On a cloudy afternoon in March I took a bus to my old neighborhood at Sanford Avenue and 158th Street and walked through the area unofficially known as Boadway-Flushing as far as Bell Boulevard in Bayside. Though the area is nowhere near Queens’ Broadway, which runs from Long Island City to Elmhurst, the stretch of Northern Boulevard that runs through the area was named Broadway until about 1920, and the Long Island Rail Road station servicing the region is still called Broadway, over 90 years after the name change.
GOOGLE MAP TOUR ROUTE: FLUSHING TO BAYSIDE
Sanford Avenue and 158th Street. Sanford Avenue runs the width of Flushing from just east of the Flushing River to its conclusion at Northern Boulevard and 165th Street. It remembers United States Senator Nathan Sanford (1777 – 1838), who once owned most of the land in the Waldheim section of Flushing. His son Edward (1805-1876) was a political writer, poet and essayist, and owned the landmarked Edward Sanford House on 47th Avenue in Corona, Queens.
Here we see a couple in a succession of identical apartment buildings on both sides of Sanford Avenue between 158th and 160th Streets that were built during the 1920s.
Prior to 1913 the Long Island Rail Road here ran on the surface. To eliminate grade crossings and hills, the railroad was placed in an open cut or embankment for most of its route that year. Some roads such as Douglaston Parkway were bridged over the right-of-way but in some cases, such as here at 158th Street, as well as 162nd Street, and Northern Boulevard, the roads themselves actually had to be lowered so they could pass under the embankment and trestles. Height limits are placed on signs.
More than 19 years ago (as of 1993, when I arrived in Flushing from Bay Ridge) an unknown artist painted a pastoral scene on the western wall under the trestle…
…and a seaside scene on the eastern. Neither, I think, is meant to portray any particular scene in Queens.
Two narrow roads sun north and south of the railroad embankment. Station Road, on the south side, still has some brick pavement showing through.
Depot Road, which runs on the north side, is almost rural in nature; it’s been paved as long as I remember but I can visualize a time when it wasn’t.
A pair of remaining old-style homes on 157th Street between Northern Boulevard and Depot Road. Other older homes on the block have been “renovated” and look blander, while new homes have started appearing.
The campanile of St. Andrew Avellino Church, Northern Boulevard and 157th Street. The church was consecrated in 1940 in a combination Romanesque and Art Deco style.
The saint (1521 – 1608) was a theologian, former attorney and a monastery founder.
A pair of massive apartment buildings face off across Northern Boulevard and 155th Street. Large apartment buildings can usually be found in streets adjoining subway stops, but here, the Long Island Rail Road substitutes.
That can be an expensive proposition; in 2012, a one-way LIRR peak fare from eastern Queens to Penn Station (Zone 3 to Zone 1) cost $8.75. Many residents use a bus-subway connection, which is only $2.25. For decades a two-fare zone, it became a one-fare with the implementation of the Metro Card in 1997.
Longitudinal mall between Murray Street, Murray Lane and 34th and 35th Avenues. The Parks Department has not named it — instead there’s a simple inscription in the sidewalk.
Cottage on Murray Lane, which runs west of the longer Murray Street between 25th and 35th Avenues. It has likely survived because it carried a trolley line until the 1940s.
Bowne Park
Bowne Park, between 29th and 32nd Avenues and 155th and 159th Streets, is one of Murray Hill’s two major parks.
It is named in honor of Walter Bowne (1770-1846), who served as a State Senator and as New York City Mayor from 1829-1833. Bowne’s summer residence stood on this property until March 1925, when fire destroyed the building, and the land was acquired by the NYC Parks department in June of that year. While Walter Bowne served as mayor before Queens joined NYC in 1898, he is a descendant of Flushing’s John Bowne, who in 1662 was arrested by the administration of Director General Peter Stuyvesant for harboring Quakers and deported him to Holland. Bowne was released in 1664 following a successful appeal of his case. He returned to his home in Flushing while Stuyvesant’s proprietor, the Dutch East India Company, ordered the persecution of Quakers to cease.
A large Tudor apartment complex faces the park on the SE corner of 29th Avenue and 159th Street. The Tudor style is predominant in the Broadway-Flushing area, though many styles are represented.
29th Avenue fire alarm. Many alarms in the area are very early ones with a simple pull handle. There were more intricate pul handles later on, and finally two pushbuttons to call the FDNY or NYPD. These were supposed to be universal but I suppose budget restrictions meant haphazard installation. Eventually street call boxes will be phased out.
Tudors of Broadway-Flushing
Between 1900 and 1910, what we now call Broadway-Flushing and Auburndale were developed by three real estate companies, the Broadway-Flushing Company, Rickert-Finlay (which also built parts of Douglaston and the part of Little Neck called Westmoreland) and the Auburndale Realty Company. The plots consist of one house per plot on a grassy lawn, and covenants and restrictions were drawn up that are still enforced today by the Broadway-Flushing Homeowners Association.
In 2004, our Association led the community’s request to be designated a State and National Historic District. It received enormous support from homeowners, public officials, CB 7, civic associations and from those associated with the Historic Districts Council: Simeon Bankoff, Paul Graziano and Kevin Wolfe. In 2006, Broadway-Flushing was placed on the State and National Historic Preservation District Registers. Also in 2006, the Association co-celebrated the centennial of the Rickert-Finlay Covenant with its neighbor (and also a Rickert-Finlay planned community), Douglas Manor. The prestigious Historic Districts Council bestowed the honor of its Grassroots Preservation award on our Association in May, 2007. BFHA
The 1909 deed restrictions require that houses must be single-family homes, set at least 20 feet back from the property line. Front garages and front fences are not allowed. Flat roofs are also banned. NY Times
Broadway-Flushing has so far been unsuccessful in getting the city to designate it as a protected Landmark.
… [residents] have been trying to get the city to recognize the neighborhood as a historical district since 2003 because of its rare assortment of unique homes more than 100 years old. The designation would mean that when new residents move in, they can only make minor changes to their home’s façade.
But the city says no way. FOX NY
Divers Cove, Francis Lewis Boulevard and 29th Avenue, features a decades-old neon sign. The boulevard was named in the 1930s for an area signer of the Declaration of Independence and vestryman of St. George’s Episcopal Church on Main Street in Flushing.
One of the latest models of NYC fire alarms, these first appeared in 1973 but never got much traction. This one does contain the NYPD and FDNY call buttons and speaker.
St. Josaphat Church (1934), 35th Avenue and 210th Street.
Born in what is now the Ukraine in 1580, Josephat Kuntsevych was designated a saint by the Roman Catholic Church as a defender of the faith, but he is considered a brutal oppressor by the Eastern Orthodox Church, an organization he took brutal measures to suppress.
Shady home, 35th Avenue. Air conditioning likely unnecessary–just sit on the wide porch under the pines.
Bell Boulevard
Named for an 18th Century family who owned property in eastern Queens and not the credited inventor of the telephone, Bell Boulevard has developed over 150 years from a dirt trace to harboring some of eastern Queens’ more entertaining samples of eclectic architecture.
Until the last decades of the nineteenth century, Bayside was primarily farmland. The property on which the house stands was acquired by Abraham Bell in 1824. A shipping and commission merchant operating in lower Manhattan, his firm, Abraham Bell and Company was involved in the cotton trade and in transporting immigrants from Ireland during the potato famine of the 1840s.
His son, Abraham Bell 2nd, became head of the firm around 1835 and the company changed its name to Abraham Bell and Son in 1844. The Bells had homes in several locations: Bayside, Yonkers (where Bell Brothers operated a money-lending business) and in Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island.
The Bell property covered approximately 246 acres and extended from near the site of the current Bayside station of the Long Island Railroad at 41st Avenue to Crocheron Avenue (35th Avenue) and from Little Neck Bay to 204th Street. An unpaved lane, known as Bell Avenue (now Bell Boulevard) bisected the farm.The east section, closer to Little Neck Bay, was called the lower farm, and the west section, the upper farm. Near the center of the property, along Bell Avenue, the Bells built a house in 1842. It is likely that it was occupied by Thomas C. Bell and Eliza (Jackson) Bell, who married in 1840. The house was demolished in 1971. NYC Landmarks Designation Report (see below)
Former Masonic temple, now Elim Presbyterian Church, Bell Boulevard and 36th Avenue.
Cobblestone House
On the NW corner of 36th and Bell Boulevard is a 3-story house, porched on 3 sides with a bay outcropping on the 36th Avenue side, with inlaid rocks and stones, giving it a ‘cobblestoned’ appearance. It was built between 1905-1906 is a designated New York City Landmark.
Here’s the Landmarks Designation report, which is quite thorough, detailing the house’s history as well as that of Bayside and the Rickert-Finlay development company.
Signposts
Around the same time the ‘cobblestone house’ was built the Rickert Finley Company was busy constructing a development along Bell Boulevard (then called Bell Avenue) called Bellcourt, and, as was done with many such developments, built delineating gateposts at cross streets:
Along the west side of Bell Avenue, the development’s eastern boundary, pairs of rustic stone pillars were erected by Rickert-Finlay at the intersection of Crocheron (35th), Lamartine (36th), Warburton (38th), Ashburton (39th) and Griffen (41st) Avenues. Approximately seven feet tall, these large signposts had granite bases and inset panels to identify the streets. Only the pair flanking 36th Avenue survives and the north pillar is located on the southeast corner of the landmark site. LPC
From the looks of things it appears that both the cobblestone house and the gatepost adjoining it have been nicely repointed in recent years. Though the newer apartment house on the SW corner of Bell Blvd. and 36th has retained a gatepost, it has darkened over the years from car exhaust and other pollutants.
Bayside United Methodist Church looks older than it is — the cornerstone says 1957, so it was built the same year I was. The congregation was established in 1890.
Bayside Theatre
A pair of Bell Boulevard institutions had their beginnings in the 1920s and 1930s. Bayside Theatre, on the NE corner of Bell and 39th Avenue, started out in the 1920s as Irving Lesser’s Capitol Theatre. The Spanish Colonial-style building is still there, with both the 1st and 2nd floors used for retail stores and offices. The theatre was converted to a quad in the 1970s and closed in the late 1990s. I saw Jurassic Park (the first one) at the Bayside in 1992. photo from cinematreasures.org
White Castle
There’s been a White Castle on the NW corner of Bell Boulevard and Northern Boulevard since 1932, when the small building you see in the older picture opened. The latest in a succession of White Castle restaurants on the site went up in 1987 and is the one you see there today.
