When I invade Flatbush, or the neighborhoods south and east of it, sometimes my thoughts turn to Brooklyn’s seemingly logical, but really very odd, street nomenclature system. While Manhattan’s grid and numbering are well documented (the grid was formulated in 1811) — the Bronx’ street numbering is a continuation of Manhattan’s, since the two were once the same borough — and the Queens Topographical Bureau undertook a complete street numbering system beginning in 1915, adopting the Philadelphia system of numbered streets beginning at the East River and proceeding east and south — Brooklyn’s many various street naming systems seemingly remain undocumented.
That’s a shame, since Brooklyn boasts several interesting tableaux. The oldest neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn carry mostly properly named streets, though Williamsburg has kept the North & South numbered system it began with, but dropped its other numbers that began on the East River and continuing east (Kent Avenue is no longer First Street, Wythe Avenue replaced Second Street, and so on). A numbered system begins in southern Park Slope and continues to the Narrows, with east-west streets numbered 1 to 101 and north-south avenues from 1st to 28th.
Meanwhile, there are runs of East and West numbered streets in southern Brooklyn, running from north to south (a strange arrangement) on either side of either McDonald Avenue or an intermediate street called West Street. These extend as far east as Canarsie and as far west as Coney Island.
We’re not done with numbered streets yet. Brooklyn has entire mini-networks of numbered streets in Bensonhurst (Bay 7th through 53rd); Brighton Beach (Brighton 1st through 15th, and innumerable Places, Walks and Terraces arrayed thereon); Beach 37th through 51st (in the mysterious walled community of Sea Gate at the tip of Norton’s Point); Paerdegat 1st through 15th, along Paerdegat Basin in Canarsie; Flatlands 1st through 10th, on the east side of Canarsie along Spring Creek; Plumb 1st through 3rd, in Gerritsen Beach; and I’m probably forgetting a few.
And then we come to the letters. Consider this: while Avenues A and B can be found in East Flatbush, between Ralph Avenue and Rockaway Parkway in general, Avenue C is way over west in Kensington, between Dahill Road and Coney Island Avenue. The reason for this is rather obscure — I’m not sure if a single cartographer or organization of same first assigned lettered avenues that run east-west from south of Prospect Park to Sheepshead Bay. I do know that at one time, Avenues C, D, E, F once ran from Dahilll Road all the way east to Canarsie. However, the developers of those mini-neighborhoods south of Prospect Park such as Beverley Square, Ditmas Park, Midwood Park, etc. wanted their street names to have that stuffy patina of respectability that only British-sounding names could impart. Thus, instead of Avenue A in Prospect Park South, you got Albemarle Road; Avenue B became Beverley; C became both Cortelyou and Clarendon; D became Dorchester; E, oddly, became Foster Avenue, after a 19th Century settler, James Foster; and G became Glenwood. South of that, things settled down, and Avenue H carries that name its entire run, as do I, J, K et al. (Unlike Washington, DC, which skips J, X, Y and Z Streets, Brooklyn uses the entire alphabet.)
Sorry. If you’re a map geek, you like this stuff, but if you’re 95% of the population, you’re asleep by now. A couple of years ago, I was drunkenly lurching around the Beverley Square area and grabbed some shots of old Avenue C, which became Cortelyou Road in honor of the longtime landholding Cortelyou family, the descendants of Jacques Cortelyou, a surveyor and tutor who arrived from Utrecht, Holland in the 1650s. I followed some months later by photographing the entire region south of Prospect Park, but that will take several FNY posts to get through. I’ll just show you a few grabs from Cortelyou, the main shopping and restaurant row south of Prospect Park; it’s gained quite the cachet in recent years, but still, in many ways, has the patina of the old regular Brooklyn neighborhood it purported to be before the cognoscenti descended therein. Have I rattled on enough?
At Flatbush and Cortelyou is the remains of the old Rialto Theatre, constructed in 1916 and closed, as a theatre, in 1977.
Greenfield, a drugstore, occupies the SW corner of Cortelyou Road and East 16th Street, and has for many a decade — ghost wall dog ads emblazoning it as “Greenfield Chemists” can be seen on the brick wall facing the open cut of the Brighton Line (B, Q). In Britain, drugstores are called “chemists” and you see that usage here, occasionally.
