The Old Timers’ Forum
I see a lot of posts on the blog from people raised in a Bushwick that only exists in their memories. So I figured it would be great to have a place for them to talk about all kinds of things from the Bushwick they remember, and to help form a picture for the rest of us of the way the neighborhood once was. It’s also a general history forum, for those history sleuths who want to share what they’ve found.
Check it out here. If anyone has problems receiving their password, email me at jeremy .at. redfit .dot. com.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I am a new resident to Bushwick, so I can’t contribute anything. I think for many it was rough growing up here back when.
June 28th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
First let me say the Ridgewood times website has a lot of stories of old Ridgewood/bushwick
http://www.timesnewsweekly.com/EveryWeekFiles/OLDTIMERVAULT.html
Note the article published 1/25/2007 references the fact that Woodward ave/Stanhope street was considered East Willamsburgh in 1907.
Growing up in the 50s we all read the Ridgewood Times which was published in a building on Cypress Ave just off of Myrtle. There was a ice cream parlor on the corner of Greene and St.Nicholas and on the corner of Gates/ St.Nicholas was a supermarket called Bohack. The Bohacks store eventually moved diagonally across the corner where a large supermarket now sits. Bohack Square ( no competition for Times Square) was at Troutman,Metropolitan and Flushing Aves.
Where the diner at Myrtle and St.Nicholas Ave is now (BTW that square is named for a police officer who lost his life there) was once a place where one could buy live chickens and have them butchered fresh. Right across the street on Myrtle Ave was the RKO Madison theater where they would actually play 2 movies sometime.
The corner of Myrtle/Wyckoff was at various times a movie house ( the Parthenon) a bowling alley and then a bingo hall. Of course in those days the Ridgewood theater had only one screen.
Knickerbocker Avenue was always a fine shopping street as was Myrtle Avenue. Trolley cars actually ran on Flushing Avenue until the early 1950s I believe.
And Sandy maybe it was rough but we never realized it. There were lots of other kids on the block to play with and we played stick ball in the street and other urban games.
Hopefully this will jog some other memories from the past.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
It wasn’t rough until the early 60s. In the 50s Bleecker street was a working class neighborhood. Lots of the men on our block worked at the Navy Yard. When it closed in the late 50s, the whole borough went into an economic depression that took 10-15 years to even begin to recover from. In 1959 the first black family bought a house on our block-our building. Not a problem for my mom-we just made friends with their kids and went on-but it was the beginning of the end. Real estate brokers went door-to-door and told white owners they had to sell, because the neighborhood would go to hell now. Sadly, many of the white owners sold quickly and cheaply to the real estate developers, who then flipped the homes to black and hispanic families at high prices. Racism had reared its ugly head, and a community fell apart.
Today’s Supreme Court decision brings those dreadful days back.
June 29th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
We miss you Jeremy. We know you are only one man and you are looking for other contributors, but it’s just not the same without you.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am
Guys, post this stuff on the forum! Easier to interact on there.
July 3rd, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Bushwicknative did not mention the Rivoli Theatre at Harmon & Myrtle, and there was a live chicken market at Irving and Myrtle too, back in the 50’s.
I also used to trek on over to the Loew’s Gates and the RKO Bushwick on Broadway, and if we were slumming it on a hot Saturday afternoon there was the Monroe, which was directly across the street from the RKO Bushwick. It didn’t have first run movies and you never knew if there would be a fight or two, but it was cheap.
Knickerbocker Avenue was the neighborhood shopping venue, and each year would bring another trek to Knickerbocker Men & Boys for school uniforms, shirts & ties. They had a deal w/St. Barbara’s and they sold the maroon jackets, knitted blue ties and gray pants we had to wear. It makes my eyes bleed just envisioning the outfit.
July 4th, 2007 at 11:54 am
KB I know you were a St. Barbaras guy but Knickerbocker must have had the catholic franchise as we had to get Green jackets gray pants and school ties there as well for St. Brigid.
I never made it to those movies you mentioned as we tended to shop on Myrtle Ave. Of course we bot neglected to mention the Wagner theater ( Wycoff and Stockholm) which turned into a porno theater in the late 60s
July 30th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
In reference to history, we have a website called Bushwick Buddies. It has about 500 members, most of whom lived in Bushwick during the 40s, 50s and 60s. There are pictures from then and from now. It was rough from the mid 60s to the late 90s. It is now in the midst of a rebirth. It has come a long way, although it still has a long way to go.
We have members from Ridgewood and Williamsburg and Bed-Sty as well.