The chain originated in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas by cook Walter Anderson and insurance agent Billy Ingram. It was decided to feature white in the color scheme to promote cleanliness, as ground beef was, at the time, unpopular in the wake of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, which described unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry. For several decades, the restaurants were prefabricated porcelain buildings, like the one here.
For years, there were copycat restaurants with similar names, like White Tower (now the Orange Hut on Broadway and Northern Boulevard in Woodside) as well as New Jersey’s White Mana and White Manna restaurants, both still active. photo from facebook, Long Island and NYC Places that Are No More
I like White Castles, but they always seem to make a repeat appearance.
3/25/12
234 comments
If I had a nickel for every time I walked under that LIRR trestle on 158th Street I would be a millionaire today. The Station Road was all Belgian bricks in the 1950’s and 60’s. Most maps show the road going through to 156th street, but it only goes west to the 157th Street. I long thought that was on of those secret errors placed on Hagstrom’s maps to identify other map makers that copy their maps and infringe on their copyrighted maps.
But there had been a Station Rd street sign at 156th in the 1990s. I imagine it once went through to 156th.
Not in my lifetime! Don’t ask.
I grew up on 156 and 43 avenue (old Cherry avenue) I never remember a sign for ‘Station road’. If you walked north from 43rd ave, on 157 street you would cross Sanford continue on for a short block until you got to the LIRR tracks, you had to make a right (Station Rd.) Continue to 158 st. where the trestle was (we always played strike-out underneath that overpass on rainy days )…..Continue on east and eventually you would come to 162nd Street. Quick left, under the trestle to Northern and a quck right..1/2 block another left and continue on up to the old Post office and (Broadway Flushing) LIRR station . The McGoldrick public library was right around the corner on Crocheron ave….Had a beautiful young librarian back then, Bridget Diamond………..about 1955. What a great time and place to live, unless you grew up there one could never explain it.
Thanks for the memories.
hwy2930@yahoo.com
Does anyone rember Jo and Al on 162st and Northern Blvd. I live on 163 st and 33 Ave. Went to St Andrews and Bayside Hight School. Grad 1961. Roosevelt Moive Theater on Sats, where every kids in the neighborhood went . Hung outat Bowne Park every afternoon. I have a brother Roger and everyone knew him
We remember it as “Jo-Al’s,” and it was the place to go after a major family event.
I lived at 36th Ave and Corpoal Stone St., Bayside near PS 41 and Crocheron Park up the road from Little Neck Bay and the pond.
Yep. I remember Jo & Al’s very well . Also, the Roosevelt. In fact, I worked there and at the Blue Mill Diner. I went to St. Andrews and graduated from Bayside High in 1952. Are you a Humel? The onlyRoger I remember is Roger Humel, I think he became a fireman.. Do you remember Mrs.Heden, Miss Gregory, the art teacher and all the wonderful nuns who taught us all so well? I have so many fond memories of the Flushing of long ago. All five of our children also attended St. Andrews. Three of my daughters graduated from Bayside High.
My maiden name is Geraldine ( Scheiner) . I still keep in touch with two girls I went to school with who now live in Calif.
I too remember Jo Al’s Two wonderful people I was a student at Pratt at the tlme. 1960My favorite was “beans and franks.” Remember. I was a poor student. (:
lived on 164 st and crocheron ave. for many years. station road was only a couple of blocks away I hung out In the mineral shop run by Mr. Gold (real name). also remember the library, spent many a sat. morning there. Jo-Al’s also remember, would go there after the sat. matinee at the Roosevelt theater with my brother. good times.
I spent lots of my time at the library also, and Jo & Al’s, good memories
Hey Michael,
Finally found someone who also hung around that mineral shop opposite the Broadway Flushing LIRR station during around 1960’s, too. For the life of me I could not remember Mr. Gold’s name, but thanks for reminding me. I remember Mr Gold was an former engineer that dug the aqueduct from Croton reservoir to NYC. I bought many nice mineral specimens from Mr. Gold, but wished I had more money in those days. I remember buying for $5 a nice clear, single quartz crystal in 1960 that was as large as your fist with clean edges and a single termination. Also, my biggest purchase was small rose quartz crystals surrounding some white quartz from Brazil for $25.00, after saving up for that event. Mr. Gold was very kind to my hours of just opening and closing specimen drawers wondering which one I wanted to buy with my allowance money. I believe Mr Gold died during the mid-1960’s. I wish I could tell him now that still think of him, I still have his specimens in my collection and I went on to become a professional geologist.
Michael,
Did you have a sister named Jane? She attended St Agnes High School in College Pt I believe in the 70s. I took Drivers Education w Jane back in summer of 1972? I then “got up the nerve” to ask her out on a date. Jane was a year or so older than, I was a junior she was a senior in HS at the time. She actually was friends w the GF of one of my Football teammates at Bayside High. Oh man what memories of those times…. If jane is your sister and you are in touch , tell her I said hello, if she remembers me, she’ll have a laugh…. I hope.
I lived in Murray Hill and knew Roger for more then fifty years. Started getting in trouble together
In Bowne Park in the fifties. Tap Royal, Michaels Lounge,White Thorn, Muller’s, Log Inn spent a lot
of our youth in Flushing, Bayside and Whitestone. Last time I saw Roger was in 2010 at the VFW
In Murray Hill. Remember Rick, you me and Roger were on St Andrews Swimming Team in the
Fifties Mr Staff was the coach. I got smart and moved out of Flushing before it got to late, most of
the old crew didn’t make it, hanging out in the bars got them. Growing up in Flushing was a great
many good memories. Moved out West have a home in Sedona, AZ and ranch property in Eastern
Oregon used to spend a lot time in the Eastcape Baja in Los Barilles.
Hello Bob, lots of good memories, I remember you and Roger very well, we were all good friends, I am Mary Killip D’Elia, the last time I saw you I think I was 13 yeas old, hope you remember me. “Good Old Flushing”
HI Bob, I remember going to a party at your parents house, I think it was a birthday party for you, I remember having a nice conversation with your dad. I also remember taking a ride in your volkswagon, we had some fun times. I’m hoping you remember me.
Mary Killip
I went to St Andrews Church also, attended PS32 and Bayside High. I saw many movies at the Roosevelt Theatre. We went ice skating at Bowne Park, also Kissena Park. All the kids would meet at Mueller’s . Lots of good memories .
I remember it as jo/al’s. I lived on 164th. and Crocheron ave. Also St. Andrew’s but holy cross after. Roosevelt was my movie house, went there on Sat. morning for the matinee with my brother. saw the movie, got a soda after and sometimes a comic. That was on the dollar my mom gave us, and I gave here the change. Bowne park was my park, can’t count the times I went through the ice skating in the winter. PS Now live in Florida, may be the reason 😉
Joe Dossena
Lived on 165 st between 33rd and 35 Ave. Went to St Andrews, and Holy Cross remember Jo ALS and Roosevelt great place great times
Jo-Al’s was the ‘premier’ place to go for ice cream.
you bet i do i won a couple of watches at the sat.shows, sucked on a 5 cent pickle from the deli and went to confession with my cousins almost every week. mrs hedin was my third grade teacher.
The old McGoldrick Library lives forever in my memory. Wish someone had photos. The upstairs Children’s Section had an entrance on Crocheron, and the checkout desk was downstairs with another entrance on Depot Road. Our family home at 33-45 162nd Street was recently torn down and replaced by a red brick monstrosity.
Lots of that going on in the old neighborhood. My block is almost unrecognizable. Spent many happy hours in the McGoldrick…..our house is still there, but few of the neighbors homes are.
Does anybody remember that 35th Avenue, before the City finally got to the neighborhood, used to be called “Mitchell Avenue”?
The nuns at St Andrews called 35th avenue State Street. I think 33rd ave might have been Mitchell avenue because the hill at 33rd & 154th was referred to as Mitchell Hill.
35 th Ave was most definitely called State Street until renamed/numbered by the city. My father referred to it as State Street until he died. As a matter of fact he referred to many of the now numbere
d avenues by their former names.
Yes it was State Street. There is an apartment house on 35th Ave (at 169th St. I think) that is named State Court. The Andrean Players (theatre group at St. Andrew Avellino’s) was once called The State Street Players. I had the honor of preparing the 100 Year History of St. Andrew Avellino Church which was founded in 1914.
You have to be the same Joe Brostek from Queens College! I am Jane Gabin, who used to be in the Friends of the QC Library. I worked in Manhattan, but now live in North Carolina.
Absolutely, the “State Street Market” was across from The Court on 35th, er, State Street.
David, I recall (my dad told me) that 35th Avenue had been called State Street.
I lived on 35th and 191st St. Went to PS 32 (as did my brothers Barry and Steve.)
Yes, I remember your family. My brother was good friends with you or your brother. My brother Phil Scall died a few months ago at the age of 85.
We all went to PS 32. I have vague memory of your brother breaking a shoulder or arm at our house on Utopia Parkway when my mom was a
den mother. We all went to PS 32. I am a snowbird who lives in Manhattan and Ft. Lauderdale. Ed Scall ebiker142@aol.com I think that my brother was
friends with Barry and that I have a pic of him at my brother’s Bar Mittvah in 1949 at THe Flushing Jewish Center.
I AM a graduate o St. Andrew Avellino INFAMOUS CLASS of 1959. Went 2 this great school 8 yrs & AM proud 2 report that ovet 15 of my classmates still keep in touch not to mention our 50th reunion and a reunion to celebrate all of us turning 65..Christmas gatherings at Donovan’s in Bayside rehashing all of our wonderful memories as well as our present day-2-day goings on. We were taught well of God&country & the love? well that continues to this day. A class & time in history well worth a movie.
Unfortunately, White Castle doesn’t have a lot of locations. However, when I took classes out on LI over at Dowling College, located in Oakdale over in Suffolk County, there were several over there. I do know that it does have a location in Manhattan by the PA Bus Terminal just a few blocks down, Queens Blvd has one on both sides for some reason, there is one in The Bronx on Bruckner Blvd between the Bruckner Expwy and Bronx River Pkwy, there are some Brooklyn locations with on Myrtle Ave, and another on Linden Blvd just after the Queens line, and there is even one on South Broadway in Yonkers just before the border with The Bronx. For the most part, if you don’t have a White Castle near you, one can always get their sliders at a 7-11, which seems to have them and is probably the next best thing to having them.