Engine 281, Ladder 147, 1210 Cortelyou. Some time ago, signs demarcating various neighborhood locales were installed on Cortelyou Road light posts: public schools, libraries, schools. These have survived in various conditions.
Vox Pop was a popular neighborhood gathering place on Cortelyou and Stratford Roads. Billing itself as “Books, Coffee, Democracy” it was opened as a coffeehouse, bookstore and internet cafe in 2004 by Sander Hicks, and gained a loyal following among the locals; in 2009 it has had its problems, failing several health inspections and was closed for nonpayment of taxes in November.
The T.B. Ackerson liquor store’s name honors Thomas Benton Ackerson, the founder and developer of Fiske Terrace, a planned community originated in the early 1900s. As it happens, Ackerman’s real estate office on Avenue H survives today as the station house for the Avenue H station on the Brighton Line subway. Amazingly, T.B. Ackerson’s son Ward lived until 1998, enough time to see the myriads of changes, ups and downs, that happened in this Brooklyn neighborhood that his dad in large part was responsible. More on Ackerson can be found at Paul Matus’ Third Rail.
Back in the early 20th Century, even apartment buildings and multifamily buildings were built with considerable flourishes; the arched windows on the top floor are a nice touch at Cortelyou and East 16th. I’m not sure about the purpose behind the stepped arrangement at Marlborough: is it to catch the sun or maximize the shade? In the days without air conditioning, probably the latter.
Not your usual supermarket.
In a private food co-op, only members may shop at the store. In order to become a member, someone pays a small initiation fee and usually invests a set amount of money in the food co-op to purchase a share. Some food co-ops allow members to purchase multiple shares, or require an annual fee, which causes long term members of the food co-op to own more shares. In some cases, members also join work crews, contributing a few hours of work to the running of the co-op. The frequency and duration of work shifts varies from co-op to co-op. wisegeek
There are more traditional options in the area, of course; and a vintage awning sign can be found on one of them, Bill’s Discount. I’m told THIS particular co-op allowed nonmembers to buy, and has since moved to a corner location.
Cortelyou Road is a station on the Brighton Line (in 2009, the B and Q trains). The Brighton, which runs in an open cut and an embankment from Prospect Park all the way down to Sheepshead Bay (and then on a conventional el to Coney Island) is the mass transit successor to the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway. Built in 1877, it was a rural country railroad in spots, built, as were other Brooklyn subways that lead to Coney Island, to lead to grand hotels on the ocean’s edge.
In the 1980s and 1990s, improvements were made to some of the stations that added observation windows directly over the tracks and new station ID plaques featuring Times Roman typefont — its only use in the NYC subway system.
Now, about Cortelyou Road’s pronunciation. When I first saw the name Cortelyou in the Little Red Book street guide as a kid, I immediately pronounced it COR-telyou, emphasis first syllable. Years later I encountered people who live in the area and to a person, they pronounce it Cor-TELL-you, emphasis second syllable. Cor-TELL-you makes no sense to me — the emphasis should logically be on the first syllable. Let’s make it happen.
12/20/09
118 comments
Grew up at 391 Rugby Road between Cortelyou and Dorchester Roads and lived there from 1961 to 1989. It is the only home I routinely dream of.
The house went through two fires, in 1980 and 1984. My brother almost lost his life in 1984 due to the fire.
I went to Holy Innocents RC Church and Grammar School. We had some beloved pastors there, including Msgr Foley and Msgr. Hume.
It was a great neighborhood and we spent hours playing manhunt, ring-o-leevio, army, stickball, wiffleball, touch football, and stoop ball as kids there. Some played cops and robbers later on. But with real cops!
Thanks for sharing this Kevin!
Are you the Denis McGowan of St Francis College fame?
Yes, Kevin, I am one and the same. You were my editor on the Voice at SFC back in the day! Best wishes and greetings to you!