If you would like to look us over, contact Eleanor Phillips @ eleanorctr@aol.com
July 31st, 2007 at 8:57 pm
I see my good friend John got to this site before me and I thank him and I want to also add that our site is quite interactive … all the “old timers” have very vivid memories of the past and have been busily sharing them with us over the last 4 years … but, Bushwick Buddies is a private site … by invitation only … so you do need to contact me to be able to join us … our only reservation is that you live and love Bushwick and respect confidentiality. Our public login page is at http://www.bushwickbuddies.com and you can contact me at eleanorctr@aol.com or bushwickbuddy@hotmail.com for further information. I look forward to exploring this site more … I lived on the corner of Central and Eldert and my house is one of the only houses still there after all these years … the school took up all of Eldert St on one side … Central Avenue on the other side of the street has been completely rebuilt and there is new construction going across from the school. It’s funny reading about having no place to “party” … because we had so many places to go when we lived there … just about every block had their own little “bar”, candy store, ice cream parlor (what would now be a Starbucks), you name it, we had it … and we walked to all of them. Such a shame … 1977 changed it all.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:01 pm
What I really like about this site is that I haven’t found any whining about how Bushwick isn’t what it used to be, with all the attendant finger pointing & blame. It’s had its ups & downs, and finally it appears to be slowly rising on a long time coming upswing.
May all of the current Bushwick residents have the same magical experience that I did in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:20 pm
We have several people who have visited the area recently and a fellow who has business around the area. All we hear are hopeful, positive and uplifting things about Bushwick today. With the replacement of many of the old houses, gutting and renovation of others and building upon long deserted buildings and long vacant lots, Bushwick is rising to once again be a neighborhood where people can live happily. It is uplifting to most of us at BB. There is no denial that the 70s,80s and 90s were hard times for the neighborhood. It is great to know that todays kids will have the same fun and love for the neighborhood as we did, even though types of fun have changed.
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I was born in march of 32 and spent my growing up years at the same location 340 Wilson 1 house from linden. I remember the playground when it was gravel traveling farm animal zoo before it was paved over. Went into th Navy in 50 never to return to live there but visited family there for many Years and still return from the wild west.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I’m a member of bushwickbuddies and you can not go wrong.
I lived at 108 Cooper St. from the 1930s until I got married in 1957. Moved to Long Island and have not been back. Neighborhood looks better but I understand that some of the inhabitants are not better.
I went to PS 113 and PS 85 before FK Lane and Brooklyn College. I suspect FK Lane had close due to the lack of interest by people in the old neighborhood.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I found the people at Bushwick Buddies to be very narrow minded and thin skinned. I was kicked out because they only allow in people who agree with their militaristic and conservative philosophy.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
My father,a Bushwick native,came down from Westchester today. As we were walking, he explained to me that on the NW Corner of St. Nicholas and DeKalb Avenues, there used to be a bar (big surprise since there was a bar on every corner in the late ’40’s-50’s). He told me that the bartender used to fill up a pail with beer that the bar’s dog would lap up with glee. It also seems that shuffleboard reigned supreme back then.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:19 am
That explains why in Florida, every retirement area had shuffleboard courts. In my head, that’s an old people game.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I lived at 103 Stockholm Street from 1944-1959. I attended PS 73, JHS 57, and Brooklyn Tech.
My family moved when I was 15. I have many fond recollections of my childhood in Bushwick.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Ed, I was on Bushwick Buddies for a little while and left because I was put off by their right-wing politics. I got tired of reading all those pro-Bush, pro-war pronouncements on a forum that’s [i]supposed[/i] to be about remembering “the old neighborhood.” Most of those people are from my parents’ generation, and my memories are more of Ridgewood than of Bushwick, so we wouldn’t have had too much to talk about anyway.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I am an oldtimer (68) with fond (and occasionally not so fond) memories of the old neighborhood. I lived in a tenement on the corner of Stockholm and Central from 1943-1961. I attended the wonderful P.S. 74 (Bushwick Ave. & Stockholm St.) from kindergarten to 8th grade, then went on to Bklyn Tech, then CCNY, then got a Ph.D at NYU. Currently I’m nearing retirement as Prof. of Math at CUNY. I look forward to reminiscing with other oldtimers here - I got plenty good fucking stories. I noticed a couple of other contributors’ criticisms of the red-neck and semi-religious nature of the private website Bushwick Buddies. I couldn’t agree more (and was eventually also booted out by them). Bushwickbk seems to cater to a more open-minded, young-at-heart, clientele. Minchia!-let’s have some fun!
February 15th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Bushwick Buddies is exclusively for red neck morons.
February 16th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I do agree about the Bushwick Buddies, they sure do lean a little to the right for my taste. However, they do seem to have a treasure trove of old photos. I found some pictures of St. Barbara’s school and church, the house where my favorite cousins lived (On harmon btwn. Evergreen & Central), and even a photo of my old block (Central btwn. Green & Harmon).