I count two in Bed-Stuy, one on Atlantic, one on Myrtle and there’s another further east on Myrtle in Ridgewood.
White Castle
98-08 Rockaway Blvd Ozone Park
Just a correction, the one I said about on Linden Blvd just after the Queens line in Brooklyn isn’t a White Castle, it’s an A&W. My apologies for that. One I didn’t mention is that Queens also has one not far from JFK Airport on South Conduit Ave. Another one does exist in Harlem on 125th St. I do know several out in LI with some along places such as NY 110 and 231. Still, it would be nice if they had more locations, because I find it rare to find them. Whenever I do find one, I try to eat there, because I will never know when I will find another one. As for the ones you can get at 7-11, the only thing I don’t like about them is that they come with onions, though you can probably open them up and brush them off before heating them.
Had lunch today at the one on Hillside Ave and around 177th, St. There is also one in Brooklyn on Ft Hamilton Pkwy and 42nd St. And yes, Queens Blvd does have one on each side, but they are aways apart, with one in Sunnyside at 43rd St and one by the mall on 57th Ave.
I guess I’m showing my age here, but is there not a White Castle on Queens Blvd around 44th Street in Sunnyside? In the early ’70s my band played regularly at a joint named Gildea’s right there between Sunnyside Gardens and White Castle. Sometimes on breaks I’d run out and get myself a few bombs to wolf down before having to go back up.
Excellent post, Kevin. Thank you. I am a Flushing boy born and raised and my brother in law grew up in a beautiful old house on Murray Lane. Those Tudors are fantastic.
great pics. my mom lives in clearview and i often take a bus to her house after schlep down from albany – the qm-20 (formerly qm2A) goes right down willets pt along those streets and also take the 16 bus into flushing when needed, and pass those lovely homes.
excellent house pics today!
gotta love me some northern queensboro.
(But i grew up in laurelton. any laureltonians out there?)
white castle is nasty.
Another great walk down memory lane. I’m surprised you didn’t mention The Church On The Hill (168th St, & 35th Ave.). My wife , my daughter & I were members from 2001 until our relocation to AZ in 2005. During that time we witnessed many major renovations & demolitions of the large homes in that neighborhood. However, the Sunday morning trip from our home in Queensborough Hill to 35 Avenue via 164 St was always a great Sunday drive; the area always reminded me of a series of villages connected by the LIRR. Durso’s is another highlight (great pastas & Italian delicacies). Character like that is a scarce commodity.
I went to church on the hill for 2 reasons – one was when the “catholic” kids had religious instruction and us “jewish” kids did crossword puzzles and….i was a “brownie” and we met there to do crafts and hold our meetings. good times. 🙂
I got off the Q31 bus every afternoon at 3:00 on my way home from Holy Cross HS (class of ’68) to transfer to the Q12 across N Blvd to go home to Douglaston. I think the burgers were .08 cents apiece in 1964 and were .12 cents by 1968. My brother always said the best day to go to “Chateau Blanc” was the day after New Year’s as they had the annual grill cleaning on New Year’s Day.
They now have roses and tablecloths on Valentine’s Day
Great post.
For those of us outside the area, many supermarkets carry frozen White Castle sliders. Heat them up in the microwave. Not quite the same thing.
Here’s a link to all their current locations:
http://www.whitecastle.com/locations/all
RE: The Cobblestone House
Technically, most of those stones would be too large to use as cobblestones. Cobblestones used in paving would generally be about the size of a man’s fist or a bit larger. Many of the stones used in the walls of that house are quite a bit larger. I admit it is a very handsome house, its got an old time European continental look to it.
Very suburban. Might as well be LI.
JOE MANGAN WENT TO SCHOOL WITH MY SISTER
I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH HIS SISTER
HE WAS SHOT IN A FIGHT BY A DRUNK THREE BLOCKS FROM THE MARKER.
The small park in which the marker is set was a hangout for a group of young people at that time; Joseph Mangan was one of them. After his tragic death, his friends took up a collection to pay for the original marker, which I remember as a raised, rectangular concrete one. Nice to see this more permanent remembrance, & nicer to know it’s still there after all those years.
I used to hang out in the Bench Park as we called it. My great aunts lived down the block. Many a grand night spent there listening to Chuckie, king of the park. We used to drink beer there and climb up in the trees when the police came. Joe Manganese was in my younger brother’s class. Joe’s death was really the end of an era.
What year was his death? Was he in a gang?
No, he was breaking up a fight at the Murry Hill Bar. My age group inherited ‘Bench Park’ and the bar from guys just above our age group. Jimmy ‘Peck’ Schleshman, was supposed to get a marker there for getting stabbed on New Years Eve, going to Times square. I got into a motorcycle accident in front of the Murry Hill Bar and almost died. Good old Flushing.
I went to High School with Joe Mangan. Always a nice guy. A total shock what happened to him .
Rest In Peace
Thank you for posting. Many familiar places.
I grew up on Ash Av. between Murray St. and 149th Place.I attended PS 22 and was in the last graduating 6th grade class in 1966.
Do you have any photos from the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s of that locale or neighboring locales?
Especially Murray Hill.
Sincerely,
Anders
I grew up at 149-63 ash ave(btween 149th place and murray) I attended PS22. I was in the first class to graduate in the new PS22 building. My family lived there from april 1960-Sept. 1987. I m Richie Damato. Mrs. Adams,Mrs. Kreitman,Ms Bowe.Mr. Katz,(the teacher not Mr Katz the principal obviously,Ms Simon were my teachers at 22!
And Mrs. Kiesling, our fifth grade teacher. She had a heart attack and passed away in school the year after we had her.
And Mr. Daly, Mrs. Tully, Miss Madden, Miss Dalton, Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Greenhill. I lived on 159th Street and 43rd. Graduated PS 22 in 1961. Thanks so much for the memories. Love this.
My mother was Mrs, Tully. I remember the other teachers very well.
Ted Tully
Mrs Tully was my 6th grade home teacher in 1959. I live two blocks from PS 22 on 156th street.
Anders: I have some sort of relatives named Anders from Bayside – my sister’s aunt & uncle George and Bernice. I met Bernice once, about 11 years ago. They had 2 daughters, I think.
Great memories. I’m a grad ’54 of Bayside High School and would love to see pix of the school, the park across Corp Kennedy, the “Big Rock”… also Crocheron Park as it was in the 50’s.
Any chance anyone has photos to append to this marvelous web page?
Eventually street call boxes will be phased out?
Not so fast. The City has sought to deactivate boxes in the past. Note the article from 2010 below. it would save a significant amount of money but the hang-up involves jobs in the FDNY. There are dispatchers and repair personnel that service the system and thier unions have fought the proposal. Too bad. You would be surprised to know how few alarms are transmitted through the system as compared to cell phone useage.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 10, 2010
The Fire Department is preparing to deactivate its street alarm boxes throughout New York City as a way to save money. Mayor Michael Bloomberg included the idea in his January budget proposal.
Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano told the City Council on Wednesday that it would save $6 million in the first fiscal year. He says the move was attempted in the 1990s. But it was thwarted by those who argued people with disabilities needed alarm boxes to call 911. They got a court injunction to stop it. The fire commissioner says technological gains like mobile phones have eliminated that concern. The city would have to convince the court that blind and deaf people have other means to report fires.
Mayor Bloomberg stated in 2010 that “In the days when everybody has cell phones”, the expense for call boxes can be eliminated. One of the problems with deactivating the callboxes is the significant number of elderly people, and the good number of deaf people, who don’t use cell phones.
Perhaps even more laughable (were it not so sad) was the day in 2014 when the call box system went down. The instructions from NYC Emergency Management were “Deaf ppl, use 911 Tapping Protocol: dial 911 on landline, wait 4 secs, then repeatedly single-tap for NYPD, double-tap for FDNY. ” This, of course, would force the elderly or deaf to remain inside their burning home to stay on their landline, in a macabre replay of “The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck”.
— NYCEM – Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) January 14, 2014
Oh those Tudors!!!!. I grew up in the most beautiful one of them all on 204th & 36 Ave.
I remember sleigh riding on Deadman’s hill. Don’t remember the tudor.
Don’t know how you missed it. There was a beautiful sprawling ranch on one corner, garden apartments on another and an empty lot on the other. Dead mans was between empty lot and apartments.
Nice pics Kevin, I live near Bowne Park and it’s still a great neighborhood. Do you know if any photos exist of Walter Bowne’s summer house before it burned down in 1925? I have always been curious of what was there in the park before the city took it over.
Love this! I grew up in Flushing, on 146 Street, just off of 33rd Avenue, and used to go to Bowne Park all the time. Also, my grandmother, and some friends, lived in the area around Sanford Avenue/Northern Blvd., near the LIRR. My grandma lived in one of those apartment houses that are mentioned, I believe. She and I used to walk up on the railroad station platform and watch for trains.
I lived on 34th avenue, just off 146 street, between 1967 and 1971. – Joe P.
I lived on 34th avenue between Parsons & 146th st – moved out in 1960. Nick’s was the candy store just off the corner of 146. On the corner was the ‘Brewster Market’, a grocery store. It probably got the name because 146 St. was Brewster Street before the renumbering was done in the 1920s.
Kevin, thanks for this article, including the photo of the apt. bldg. on 155th. There is another pre-war building similar to this one on Parsons and Northern, yes? I went to Windsor (Sanford & Kissena, grad. 1973) and used to walk or ride thru Waldheim en route to Douglaston on the bus. It was lovely back then.
Yeah – you got that right. White Castle *was* an institution. I remember it from my years in Bayside (1974-1988) as the destination for many walks and bike rides from Bay Terrace. The old White Castle that is; the graceful one. The new one is an abomination. Not only for wiping the historic one off the corner, but for erecting the most crappy fast food restaurant you can imagine. I dropped in a year ago on a visit for a sack, and couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Oh, those good ol’ days when I once saw my I.S.25 gym teacher, Cousnitz (sp?), take his family to eat there. Even at 14 I knew better!
I used to live on 158th Street and Sammy Spear, the music director for many years for Jackie Gleason, lived in the house just south (on the west side of 158th) from the LIRR overpass.
That was my parents’ house. I knew Sammy and his wife and sons well. My brother owns that house now
Sammy Spear also operated a retail music store on Northern Blvd between 158th and 159th Sts., within a short walking distance of his home.
I grew up on Auburndale Lane, between 171st and 172nd Sts., just north of Northern Blvd. My walk to St. Kevin’s School was about a mile and we walked it, rain, snow and shine.