My grandparents raised their children at 400 Stratford Road . We kids loved going there for family gatherings and Sunday dinners. Sometimes, my sister and I would spend a week with grandma in the summer. I remember riding the bus to Coney Island. Cherished memories. The house has been torn down and replaced, although the home to the left remains.
Please let me know if Msgr Hume can be reached?
Hi-I went to holy Innocents School 1947-1951 when we moved to Manhasset. We lived at 525 E. 21St and my grandmother at 700 Ocean Ave. I read somewhere online that there was a Holy Innocents School 100th reunion on Oct 20, 2014. Church could give me no information-can anybody on this site?
On Facebook, there is a group for Holy Innocents graduates, and indeed there was such a reunion and several classes have similar events. I know there was a Margaret Mary TRUMP in my class in Holy Innocents in late 50’s and 60’s, and we all at Holy Innocents used to get hard Christmas Candy in a small box, that said compliments of the Trump Box factory that was somewhere along the Brooklyn Queens expressway. Can anyone
confirm if she was his sister? And BTW my parents and my 3 siblings lived at 700 Ocean Ave, as well!
Hi I grew up on Dorchester Rd between Flatbush & 21st I went to PS 139 and later Holy Innocents for a while. Please would love to hear more about the old place
Thanks for all Elliot
380 Rugby Road. In the 50’s. It was a fine apartment house, built over stores… I remember when I was a young girl, polishing the brass mailboxes in the entryway…
As a kid I lived at 415 E 17th st till I was about 10. I remember DePalma’s grocery store next to the subway station. I remember the gum machines on the subway platform. My dad belonged to the Knickerbocker tennis club several blocks away down 17th street past the RC church and school. We went there many times. I always heard Cortelyou pronounced corTELyou. Electric buses used to run there. Our laundry was picked up by Pilgrim Laundry in dark green almost silent electric trucks. The driver (Dick – funny what you remember) gave me a short ride in one once.
The CorTEL you pronunciation doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. When I first saw the word in print, I said KORT’lyou. But nobody over there says it like that.
Similarly to me it makes more sense to say JOR-a-lemon, instead of Jor AHL- amon.
Forgot to mention; we moved from 17th st in 1952.
This is my neighborhood…many of those stores are gone now like Bill’s discount store,the hardware store to name a few…Bill’s discount is now a corner deli and the hardware store is a sushi restaurant..cortelyou has benches now on the strip as well as newly planted trees and of new mini bars and small restaurants..I grew up all around this area,this neighborhood definitely made me who I am today..and I’m still in the neighborhood today and have no plans of leaving
i used to live here when i was younger and never forgot it .One day i was feeling nostalgic and tried to google map my old address and i couldnt find it.Im currently not in ny but when i head back im looking for it.I sure hope they didnt tear it down or something.i lived the best and worst part of my life in that neighborhood
As for the pronounciation of Cortelyou, I’ve never met anyone — except the stray Manhattan-based news reporter — who pronounces it any way BUT CorTELLyou. ( My wife grew up at Westminster and Cortelyou, across from the fire station.)
When in Rome. 😉
And thank you for this wonderful site!
Artie
I pronounce it that way but it just doesn’t make sense to me.
But the alma mater of PS 139 was “Hail to the name of CORtellyou, home of truth and light.”
Hi – I am of the Cortelyou lineage and we all pronounce our surname with the accent on the first syllable. Hope that helps!
Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cortelyou for more info.
Cheers! Cathy
And that’s the way that makes the most sense to me.
I grew up in Flatbush Argyle Road and Holy Innocents, in the late 40’s until our family went highbrow and moved to the country -Levittown in 1951. I was an altar boy at Holy Innocents. Never any inappropriate contact there btw unless you consider getting belted for not knowing the Latin for Mass.
Bklyn was safe, relatively quiet, and you could let your kids walk to scHool as we did. 60 yrs later I am dad of eight and grandfather of 12.. I married my college sweetheart and am still a working lawyer with a challenging interesting practice. Does anyone remember the chestnut fights?
Pat Monaghan
I “went” to PS 139 through the 6 th grade. In 1945 when we moved to San Francisco I don’t think we had alma mater. When I recently mapped the walk to school from 811 CorTELyou Road I was surprised how short it was, but then so were my legs. I have no memory of ever being brought to school. Today I guess A first grader making that walk would be put in protective custody!