I just refrain from contributing anything, I would only stir things up. There’s just something strange about thinking that things need to be the way they used to be. Obviously, at least to me anyway, if it was supposed to be the way it used to be it would still be that way, but it ain’t, so get on with it for cryin’ out loud.
Kevin Backmann
Bushwick 1950-1970
February 19th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I’ve read several criticisms on this very public site about Bushwick Buddies … as administrator and creator of that private website I would like to say that the site was created for “friends” … who were born and raised in the Bushwick area during the 1940s … the site started with 12 people … and in the past 4 years has grown tremendously. We take pride in where we came from … and we are saddened for what happened after we left … but the main thrust of our website it still Bushwick … it’s history, it’s lore, it’s fun, it’s saddness … all shared through the eyes of the people who lived there.
I will agree that many of our “buddies” are very right leaning … very conservative … but very patriotic and very caring. We love our country and want only what’s best for it. We support our troops even if we don’t always support the war. We are like all “friends” … we have our differences … and we welcome everyone joining in … Kevin … but Ed Millman decided to take nasty shots at people he really didn’t know … on a site that was not meant to be confrontational with anger. Adults can and should be able to discuss politics or religion without being ridiculed … especially on a private site. His brother Marty was deleted by association because he allowed Ed to use his username and password to access the site.
Mr. Millman continually tries to gain access to the Bushwick Buddies website … and the two times he got back on using ficticious names he was caught and again removed.
We welcome members to the Bushwick Buddies website … and we welcome their participation … whether they are left or right … Christian, Muslim or Jewish … straight or gay … Black, White, Hispanic, Asian … as long as they were born and raised in the Bushwick area.
Since our “private” website was violated by some people we are now requiring the current name and address of everyone who joins us … this information will not be published on the website, but is for the security of the administrators and the integrity of it 600+ membership.
Thank you
Eleanor Phillips Coody
Bushwick 1940-1962
Bushwick HS Class of 1958
February 20th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Be sure to check out the message board linked in Jeremy’s original post. That’s more suited to conversational give-and-take than this blog comment section here. There are some cool old photos and other stuff posted there as well.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
The Bushwick Buddies myopic view of the neighborhood in the 40’s and 50’s is nauseating. The so-called memories of many of it’s members consist of songs, movies and happy summer days at the corner candy store and not of the rampant racism, sexism, homophobia and anti-semitism that occured right under their noses. Everything is justified by a religious demagogue who could have presided at Salem. They even defended a member who justified the murder of Arnold Schuster! Their website is now a teutonic paradise where aryan ideals are freely exchanged and democratic ideals are suppressed. Ed tried to supply a voice of reason but was censored, harassed and threatened at every turn. Avoid this site!
February 21st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Ed Millman … Elaine Koch … Sal Sottile … all the same person … Cherobee and Peace his brother Marty … they have found this public website to take out their rants on a “private” site that was designed for mainly happy memories of our childhood … none of us are so blind as not to have noticed the racism, sexism, homophobia and antisemitism that was occuring. But that was of our parents generation being filtered down … our generation (the 60 and over crowd) who left Bushwick as teenagers went on to become highly educated, very motivated and were responsible for changing those attitudes.
As you can see from the writings of Ed, Elaine, Sal, Cherobee and Peace … they are anti-religious, and very left-wing. That is their right. And having discussions in a normal manner is always appreciated … but when personal attacks on people for expressing their opinion … and calling people names … labeling people with unkind remarks … and reaking all kinds of havoc on a site that does not want that type of activity … than it is up to the administrators to rid the site of the trouble makers and go on.
Alost everyone on the site enjoys remembering songs from the past … we have lots of history on the site … but mainly it’s designed for people to get back in touch with people who shared their same childhood … the same streets … the same schools … the same churches … the same synagogues … the same subways, trolleys and buses … the same shopping … and to see how many old friends we can locate.
Bushwick Buddies is not for everybody … but it is a great site to make new friends from the “old hood”.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Earth to Eleanor: Are you living in the twilight zone?
February 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Eleanor to Ed, Elaine, Sal, Marty Cherobee, Peace and Michael Gandolpho … I’d rather be in my twilight zone than in the living hell that you are in … if you hate the Bushwick Buddies and all it stands for so much … why do you keep trying to get on … Michael.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peace for his cogent remarks concerning the Bushwick Bundies.
In addition it should be noted by all BushwickBK members that the Bundies also endorse the idea of United States nuclear attacks on Middle Eastern countries; hold regularly scheduled prayer meetings; hijack member’s plans for the Bushwick high school reunion;and love to reminisce about the good times they spent in the well known Nazi Bund meeting place called Schwaben Hall.
Each to their own but, BushwickBK is the FREE and INTELLIGENT voice of Bushwick.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Okay I think that’s quite enough of this. Feel free to post stuff on the actual forum.