The entire area from 158th to Bell Blvd. in Bayside on both sides of Northern Blvd. was a wonderful place to grow up with plenty of fields and lots fo kids to play.
Got my first trumpet from Sammy Spears on Northern Blvd in mid 50s. Played it through St Andrews and Bishop Loughlin orchestras and bands. Also with a band called The Crystals in the 60s in addition to playing a Gibson Les Paul Jr. solid state guitar.
I also lived in Auburndale and went to St. Kevin’s. I grew up in the two-story house on the SW corner of 194th Street and 45th Avenue across from the Church. One of my classmates was Mary Jo Collins who, as I remember, lived near Auburndale Lane. Is she, by chance, your sister?
I attended St. Kevin’s but left (so did my brothers), Russo family, lived in Bayside; I would have graduated St. Kevin’s in 1970. What year did you graduate and did you know any of us: Brian, Anthony, Kevin or Tmothy Russo?
My grandfather owned the beautiful cobble stone house on Bell Blvd. and 36th Ave. He purchased it as an investment because at the time the #7 subway line was being constructed and the original plan was for the last stop to be at 35th ave and Bell Blvd. However the city ran short of money and the subways last stop became Main street and Roosevelt Avenue. (thank goodness because had it not stopped there the whole neighborhood would have been completely different!)
I knew the younger daughter when I went to Bayside HS (69-70); I remember her telling me that her older sister (I think her name was Nadine) was in Nepal. Loved that house.
Was her name Natalie? Last name beginning with a B? Old memories rumbling around in my brain. I was in the Class of 1968 at BHS and lived on 204 St and 32 Ave
Grew up on 159 St and 33 Ave in the 50’s and 60’s. Sammy Spear owned a music shop at the corner of 159 and Northern Blvd. I remember seeing Art Carney in there once. Great pics of the old neighborhood. Thanks.
OMG ! My brother use to take guitar lessons there and I took accordian lessons there, at Sammy Spears. WOW ! Many years ago.
Where did you live on 159th street and 33rd avenue? I’ve lived in two houses on that street now…
Could the apartment building said to be on 155th St. actually be located on 153St ? Looks like the Oliver Cromwell….the apartment where I grew up. There was a gas station on the corner of 154th and Northern and an auto shop near 155th…don’t remember any apartment and I walked to St. Andrews every day. Thanks for the photos…..great memories!
I know you are correct. It is on 153rd St.and Northern Blvd. I grew up on 153rd St. and used to babysit kids in that building..
Thank you so much for a great trip down memory lane. I was born and raised on 160th St. & Sanford Ave. Walked those streets so many times to visit my friends. It was a great neighborhood to be in as a child and young adult. Hung out at “The Slab” on 162nd St. and Northern Blvd.
Yes I remember Jo Al’s restaurant. I often went there to eat with my mom in the 1960s. Do you remember Salerno’s Pizzeria on 162 street? And what about Ann and Gloria from The Art of Things!
Those were the good old days. I long for them!
Virginia
I remember Salerno’s and the Art of Things very well….ate a lot of pizza there in my second year of college when I was riding my bike between my job and Queens College.
The ‘Slab’. Formerly Muellers Luncheonette, Dee Jay’s.
You will find plenty of pictures of Bayside High,just google Bayside H.S.
on the corner of 39ave and bell,next to bayside theater was Millers drug store where one could buy milk duds for 5 cents,a penny less then the movies…years later we named the bayside theater” the itch”
remember “Big George”?
The old Bell Estate had a stand of bamboo growing on the Bell Blvd side of the property behind that gorgeous tall (to me back then) brick fence. We used to walk to the Bayside movie and use our bus fare to buy a Castleburger and a small orande Crush.
The bamboo was planted as food by Bell, whose home was there, for the Pandas at the ’38-39 World’s Fair in Flushing.
Just before the house was demolished, they sold the contents. Baysiders flocked there to buy Bell family rememberences. Boy were they suckered-in. The Friday night before the doors opened on Saturday, The dealers with plates from CT & NJ were there, unloading their crappola as Bell Family Antiques. Bob McCoy called my attention to it or I would have missed the sale and my finds of the century. There was a cardboard capped tube with something heavy in it but dampness and age had it fused shut. i asked what it was and they didn’t know. so i bought it for $7. I guess it was sold by weight 🙂 It was a brass telescope. Then, under a basement work bench, I noticed a bundle of sticks, tied with cord. I pulled it out and noticed an engraved brass plate on the rosewood. It read, “EH BELL” . I stuck that piece in the middle of the bundle and asked, “How much?” ‘$10.00″. I only had the $7 I had just spent and not enough to cover the $10 so i went across the my friend Lou Slavacek the jeweler next to the movie and borrowed a tenski. It was the rosewood lap desk belonging to Eliza Hoff Bell. One of the as I was told, founders of Swarthmore College or some-such. I guess I should follow that up with google. At any rate, it glued together nicely and we still have it and the telescope. Also a mastodon tooth. It seems they dredged their bones up in LI Sound a hundred years before. I guess Bell was in on it.
BTW, Crocheron Pond was created as the Bell’s ice pond for harvesting ice. Also Brinton Bell gave me the real estate developer’s map for where the 2 stone pillars are next to the stone house where my parents lives out their final years. I also have a ca. 1850 map of the greater Bayside area, showing the land division, farms, names, acreage, bounds etc.. Ft.Totten wasn’t there yet.
I was an altar boy in St Josephats with Pinky Fitzgerald (he shot a hole-in-one on clearviews 3rd, the water hole.) George Monseu, Eddie Faber, Billy Pernod. If I remember correctly? Hardest part of leaving Bayside for the mountains after 43 years, was leaving White Castle.
I remember when the trolley tracks were still visible in places on Bell and the trolley barn was next to Kiddie City.
A Bob McCoy back in the 60s and 70s. Was he very tall, about 6’6″ with long hair? He would have been 40 in ’73.
I grew up in a Tudor apartment house at the corner of 35th Avenue and 167 Street. It looks a lot like the one near Bowne Park in this production. My block has not changed in 50 years and still has some wonderful houses there. I never knew the history of the Tudor one-familes that looked like miniatures of my building.
Three places I would like to see today: the Church on the Hill, which I could see from my dining room window; St George’s Episcopal on Main Street, and the Roosevelt Theater.
My alma mater, St. Andrew Avellino, is having a 60th reunion in 2013. If you have not been found yet, call the school.
i grew up on 154th st. and 32 ave. we lived in a center hall colonial house what a beauty i was married from that house to eddie craig (we both went to St Andrew school) and were married their. he lived on 162nd st and sanford ave. great memories of skating in boune park , going to the roosevelt movie and benny’s for candy, also going skating at the worlds fair i still think of our beautiful home and the great times we had in flushing. my brother is bob stagnitta – i think he knew everyone in flushing we had a home that was open to all our friends. thanks to our parents. dad is gone but mom will celebrate her l00th birthday in june if you remember me or bob write back. fran
Wow…Barbara Laschinger here. Went to st. Andrew’s, graduated 1957. I remember your last name. Live in nj now. Wonderful trip down memory lane.
I lived on 153rd st between 32 and 33 ave. Great area to grow up in. We walked to Bowne Park had fun fishing in park. Nice to see St Andrew Avellino and we survived (laugh) In the day these pictures and beyond we lived in the best of times. Pat Hayes was class mate of mine and i will be at the 60 year reunion with her and about 80 more from the class of 53 from St Andrew. If your interested and graduated in 53 give school a call. The reunion will be in November 2013 .My father was a police officer in 20th and had me in PAL Speed skated in Flushing Meadow and Brooklyn Ice palace. Rode bikes to Ft Totten (? )We did it all
What is/was the abandoned building (church?) right next to All Saints Episcopal Church on 40th Avenue? Thanks.
Just shared this website with my dad, who is enjoying the old pictures. He grew up in Bayside, by the time I came along, we lived on 163rd and 35th ave. I went to PS 32 until 4th grade when we moved, but my siblings went all the up through IS 25. Brother went to Thomas Edison and Sister went to St. Francis Prep.
I grew up on 160th right off of Sanford Avenue. The end of my block was a dead end because the railroad was there. I don’t remember any street called Station Street.
I remember walking down a steep hill to go to Saint Andrew Avellino school. We left there
in 1966. It was a great neighborhood. Kids, families and Bowne Park. My Mom and I would take the bus to Main Street-which, I understand is very different today. I have been trying to remember my exact address. We would go to 162nd to shop. There was an Italian deli, fish store (where my Uncle Danny worked) a small supermarket. I think the bakery was Klaus’s ? bakery. Woolworths was on Northern Blvd. The memories of a much simpler time.
Real nice website! I grew up in Bayside and Flushing in early 60’s. Went to PS 159Q, PS22, Bleeker JHS, and Flushing High for one year till we moved to LI. I remember the RKO Keith theater, Gertz, Kliens, Woolworths near main street Flushing. Warm big pretzels by Kleins/Woolworths, record store near end of main street near RKO. Went to Church on Hill sunday school for years and was confirmed there. Lived on 200th street, 38th ave, and Dorado House on 34th ave. Great memories of Bowne Park and the swings. I remember the Alice Crimmins case and Kitty Genovese murder. But also felt safe as young girls walking around Flushing many years ago!
I grew up in Bayside and also went to PS159 and Blessed Sacrament. I lived on 32nd Ave. they called it Bayside West in those days. My grandparents lived on 204th street. I loved the RKO Keith and shopping in Flushing. Great memories!
I grew up in bayside around springfield blvd near the l.i.e. I went to ps 213, is 74 and cardozo high school, I worked at the old bayside movie theatre in the early mid 90s just a few years before they closed it it was pretty run down then , was sad to hear it closed, memories, I still live in bayside, its a beautiful area
Eddie, I worked at the theater too ! Do you remember the basement ? It had a stage from the 1920’s.
Flushing-Broadway was a great place to grow up. We lived in “The Elbern” on 168th St off Crocheron. Across from us, on Depot Rd, was a baseball field in a vacant lot, where the neighborhood kids congregated for years. Certainly kept most of us out of trouble, with games lasting all day long. Later hung out at the candy store on Crocheron and 169th and worked in most of the businesses there. Mueller’s/DJ’s,Jo-Al’s/Maverick’s on 162nd; Peck’s Depot Grill on 164th; Frank’s Records on 162nd; Harding’s Corner on 169th and 35th; PS32; The Big Scoop on Utopia and Crocheron; The Crocheron Deli . . . all memories for me.