As a child, I lived at 349 Marlborough Road, two buildings down from Cortelyou Road, from 1953 until 1959. It was a busy and fascinating neighborhood.
Cortelyou is one of the early Brooklyn names. I don’t know whether the Road was named after a particular member of the family. Jacques Cortelyou was an early settler of New Amsterdam, and was the Surveyor General of the colony. He was of French Huguenot background, and his children married into Dutch families. One of the old Cortelyou family farms was in Flatbush.
Everyone in the neighborhood pronounced the street name as Kor-TELL-you, but I do know that members of the Cortelyou family pronounce the name KORT-elyou.
George B. Cortelyou was a prominent government official (presidential private secretary, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and Secretary of the Treasury) under Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. He was standing with President McKinley when he was shot. Years ago I knew an old lady who lived next door to the Cortelyous on Bancroft Place in DC, and she remembered seeing Theodore Roosevelt arrive many times for visits to Mr. Cortelyou. She, too, pronounced the name KORT-elyou.
I vote that both pronunciations are sanctioned by usage and are proper.
I grew up not too far away n Flatbush (Holy Cross Boys School). Went to (the late) Brooklyn Prep. I was 30 already when my parents bought a house on the corner of E17th and Glenwood, which is still in the family.
Growing up, I always pronounced it CorTELyou. But then, we Brooklynites pronounced the name of my street winTHROP, whereas those who live in the town of that name in Massachusetts say WINthrop.
The battery-powered Pilgrim Laundry trucks were still much in evidence on my street (Winthrop Street between Bedford and Flatbush) at least into the 1950’s.
It was thoughts of those that brought me to this site via Google: Here in Geneva (Switzerland) they have various pint-sized electric powered vehicles that whirr around the streets, sidewalks, and park paths. The tiny four-wheeled vans service the ubiquitous hanging trashbags, deliver mail, and make deliveries. As one passed me this evening, it called to mind the all-but-silent full-sized electric-powered Pilgrim Laundry vans that could be seen almost any day in my part of 1950’s Flatbush — as well as the chain-drive coal trucks of the same era?
I did get a short ride along 17th St in one of the green Pilgrim Laundry electric trucks as a kid in the 40’s. I don’t recall any chain-drive coal trucks but then we lived in an apartment building (415 E. 17th St). I see the building is still there on Google Earth. I remember the big gray water trucks that washed the streets, sorta like a big hippo. And my mom hanging cloths out to dry on the apartment building roof.
Pilgrim Laundry came to our apartment every Monday.
I lived at 328 Marlborough Road, the 5th house up on the block. I left in 1967 when I joined the miliary. A recent drive through the block showed a lot of changes. We used to hang out on the stoops of the 3 apartment house on the corner. Great childhood.
Did you go to Holy Innocents?
Bill’s discount in the 1950’s and early 1960’s was originally named STAN’S variety and as kids from Murray Kaufman’s (principal) PS 139 usdd to run through Stan’s almost constantly endlessly pestering our parents for the latest toy or trinket or something larger like a Davy Crockett “coon skin” co or some Elvis Presley craze product. Unlike several such stores more towards Coney Island Avenue, Stan never sold fireworks under the counter. But still, Stan’s was like second home to a lot of us in that era. Jeffrey Smith. 212 532 2753
Loved reading all the comments about my old neighborhood. My sister Ann and our parents lived at 209 E.16th and Ann and I attended and graduated from Holy Innocents.I remember almost every teacher and classmate though I have never lived near to the old neighbor4hood. My wife Gwen and I have four grown and successful children(Four different professions).We live in a beautiful small town in Southeastern Colorado and are very active seniors. I remember D’palmas and Melkonians and Snows hardware and Greenfields and many other businesses on Cortelyou Rd.
– Just seeing this now in june 2019 – I also lived on that dead end street at 236 e 16th and Billy McLoughlin was a good friend of mine.
We went to Holy Innocents school together. He’d pass by my house on his way to Cortelyou road and he’d yell up to me to ask if I wanted a “Delicia Bar” from the candy store- I always did!
