster"- Charles E. Ackron. This guy was a piece of work, and I added that background to the Hale Ave. page. I built a page to hold the research I did on Trinity Episcopal Church and I also built a page to hold my research on the
old Weismantel's Showboat on Jamaica Avenue. That page includes a great tax photo and a great image sent in by Peter Stango, and can be found here. Finally, my apologies who anyone who got spammed on our directory list. 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.FOR BLOG ENTRIES PRIOR TO 2009, CLICK HERE |