These pictures bring back many, many memories. I was born in Flushing and lived down the street from Bowne Park, our family moved to FLA. when I was 12 years old, i’m still in FLA., but I remember Flushing, Corona, Bayside etc. like it was yesterday. I have memories that won’t be forgotten. Thank you for sharing this website. I love seeing the areas I was from.
did you live across the from the Lamert’s.?
Like so many here I grew up in Flushing in the 50’s-60’s. We lived on 149th St. near 45th Ave. We were blessed. It gets harder and harder to find the things you remember back there. What a pleasure seeing these pictures. Thank you.
Hi Mike, I think I may have known your Mom. Was her name Nancy? I used to play bingo on 32 Ave and Jordan Street all the time. I am only 55 but I am pretty sure that was her name Passaretti. My Father owned Roosevelt Auto Wrecking on Willets Pt Blvd. I am from a big family. Back then everyone knew everyone!!! Good Times
Does anyone remember Bohack on 46th Ave & Utopia Pky? How about Willies Candy store across the street and The utopia 5&10?
I remember them all well, i grew up on 43rd ave and 168th street. what about minnies on 166th and 43rd?
I’m trying to find information about Cabs or Cabbies Bar in Flushing/Bayside. I just found pictures of my parents from the late 40’s. Also, Hacketts was another place the families would celebrate at.
I grew up in Flushing/Bayside in the 50 &60’s. Lived on 206th st. and 36 Ave.until house was relocated to 203 St. and 26th Ave. because of the Throggs Neck Bridge construction. Went to Blessed Sacrament and BHS. Remember “The Shack” on Bell Blvd. Thanks for a trip down memory lane and to see Bayside/Flushing the way is was…..now it is very different and alot of the beautiful historical homes and business are gone forever.
Stopped at the shack ” every Sunday when walking home from mass at sacred Heart church .in the winter it was a stop to warm up with some hot chocolate
I worked at Woolworth’s on Northern Blvd in the 1960s with a little lady named Millie who worked there forever. My older brother worked at Jo-Al’s and my younger brother at the little Bohack’s. Loved the Tudors on 158th Street by the trestle so much that I vowed to get a Tudor when I grew up and I did. Remember Murray’s children’s store? Our mother took us all to get our first pair of shoes there. And we loved seeing the pictures of the St. Andrew’s graduating class in the window of the photography store by the trestle on 162nd St. just south of Northern Blvd. every year. Wonderful memories.
Ah, yes I remember the diminutive “Millie”.
Once my mother sent me to this Woolworth store to get a small box of clothing dye. To make sure I bought the right product my mother sent with me with an empty box of the same product and color she wanted. I found the right dye at Woolworth’s and put back the empty box into my product. I soon was confronted by this little old lady and was accused of shoplifting as I was preparing to pay for the new box. I pull out the old empty from my pocket to show her. The crisis was quickly resolved, but I never forgot that experience. Now I take a written list to the store to avoid any misunderstandings with the clerks.
Kevin, do you have more information about the trolley that ran on Murray Lane?
My grandparents lived near there, and I always wondered why there was this tiny street, city-owned, which ran for so many blocks. The only trolley/bus routes I can find info about are the Q15 and former Q14.
The Honey Bar aka Divers Cove brings the Hatton brothers, Billy Divers and most of all Roger Humel aka YUMMY to mind. When a Yum bartended it was a party with Annie getting drunk Penny and Linda on hand to have a fun night of talking dancing and so on.. Sadly FDNY and so many friends attended his memorial at Robert Moses State Park on the beach in 2012. He died too soon of leukemia with his lady love Lynda at his side. To any and all who remember him recall the suave Sinatra channeling jokester Yummy was. The Bell that still sits behind the register was his. I wish to add it really was despicable that whoever owns the bar did not return it to him. Fellow firefighters donated one they bought to ring respectfully at his memorial on the beach.
Lived in Flushing til we moved to Illinois in 76. That bar was always the Honey Bar. My grandfather and his buddies hung out there, then it was a great place for Hampton Reunions! Thanks for the memories.
I always knew it as the Honey Bar as well
It was always a great place to be with my friends from Flushing High School and from the Catholic School in Bayside which the name I cant think of right now
It was always fun
Blessed Sacrament , does anyone remember Murphy Shoes Northern Blvd and 162nd street ? we lived on 32nd ave and 171 Street.. Dad Built the house in 1938 we finally sold it in 2004, , The Slab, JoAl’s Murrays childrens shop, the Honeybar, how about The Terrace or Club25 Lombardo’s Pizza under the tressel 162nd st?
Great Memories thanks for sharing
GLAD YOU MENTIONED THE SLAB. THE GIRLS FROM ST. VINCENT FERRER & ST. ANDREW’S GRADUATES SPENT A LOT OF TIME THERE AND
WOULD MEET THERE BEFORE GOING TO A PARTY AT
DEE WAGNER’S, JUDY MURPHY OR THE LENNON’S, ETC. ALSO HAVING PIZZA NEXT DOOR . WE WOULD
CHIP IN FOR ONE LARGE PIZZA. GO TO MASS AT ST. ANDREW’S WITH OUR RAINCOATS & THEN HEAD FOR
ROCKAWAY BEACH. GREAT TIMES IN FLUSHING.
I lived across the street from Carvel in the garden apartments. Had many pizzas from the Honey Bar, sodas from the Gilmore’s candy store and untold shakes from Carvel. Had a World Telegram & Sun route with your bro Greg.
Linda,
I worked at Divers Cove from 1996-2001 and Eileen Cullen owns it still. I think the bell is still there if I remember correctly. I am surprised Billy Divers didn’t return it to him after his passing. He sounded like a stand up guy.
Dani
The Honey Bar was owned by Ronnie Lindsay who also owned the terrace Inn on F>L>B and 20 ave,in the 60s.It was sold to Billy Diver (early 70s ,I believe)hence the name “Divers Cove”.It was then sold to the Hatton brothers later.A great place to drink and party with a lot of good people.I moved out of Bayside in 75 but I still miss the familiar closeness and atmosphere we had in those days.Also miss the club 25 every friday night and drinking chug-a-mugs down by the Ft totten jetty.A great place to grow up ……………….. bob A
Attn: Ken Gibleski …I saw your comment dated 3/29/16…I too lived in the garden apartments across from Carvel from 1953 to 2007…went to Bayside high and grad in 1962. I can’t say I’ve heard of you though…my name is Bonnie.
My grandfather & father lived in the neighborhood, My grandfather’s handout was the Peck’s Depot Grill…I wanted to get the Characture/drawing of him off the wall before it closed down, but was too late…..
Leo,
Just wondering was your father or grandfather’s name Leo also? My father was the bowling league secretary for the “Elson Keglers”, which was Peck’s team. Dad took us to Peck’s softball games each Sunday where we were all treated royally by the characters from the Depot. “Harry the Hat”, “Chop-Chop” – and- there was a “Uncle Leo” who used to give us packages of Charms candy. Could it be?
Now this place looks like Chinatown. It’s not like how it used to be.
Agreed, though near Franny lew you still have one or two non asian stores which refuse to conform.
People must have heartattacks when they return to Flushing after being away for 10 or more years.
It’s just not what it used to be.
Thanks for the wonderful memories of Flushing and Bayside. I grew up in Flushing and lived in a 2 story house on 157th street. I attended St. Andrew Avelliano School and church for 4 years. The picture brought back many wonderful memories. My first grade was taught by Sister Jeremiah and she was the sweetest Nun ever. I attended P.S. 162 for 4th and 5th grade, then on to Jr. High school P.S. 158 known as Marie Curie Jr.High, and from there I went on to Francis Lewis High School . I Lived in Bayside then but was on the border of the school districts and was still able to attend Francis Lewis. I had many cousins and friends who attended Bayside High. I remember eating at White Castle on Bell Blvd many many times, the home of the square hamburger with the tiny onions and the burgers were only 5 cents. This
Sister Jeremiah was wonderful!
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Wow how I remember the Divers Cove as well as the Honey Bar which was a block away
Spent many a weekend at both of them back in the late 60;s and early 70.s
Hi Doris,
Yes you are correct Divers Cove was the Honey Bar. I tended bar there from 1996-2001 good times… 🙂
forgive me it is the Honey Bar I was thinking of the one down the block towards 14th Ave
See I spent too much time in that place as a teenager
Today, I went tto thee beachfront with myy children. I found a
sea shell and gave it to my 4 year oold daughter
and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed.
There was a hermit crab inside annd it pinched her ear.
She never wangs to go back! LoL I knjow this is completely
off topic but I had to tel someone!
OMG…you made giggle…five minutes, already!!! I Know it’s been over a year…any issues with beachfront today?
TERRIFIC. I grew up on the corner of 166th st. and 32nd ave. I do go by the area, on occasion, and it still is a lovely solid area.
I will add, somebody brought up the original McGoldrick library on Crocheron Ave. between 162nd and 163rd. street., Well, my parents bought the building, around 1973, and Harvey Travel was born, with my father’s accounting business, on the other half.
THANKS FOR THE WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE.
DIANE HARVEY
Hey Sister,
Glad to see that we both thought to comment ! One last thought: when you are from a community/neighborhood like where we grew up (Flushing/St. Andrews), no matter where you live now: it’s all about the parish that you came from. Good times, good neighbors, great family memories. Oh yeah: never underestimate the power of Carvel (a few blocks from us/by Holy Cross H.S.)
Love, Patti
Diane, we either were in St. Andrew’s School together or the Girl Scout Troop 4-711.
Jeanne, who were your girl scout leaders? Did you meet at Church on the Hill or at Messiah Lutheran by any chance?
Jean Barber I remember you well from PS 32., Now we are in our seventies. Is this possible? Ed Scall
OMG! Getting ready to visit Flushing after being gone for 40 years! Diane Harvey, I know you (or did once upon a time) went to school with your brother Terry and our parents were friends. In fact, way back when,we were kids, you told me there was no Santa Claus! I forgive you! LOL. My Dad is Bob Sheehan, maybe you or your siblings remember him. Anyway, this has been a great trip down memory lane: The McGoldrick Library, Jo-Al’s, Murphy’s Shoe Store and St. Andrews. Heading to Flushing next week — I understand t’s not the same. Sigh. Take Care.