I think his phone # was Buckminister 7 5352 – crazy to remember that, I know – but there it is! Your mention of D’palmas brought out a story I wrote about it once- If you have 10 minutes to read it, I think you’ll identify with it.
I’d like to hear rom you. If you email, I’m at – tomwoodward56@aol.com.
D’palmas – t was a snowy Saturday morning and I was 11 years old. I was riding my bike and headed for D’Palma’s fruit and vegetable store on Cortelyou road in Brooklyn.
As I arrived, I spotted a wallet on the street, in the snow, in front of the small shop.
When I looked into the wallet, I saw $27 and a picture of a boy who looked to be in his early teens, although I didn’t recognize him.
Back in those days, $27 was a serious amount of money, and although I was excited that there wasn’t any other identification in the wallet, I knew I had to at least try to find the owner.
So, I put the wallet and money in my pocket, but I took the picture out of it
I figured I’d show the picture to Mrs. D’Palma when I went into her store. Maybe she’d recognize him.
Now, I genuinely liked the gentle Mrs. D’Palma, and I knew the feeling was mutual.
I had always added up the prices in my head as she put our groceries into a bag, and slowly wrote the amounts down on a second grocery bag.
No quick computer check out in those days, just basic arithmetic.
I corrected her addition only once because she forgot to carry a number, and under-charged us by a lot.
She thanked, and hugged me for that correction, and we became friends.
After that session, she never gave me a price until I gave her mine.
I enjoyed listening to Mrs. D’s Italian accent. She added an “A” to almost every word she spoke. She would often repeat. “Anda – Whata- Elsea?”
That Saturday, when I showed her the picture, she looked at it, got more than a little excited, and exclaimed: “That’s-a, my Angie! Angelo, my boy!
Where-a you get-a this picture? Is only one I have-a!”
This was going to be exciting! Obviously, Mrs. D didn’t know she lost her wallet.
I took the wallet out of my pocket, handed it to her and said –
“The picture was inside this wallet, out on the street in front of your store, in the snow.”
She tapped herself on her forehead and kept her hand there as she looked into the wallet and squealed in a disbelieving tone –
“Oh my God. My-a wallet! It was-a out on the street? In-a the snow?
My wallet, my picture Angie, and-a my money, too? All on-a the street?”
She seemed to stare at it in disbelief for a few moments.
Then her hands began to shake a bit and I got a little nervous about that.
But she quickly calmed herself down and took one of the two $10 bills out of the wallet and handed it to me saying. “This is-a so important to me, what-a you did. You have-a no idea. You must-a take this as my thank you.”
I told her I was happy I found her wallet, but there is no way I could take any money for simply giving her what belonged to her.
It was reward enough just to see her so happy.
She hugged me and said “Thank-a you – thank-a you! – OK – now, what-a you want-a for today?”
I noticed that as she put each of the items I asked for into a bag, she didn’t do what she usually did.
This time she didn’t write the price of each item on another grocery bag as she went along filling the order.
And, after she put the fruits and vegetables into the bag, she put a huge bunch of grapes in another bag, handed both to me and said,
“I know you-a love the grapes! You watch-a them all the time, I see you – I know whata you like! You take. You tell your Momma, no charge-a today.”
I was so excited to get home and tell Mom and Pop the great news.
Pop Corrigan, my Mom’s Dad, lived in the apartment house with us.
He would definitely be excited! Pop and I adored each other.
My Dad was rarely home because he worked two full time jobs in the city.
Mom had been back and forth in and out of the hospital for years struggling with Cancer, and the doctor bills had him in trouble.
Pop staying with us was a Godsend.
He was a lot of fun, very bright and literate, always quoting Shakespeare, or at least his versions of the Bard.
And, he had this great Irish accent. Put on a little I suspected.
However, when I arrived home with the good news, my Mother would have none of it.
She was a highly principled and tough Irish woman, and she exclaimed-
“Of course, you wouldn’t take any money from Mrs. DiPalma, for finding her wallet!
And of course we can’t take any charity just because you did the right thing.
You get on your bike and go back to that store and pay her for all these items.