Hello Diane, Just looking through these postings and your 7 year old remark about 32nd Ave caught my eye. I was a friend and classmate of your brother Eddie. I lived on 32nd across from Bowne Park. Left the area about 40 years ago but still have all the great memories from the ’60s and ’70s. Please send my regards to Eddie. Best – Bob
Just had this article forwarded to me.
A great read. My family lived on 166th Street and 32nd Avenue (from approx. 1956 – 1984). St. Andrew’s for all of us (including my father !) and TMLA for high school for me. Good old Q76. My mother had a travel agency (Harvey Travel) for many years across from Bridies/Blu Adriatico/Scaturros. I know that many of my family members had bent an elbow at good old Pecks. my mother told a story of when she & my dad were first married she went to Pecks and there was a local “character” named Chop-Chop.
Patti, thanks for reviving an old memory for me. “Chop-Chop”! My father was the secretary for Peck’s bowling team back in the 50’s-60’s . . . “Chop-Chop” played an important role in his stories about the Depot Grill (along with “Harry The Hat” and of course, Peck himself – or “Uncle Peck”, as us kids knew him.
Hi Ed,
What a wonderful article. My sister in law just forwarded it on to me. Growing up in Flushing was really great.such memories especially of Chop Chop and the Sunday softball games played by thePeck’s Depot Grill team. My Dad was Peck. I remember your dad and you kids. I also think you knew my friends
the Karen and Carl Waiting? It’s nice to reminisce about Flushing.
Hi Janice,
Back in the day, each Sunday, we would sit in the rear of ‘Pecks’, while my father updated the bowling ‘board’ that was up behind the bar. Your dad was always quick to go to the cooler for those little bottles of Coke for us. He was a great guy who was always kind to all the kids. Funny how you remember certain things, huh? When I think of him, I remember him playing softball in tan chinos, rolled up at the bottom. Then walking from the car into Pecks without changing from his cleats, click-clacking across the sidewalk.
Just thought of this, too. There was (another ‘uncle’) Leo, who the kids all looked for at the softball games – because he carried enough Charms candy for all of us. Remember him?
this is a really great trip down memory lane-I didn’t see anyone mention PS 41 (we stopped at “the shack every day) where I went and overlooked Crocheron Park before going to Bayside HS (class of ’55) my Aunt taught nursery school at the O’Conner Park across from the HS in the 40’s and I’m still best friends with a gal I met there-worked as a cashier at the Bayside Movie Theater my graduation summer and walked or biked to White Castle many times- no mention of Schmidts (later Tonges & Carlson) ice cream parlor where we Bayside kids spent every afternoon but Jo-Al’s was my stop when I had to go to the dentist for my braces in that neighborhood-met my husband who went to Flushing HS at Hi-Y at the YMCA and our best man was from the area you concentrated on-so the entire area is so familiar-thanks for the great effort
We lived on 161 st. and 35 ave. These pictures are bringing me back to some great memories. I attended St.Andrews as did my older brother and sisters. You all should google the history of another old landmark that is no longer there…The old Roosevelt theatre on northern blvd. I spent hours upon hours on Saturdays at that old movie house. Of course we loaded up at Halpurns candy store before hand…lol. Thanks for the flashback…
I was born in Parsons Hospital in Flushing in the mid 50’s and moved to Suffolk County in 1981.It was a great place to grow with many things to do. I also lived on 161st between Northern Blvd and 35th and frequently went to the UA Quartet on 160th and Northern Blvd, The RKO,The Prospect and Bayside movie theaters. I attended PS32, JHS 189, and St Andrews for religious instructions. I remember you and your brother Gerry.IT is truly amazing how fast time passes and things change.
So enjoyed this tribute to Flushing and actually knew all the places and characters (and there were many) referred to. We had a good life in Flushing. Just sold our family’s home on 160th between 43rd and 45th Avenues.
JoAl’s now that brings back memories. And who can forget Frank’s Music store which was next door (I think) to Geraci’s shoes (Mrs. Geraci and Tony), which was a ritual before each school year started. Frank was quite the character. Sharp looking guy with silver hair and a $5 bill ring. Was the Chinese restaurant New Republic Gardens? My dad was the original Optometrist office on 162nd between Crocheron Northern (I think it might still be there – afterwards it was Dr. Zonana and then another guy after that) and of course there was Murray, who would go on to own most of the block. The Roosevelt with the tattered velvet seats and the old matron wielding her flashlight and yelling at you to keep your feet off the seat in front of you. Wasn’t Woolworth’s next door to that? 🙂
Grew up with shoes from Geraci’s Poor Mr. Geraci dropped dead of a heart attack, I believe while bowling, in the fifties at a young age. I remember that Mrs. Geraci, who had a daughter, ran the store. Tony eventually bought it. Loved the flouroscope machine which was later deemed carcinogenic. Ed Scall
Going through this thread once again . . . yes, it was the New Republic. Frank Milano, the owner of Frank’s Flushing Records passed away in 2016; the oldest College Point WWII veteran. I remember (vaguely?) his ever-present turtle neck sweaters, pompador, missing pinkie, and dollar bill ‘ring’.
Ah yes, the Itch….was next to Woolworth’s
Kathy Murphy: I remember your shoe store and the family. The slab where I could not go if my older sister were there (haha) Not only Lennie’s Pizza but Rutha’s Pizza too. Remember going to the Roosevelt Movie theatre and wearing our costumes on Halloween My Mom lived on 168th St and 41st Ave until she passed a couple of years ago I even bought my boys their shoes at your store when they were little. What great memories of Flushing and Bayside especially the CLUB 25.
Grew up in Apartment 4A @ 163-09 Crocheron Ave. in 50’s & 60’s. Had 4 sisters, Janice Lynn, Nancy Jean, Sharon Kay and Ellen Sue. We all went to P.S. 32, JHS 189 and Bayside H.S. Went to St. Andrews and made our Communion and Confirmation. Father was Bill, passed away in 1963 and Grandfather was known as Whitey, same apartment building. Next door neighbors were the Heubergers that went to St. Andrews. I worked in Roosevelt as Candy Girl and then Cashier, when Shea opened I hat-checked at Mets and Jets games when not in school. Remember all the places mentioned previous, however all missed Martha’s Deli, Pharmacy on corner of 164th and Crocheron, Svend Kent paint store, Blue Note, Lum’s and how about Horne and Hardart on Northern Blvd. Mays dept. store and Lynn’s, the YMCA, etc. A lot more memories. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Live in Holbrook, LI now.
Hi Carol Ann . . . don’t know if you remember me (I was from “up the hill”) but I remember you from when I hung out with a couple of the guys down on 164th. Wish I could remember more names, but a bunch of us (Tommy/Chrissy Leigh) would challenge the “Rangers” in baseball. There was a small lot there next to the library (before they built the 2-familys – I think I remember a billboard on the site, too- where we’d play, but more often they’d come up to 168th street where we had the field all marked off. Eddie & Diane Daley, Tommy Hickman (later) are a couple of names I remember. What a great area to grow up.
Wow. Names I had forgotten many yrs ago! Lums Ate Horn and Hardart many times.My dad had drug store across street called Ceasers Chemists. I went to St Michaels. Seems like different country there now. Anyboby live in Murray Hill?
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They seem to neglect that Anneliese’s symptoms began nearly five years prior to the release of the film.
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I remember RKO Keith mostly, the most beautiful theatre I’ve ever seen, Wetson’s grand opening, Roosevelt, Pizza Garden, The Gable Inn, Conlen’s Candy Store, the trampolines 203rd st. by Northern Blvd., Adventures Inn and the Blimps.
OMG..My first job was at Wetson’s. My mom had to take to get working papers!
Yes, the RKO was beautiful.
Does anyone remember Diskin’s in Flushing?
purity bakery
crest drugs
sy’s
fruit store next to woolworths
sister jerimemiah, sister Malaia sister Ursula, mrs heddon,sister Carlotta.sister mary Vincent
sister mary mark(don’t get in the way of the last 2)
sister Corrine (another one)
sister Kiernan: a staunch supporter
family night
when the end of 170 st was a vacant lot.
dugan bread on a string
vitality farms
Paul… Purity Bakery was the BEST! Do you remember their round white bread? We called it “bicycle bread”. I worked as a kid at the old A&P next door. Sy & Lil’s was my fave. Would go in after school at St Andrew’s and Lil wouldn’t even have to ask. She’d plop down a vanilla malt in the old metal and paper malt cups. Sister Jeremiah was my 1st grade teacher and Mrs Hedden my 4th. Grew up on 159th and 33rd Ave. Class of ’65. You??
Can anyone tell me how old PS159Q is? Its in Bayside. I cant find any info on history of school but continue to look. I went there as a child-1-6th grade.
Does anyone remember the candy store on 32nd ave and 200st?
The candy store was named “Murrays”It was in the middle of the block,on 32 ave between 200 and 201 sts
I loved Murray’s candy store and spent most of the my life in there. The penny candy, the snowballs, the fountain sodas, trading cards, comic books, the punks and sparklers around the fourth of July. They had everything a kid could want. I do miss those days.
Hi ps 159 is still there my grand kids go there it’s a great school so is the neighborhood I moved here to bayside in 1975 from Astoria and I’m not leaving. The candy store on 200 $ 32 was Murrays. 2 delis bordering it
Hope hat helps
Peter
I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s on Utopia between 33rd and 35th. One of the photos of the tudors was my friend’s house. I remember there being a State Street Market on 35th and 170th street. I barely remember the Roosevelt, but I remember the UA Quartet and Murray’s clothing store across the street.
I remember when the McGoldrick branch was on Crocheron Ave. There was a dentist /dental surgeon around there who extracted some of my teeth. There was also the dining furniture store attached to the gas station on Franny Lew and Utopia.
I remember when McDonalds on Franny Lew and Willets Point Blvd was Dairy Maid. There was a strip of stores on Willets Point including the Clearview Pharmacy, Bakery, and Deli — all gone.
I live in rural PA now. I drove through the old neighborhood this past summer, and I can’t believe how much smaller everything is now — people literally living on top of each other.
The long traffic mall at the junction of Murray Street and Murray Lane was designated as Travis Triangle. It honors local Civil War veteran Ira Underhill Travis (1839-1921), who fought in the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment also known as Colonel Elmer Ellsworth’s Zouaves. In July 1861, Travis received a bullet wound in his shoulder in the First Battle of Manassas.
The bullet remained lodged in his shoulder for the rest of his life. Travis was buried at Flushing Cemetery.
Hi folks, I,m doing some research of my mothers younger days, she is now deceased. She, Lenora McEntee, and her closest friend Lucille Mason worked as chamber maids at a hotel located in Bayside and probably on Northern Blvd. I’m looking for the name of that hotel and if possible the name of the owners. It was owned by a Jewish family, one of the sons was the manager. Any information or assistance will be appreciated.
Hi just saw your post
I grew up in /I’m 62 now/ i Bayside My sister still lives there. The only hotel that can think of is the Adria Hotel & conference center Northern &221 Street Bayside. . . Or Anchor Inn on Northern &218St ?
I lived at 34-20 150 st in Flushing, during the 70’s and 80’s, and 90’s. The Amber Lantern, Monaham Ford were down the block from me. Have the most fondest memories growing up there in between my mother shooting and killing my father, getting arrested for 3/4 of a million dollars in alleged stolen property, arrested for alleged kidnapping plot, almost dying in a motorcycle accident at the Murry Hill, and getting hit by a bus at Lee Miles transmission shop, across from the old bowling alley that used to be there. Sure due miss Flushing. I’m finishing my book about growing up there as I speak, AKA Michael. Probably going to self publish. Great stories about Flushing.
I grew up in Bayside in the 1940s. My family lived on 201 St and 42 Ave. PS 130 was on one end of the block and the LIRR tracks on the other. After school and on weekends my friends and I enjoyed playing stickball, fast pitching, softball, basketball and handball in the school yard. Those were the years when a Victory Garden was planted in the huge green space adjacent to the school yard. On many a Saturday afternoon my sister and I or my friends and I would go to the movies. Those were the years before TV. There was the Bayside Theatre on Bell Blvd in Bayside and three others in Flushing. To go to the theatres we always took the bus on Northern Blvd. If we were going to the Bayside Theatre we would oftentimes go first to the White Castle shown in the clip!
Memories of 29th. Ave:
Cohens Candy Store at 161st and a door or two down the home-goods store whose name I can’t remember. Kramer’s Pharmacy at 163rd and a couple of doors down Save-Mor with Bill the bald headed manager. Around the block on 163rd was a row of dilapidated stores including the TV repair place I got my first decent stereo and who came to house to fix our always breaking 19″ Philco B/W TV with a hanger for the antenna. At the corner of 160th (?) was a bar I can’t remember the name of either other than being told never to go inside. 😉
Was the bar. The velvet cup?
The Browne bar the TV repair shop was Speedy Tv repair owners name was Steve, Max and Betty Cohen owned the candy store
Kodak’s was the name of the hardware store.
I believe at one time the bar was called the Bowne Park Bar and Grill. I too was warned never to go in there. Very disappointing when I finally went in. I believe the Velvet Cup was on 162 or 163 st just passed Northern Blvd whichever of those streets crossed Northern Blvd maybe 164th? They used to have live entertainment there.
In the early to mid 50s halfway between the bar and Cohen’s was a grocery store. We always called it Master John’s after the owner.
The supermarket up by 163rd street was originally a Bohacks or something like that. It was part of one of the chains back then. It was bought out fixed up and renamed Sav Mor . The liquor store next to Cohen’s was also named Kovacs but unrelated to the hardware store. I grew up working at Cohen’s sweeping out the store and putting the papers together early Sunday morning. In college I worked in the liquor store for 2-3 years.
Kovak’s not Kodak’s. Die spell check die!
Bayside Riding Academy
Does anyone remember the Bayside Riding Academy? I took horseback riding lessons there from 1965 to 1968.. My Dad would drive me every Sunday from our home in Queens Village. If I remember correctly we would cross the Clearview Expressway overpass then turn right onto one of the sidestreets. It was on a corner, a kind of a ramshackle-looking place, but it was heaven to me. In fact sometimes I would muck out the stalls in exchange for lessons. I was 11-years’ old at the time. You sure couldn’t get away with that these days. The trail rides would take you down the streets and through parts of Cunningham Park (or was it Kissena Park)? Those years meant so much to me that after high school I began working at Belmont Racetrack, eventually retiring from the racing industry as a trainer in the mid 2000s.
Yes Mo I remember Bayside Stables very well too.It was run by an old Irishman named Pat, don’t remember his last name. I started riding lessons in the summer of 65 ,I was 10. A friend of my mother’s a Mr Peter Miller paid for ten lesson , and took me there too.It instilled a love of riding to this day. I do believe it was Cunningham park we rode in for the trail rides. Lesson were 10$ and so were the trail rides. That was a lot in those days. When I got older I did a lot of odd jobs so I could ride when I wanted to. If I was short a few bucks I would walk up and down Northern Boulevard and collect soda bottles and cans and cash them in for the money. I lived on 37ave right off of utopia Parkway ,in those English Tudor apartments and I would walk from Utopia parkway to northern then up northern to the stables. It was quite a hike. But I was 15 and strong and thought nothing of it. But I still have fond memories of that place. I left ny in June of 74 ,I was 18 and went to Pa with my then boyfriend now my husband of 43 years. I’m sure there are others out there ,who have their own riding stories to tell.
I’ve been looking for some pic of those horse stables forever. They were on the corner of 204th street and 46th ave. I lived very close and loved seeing those horses head down the service road of Clearview expressway
towards Cunningham park. If anyone has any pics I would love to see them. please post. Maybe to the Bayside Facebook page. Thanks
I can remember early 70’s always outside playing stickball or football on 161st! Sewer was second base!! Today”s kids have play dates and no one goes out.Times have sure changed! I only came home for lunch and dinner!
I GREW UP ON 33RD AVE AND 170TH STREET IN THE 50s-70’s. Does anyone remember the name of the bar/club that was next to the library on francis lewis blvd in the early 70’s. IT was after the dry cleaners and utopia towards whitestone?
I believe it was the club 25………bob
Now a bayside resident thank you all for memories you made this neighborhood what it is today
Peter
Anyone remember the Keenan? Detective Redmond Keenan’s family. I went to college with Barbara Jean in the early 80’s, and I’d love to connect up with her….
I grew up on 156th Street between 33rd and 35th Avenue (State Street). Moved to a new apartment building on 150th Street and 35th Avenue called the “Greenbriar,” or something like that. Went to St. Andrew’s between 1953 and 1961 and Holy Cross HS from 1961 through 1965, before leaving for college in Pittsburgh, PA. I recognize many of the stores and locales referred to throughout this walk down Memory Lane. Two things I didn’t read about. Before three new houses were built on my block at the crest of the hill midway up between the avenues, there was an empty lot there where older kids used to hang out and smoke cigarettes. The lot was woodsy and in the middle there was a huge tree…I think it may have been one of the last elm trees, which everybody referred to as the “Chink Tree.” How it got that name, I do not know, but I do not think it was a politically incorrect reference. I think it may have been because there were hundreds of initials scrawled into the tree with penknives…and even some switch blades. It was a meeting spot for teenagers during summer nights and little kids played there during the day using the tree as home base for “Hide and Go Seek.” I thought I knew all of the hangout places and bars in the Flushing/Bayside area in the mid-60s, and although I knew many, there are a lot of places I never knew existed when reading through all of these posts. Great stuff. Murray Hill, Broadway, and Auburndale in Flushing were great places to grow up in back then. I was back to Flushing a few years ago and was stunned to see how it has changed. 162nd Street on the south side of Northern Blvd. was always a bustling street with all the taverns and shops. It looked like a ghost town the day I was there with many boarded up store fronts. Not all change is good.
Wow Sam, my name is Rocky Dorrian,remember you as a good friend of my brother Jimmy. He passed last Jan.and is sorely missed. Remember servinging you a cocktail in Peck’s year ago.Good memories.
What a great site! Brings back many memories. I grew up in Bayside Hills, 47 Avenue and 215 Street. On Bell Boulevard was Bohack’s and later a Key Food. There were 2 pharmacies on Bell and 48th Ave — Katz Pharmacy and Estrin Drugs. Estrin’s had 2 giant liquid-filled glass jars hanging in the window; that was a tradition for pharmacies. There was also Smith’s Bakery, and across Bell there was Ella’s luncheonnette. Posner Hardware. The original library was way up on Bell Boulevard, 2 storefronts. Then they opened the modern library on Northern off Bell in 1964. The JHS 158 orchestra played for the opening (I played bass). I remember Kiddy City and Adventurers Inn. On Bell Blvd I remember DeRolfs bookstore where my mom got me my first “real book” after I had mastered the Little Golden Books. Remember McElroy’s pub in the 60s and 70s? My dad owned the Rocky Hill Auto School and maybe he taught you to drive. I went to PS 31, JHS 158, and Bayside HS.
Jane: All your places ring a bell with me. I lived in Bayside from 1950-63 and attended the same schools. Lived at the corner of 46th Avenue and 215th street (where our meals were occasionally interrupted by a fender-bender at the intersection. One of our neighbors across the street was Mrs. Burke, the sister of Roaring Twenties Mayor Jimmy Walker. When she moved she gave my mother a lot of frames, because she was an artist. What was in the frames was a lot of Walker memorabilia (a few of which I still have, sixty years later: an autographed picture of Sgt. York to the Mayor, etc.). I remember Bayside author Alma Power-Waters making an annual appearance at P. S. 31–and then, when students were asked who was their favorite author, a lot of them would say “Alma Power-Waters.” That became a life lesson for me, as I grew up to write books, and would always make a point of accepting speaking invitations–hoping to wind up as someone’s favorite author! The other Bayside author of my youth was Howard R. Driggs who wrote many books on western history that I gobbled up in the 1950s, which were the age of Television westerns. I still have an autographed copy of “The Old West Speaks.” Ellen Posner of the Hardware family was my classmate all the way up through school, and my sister (and then, the next year, our upstairs neighbor, Alison Greenwald) had the high honor of being Princess of Kiddy City in he fifties. I have lived in Florida for more than 40 years now, but still run into people here from Bayside. Love the website!
Anybody remember richie rich. Record store in bayside in the late 1970’s
I always wondered what happened to him and that store. Did it move?
Lost in history are the bowling establishments I enjoyed in from 1960 – 1990. There gone without a memory! Places like Bridge Lanes, Whitestone..Bayside lanes, Bay Terrace shopping center, Victory Lanes, 32ave. off Frances lewis blvd. etc.
Mapleways Bowling in Flushing also! I did forget the name of the guy who owned it though.
If Mapleways Bowling was located on the second story of a building along Northern Blvd., we bowled there often in the early 1970s. We called it Deadwood for some reason that I can’t recall.
I lived in Bayside from 1979 through 1993. Are you referring to the bowling alley that was on Bell Blvd., just north of 48th Ave? It was near C-Town. I used to bowl there and play video games but I forgot what it was called.
Grew up in Bayside, 58th Ave and 205th Street aka service road of Clearview Expwy. Went to PS 162, JHS 74 and FLHS.Watched the expressway dug until finished. Several of the homes on 204th were dug up and relocated to the area by Easthampton Blvd. Completed 1963 and watched the JFK motorcade. Also witnessed the tractor trailer truck accident around the turn from the LIE to Clearview. It was filled with potatoes, which we gathered and sold in bags for days on the service road.I still visit Joe’s Sicilian Bakery on 48th Ave.
Howard, I lived on 24th Avenue btwn Utopia and 201st, My father built our house on 24th, 1st house east (up the hill from Utopia) of all the other houses that were the same, we were on a 1.5 plot, but there is a pic my father took of the Clearview Expwy being excavated at about the same time he built our hose, 1948 to 1950.
Jim, did you once live on 150th St between Roosevelt Ave andNorthern Blvd?
Bob Mulvihill.
I saw 2001: A Space Odessey at that movie theater on Bell Blvd.!!!
I grew up on 220th St. & 61st Ave., right across from the Oakland JC.
1st graduating class from Cardozo HS in May 1970
Griffin Avenue would be after the Griffin Farm. My cousin Charles Easton, Jr, was the son of Lilly May Griffin and Charles W. Sr, of Bayside. As documented in the Bayside Historical Society publication, “Charles Easton’s Memories”.
In that oral history publication, Easton says of the location of the Griffin Farm:
“You know where the railroad bridge is, Bayside Boulevard. There was a farmhouse there and my grandfather [Jacob Isaac Griffin, Jr] farmed that from there up to Bell Avenue and my mother was born there. There was a road alongside (the only road, there wasn’t Crocheron or any of that at the time), there was a road right along the railroad up to town. And when I was a boy, I remember the road being there because I used to go along it. And it came through where the freight station was, right up to the freight yard and he farmed all of that to Montauk Avenue, where the Catholic Church is on 38th Avenue (Warburton Avenue). He farmed to there and up to Bell Boulevard.”
Grew up on 41st Avenue and 154th Street. Moved out 26 years ago. Still do a Google Earth look at the neighborhood and all the Korean signage, etc. Amazing that nearly all the buildings are the same, but their occupants and business use has changed so much. I go back to 1949 when the Murray Hill shopping Center was the Murray restate, and there was a Mrs. Murray. Kingsland revolutionary-era house was in its original spot then. Remember it being moved to the Bowne House/Weeping Willow (the tree died) area.
And Siegal’s Candy store on 149th Place and 41st Avenue. Recently wrote a blog posting that remembers the candy store.
Anyone remember Bridies bar at Northern BLVD and 162? Great Bartenders with Mike and Paul! Spent many a night there had great times with great people!
I believe that bar was owned by friends of my dad. I babysat their kids before they went back to Ireland. I also think my uncle refused to give his wallet to a robber in there back in the day. Very long time ago…..back in the 60’s. I was till going to St. Andrews then.
I, too, remember Mike & Paul at Bridie’s. I worked at Flushing Savings bank right up the boulevard and spent many weekend evenings there.
Does anyone remember the name of the bar on the corner of main st. & Roosevelt ave. They had great pastrami sandwiches and pickles, as well as fantastic hot dogs.
The bar on roosevelt ave and ain s was c alled “the main tavern”
149 Pl n Ash Ave – PS 22 – gorgeous old victorian home – gone now. wrote a book including references to Murray Hill, and a related film trailer teaser
Hi Susan. I currently live on 149th place between Sanford and Ash. What is the name of your book? I would love to read it. I have lived in Flushing since 1994 and am always fascinated by all the old history and charm of what Flushing once was.
Can someone tell me where Barbara’s Lounge was located & when did it close down ?
Barbara’s Lounge was a typical Queens bar on Northern, just east of the drug store on Bowne. Had to have closed sometime in the 70s, early 80s. Barbara owned it with a cop I think, who more than once gave her a black eye.
steven i had mr daly in 5th grade and mrs tully in 6th also i graduated in 1960 then went to 189 i dont remember you being in my class but i sure remember you and your brother who lived across the street from me on 156 st.
You’re mentioning teachers I had at P.S. 22 when it was the brick building heated by coal. In the 50s I would have had Mr. Daly, my first male teacher for 5th grade, but my
father took me out to go to St. Andrew’s Greek school in Beechusrt. Just before I started at P.S. 22 they went K-8. There were was an archway entrance for BOYS and one for GIRLS. But when I sent it was co-ed. Teachers that I can remember before I was taken out were Mrs. Katzman for 2nd grade and Mrs. Cornell for 3rd, and Mrs. McDermott for 4th. The principal was Mrs. Tobin.
I lived on Murray St., between Bayside Ave. and 32nd Ave. went to P.S. 22 in the late 40s. Mrs Tobin was the principal. The teachers I remember were Mrs. Peterson kindergarten, Mrs Kazner 1st grade, Mrs Villaverde 5th and 7th grades, Mr. Kerchief, Mrs Degrasse and Mrs. Smith. What wonderful teachers they were ! They gave us a good, sound education. I wish I could have thanked them.
John — I remember you! We were in the same classes from 4th through 6th grades. I even remember that you were elected to some
office — Treasurer? PRESIDENT?? And here’s another thing: The teacher (Mrs.Tully?) ‘made’ us make campaign posters for you
(which I was delighted to do), and I even remember the slogan I put on it.
Howdya like that! 🙂
Does anyone know any of the history of the architect who built 7 homes on 41st Avenue between Murray Street and 154th Street? It was Ted Leigh, or Ted Lay my father always mentioned. The stretch of homes was built in 1923 and abutted the LIRR tracks. We lived at 153-14/16 41st Avenue. All the home are still there, in pretty much the same style they were built in. Prior to the 20s there was nothing there but woods. The homes directly across the street were there before ours. They were all true two-family homes with two entrances.
John. I went to PS 22 about the same time. Mrs. Tobin was the principal, Mrs. Peterson kindergarten, Mrs Kastner 1sr grade, Mrs Villaverde 5th and 7th grade, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Degrasse 8th grade. Got a sound education there. I wish I could thank them..
Mark Hogan
Wow, memory lane, lol, I lived on 24th Ave btwn Utopia and 201st St, my dad, a retired Lt from NYPD built the house we grew up in, I am the 7th of 8 kids, we all went to St Lukes in Whitestone, I graduated form BHS in ’74, played Football ther for Neal Nelson who just passed away 6 months ago, and had great teammates.. . Joe and Arnie’s Candy store on the corner of 22nd and Utopia, there was a local grocery in that same block of stores that became a Bohacks’ and then a Keyfood I believe, we kids use to sign a notebook at the register for milk and bread and eggs and such and my dad would go down during the week and pay the bill! also a Chineese laundry. a barber shop “Joe’s” also. Riviera Pizza also on Utopia closer to Throgs Neck bridge. I had a Paper Route from 67 to 70 or so for the Star Journal which then became the LI Press. I got on here while searching for the the names of the Bars on Bell back in the 70’s, the Old Forge, Buzz n Mac’s, (where I worked on and off for 2 years), Macalroys, the Assembly, Patricks Pub in Little Neck, etc etc… Still have High School friends in Bayside; this is a great Thread.
Almost got kidnapped walking down 158th St towards the trestle one day coming home from school. Ran like heck when they stopped and tried to get me to the car with candy. Funny, even with that, I ran that neighborhood day and night, and always felt safe.
I lived in apt building on 164th st and Crocheron Ave. I went to P.S. 32, J.H.S. 189 and Bayside H. S. Lived there 1950 – 1970’s. Remember the LIRR station, Woolworth’s.
Hannah Krone dance school, Chinese restaurant on Northern Blvd, movie theater, beautiful Tudor homes along 35th avenue, was called Doctor’s Road.
Hung out on main street , Prospect theater and RKO Keiths, GREAT TIMES IN THE 70S- Went to John Bowne -our block was Holly Ave.
Great memories of good old Flushing. lived on 161st street between 35th ave and Northern blvd. My first job was at Murray’s, then worked across the street at the Reception House. Worked for E&l Texaco in Bayside and Flushing locations, gas was 20 cents a gallon, hard to believe. Went to St. Andrews, remembering teen club playing basketball and the fire in the main church. Jo Als was a great stop with friends for ice cream or a lime-ricky. Got all my records at Frank’s music. My Father got all his paint at Svend Kent. I believe there is Still is a paint store in that location. My grandfather owned the RKO bar and restaurant between the RKO movie theater and crown auto parts. I can not find any pictures of his restaurant in Flushing’s history. After retirement from there, my grandfather went to work for Joe DiMaggio restaurant on Northern blvd and 149th Street. Played hockey in my backyard and at bowne park when the pond froze, and got my hockey gear at Joe DiMaggio sporting goods from Lou and Connie,which was next to the restaurant. Did anybody go sledding down 35th ave from 168th street to 163rd during the 60’s or at Kisenna golf course? How many rode around the bike track at Kisenna park? Great town and great times, sad to see what happened to it. Went to Shea stadium for both Mets and Jets games, met many players from both teams.
Anyone knows of a website I can look back at old Flushing businesses during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, please let me know.
I grew up on 196th st 100 feet from Station Road between Station Road and 42nd Avenue. I went to PS 130 from 1959 to 1965 and then Marie Curie JHS, (PS 158). I only attended Bayside High for 3 months then moved to Long Island. I attended Saint Kevins Church. Does anyone remember hearing about a man that died in Saint Kevin’s Church on Christmas day in 1965 ? That was my father. I feel I grew up in such a beautiful neighborhood in Queens. I used to play on the tracks at the Auburndale train station. There are probably many railroad train crushed penny’s of mine up there.
Playing on tracks with a third rail and speeding trains isn’t recommended.
Dear Kevin, just bought THE BOOK and have been perusing all info on the e-segment here regarding Flushing to Bayside. Grew up in the St. Kevin’s Auburndale section since ’61. I saw in your article that Broadway-Flushing and Auburndale were developed between 1900 and 1910 by three real estate companies, but I’m really interested to know the builder/architect/developer of our Rodman Tudor style row houses on 193rd St and 46th Ave. built in 1935, and the website features pictures of some of these row/connected houses. Need some history on these Rodman Tudors, please. Thank you.