You know how to add them up. You once told her when she didn’t charge us enough!
I tried to explain to my Mother that I could only add the items up after I knew the prices of them.
But Pop interceded.
While Mom could be dogmatic, Pop was philosophical.
“No Margaret,” he said, you’re wrong on this one.
Your Son is good with his numbers, and a fine lad.
He was only doing what you and his Father taught him to do.
You gave him wonderful advice –
You told him to always do the right thing.
And now you’re barking at him for doing just that.
You two have raised this boy to be honorable and to understand that good deeds have a ripple effect.
Good things happen to the person performing them and others are moved to repeat them.
You’re always saying that yourself!
And now, Mrs. D’palma is doing exactly that in the only manner she knows how.
Allow her to do her good deed!
and then pass the story along to other people of what she and your son did.
You tell me that your friend Mrs. Berg tells you that she agrees with you about the ripple effect of good deeds.
And you tell me that she explained to you that Jewish tradition calls a good deed a mitzvah!
and that mitzvahs multiply themselves.
Again, they cause ripples.
tell her about Mrs. Dipalma’s and your son’s mitzvahs.
But first, you call Mrs. Dipalma, to thank her for her generous gesture.
You do that, Margaret – this very minute!”
Mom’s reaction shocked me.
She admitted she had been terribly mistaken, and that Pop, of course, was exactly right.
And she immediately called Mrs. DiPalmer to thank her.
This completely surprised and amazed Pop!
While she was on the phone, Pop whispered to me –
“Tommy, my boy, can you believe this?
Did you hear your Mother actually, admit she was wrong?
There’s the first ripple, right there!
When’s the last time that happened?
Now, there’s your first ripple, right there!
A damn Irish miracle is what it was!”
And then he added,
“Good deeds cause this kinda thing ya know!
You’ll discover the good in people more and more as you continue to do good deeds yourself, me lad.”
Best advice ever.
Late with this, had computer problems.
Read it to my 12 year old niece Sadie, who said, “Great story U Tommy, but you should have called it, “The Grocery Bag!” She was right..
Edit
De
t was a snowy Saturday morning and I was 11 years old. I was riding my bike and headed for DiPalma’s fruit and vegetable store on Cortelyou road in Brooklyn.
As I arrived, I spotted a wallet on the street, in the snow, in front of the small shop.
When I looked into the wallet, I saw $27 and a picture of a boy who looked to be in his early teens, although I didn’t recognize him.
Back in those days, $27 was a serious amount of money, and although I was excited that there wasn’t any other identification in the wallet, I knew I had to at least try to find the owner.
So, I put the wallet and money in my pocket, but I took the picture out of it
I figured I’d show the picture to Mrs. DiPalma when I went into her store. Maybe she’d recognize him.
Now, I genuinely liked the gentle Mrs. DiPalma, and I knew the feeling was mutual.
I had always added up the prices in my head as she put our groceries into a bag, and slowly wrote the amounts down on a second grocery bag.
No quick computer check out in those days, just basic arithmetic.
I corrected her addition only once because she forgot to carry a number, and under-charged us by a lot.
She thanked, and hugged me for that correction, and we became friends.
After that session, she never gave me a price until I gave her mine.
I enjoyed listening to Mrs. D’s Italian accent. She added an “A” to almost every word she spoke. She would often repeat. “Anda – Whata- Elsea?”
That Saturday, when I showed her the picture, she looked at it, got more than a little excited, and exclaimed: “That’s-a, my Angie! Angelo, my boy!
Where-a you get-a this picture? Is only one I have-a!”
This was going to be exciting! Obviously, Mrs. D didn’t know she lost her wallet.
I took the wallet out of my pocket, handed it to her and said –
“The picture was inside this wallet, out on the street in front of your store, in the snow.”
She tapped herself on her forehead and kept her hand there as she looked into the wallet and squealed in a disbelieving tone –
“Oh my God. My-a wallet! It was-a out on the street? In-a the snow?
My wallet, my picture Angie, and-a my money, too? All on-a the street?”
She seemed to stare at it in disbelief for a few moments.
Then her hands began to shake a bit and I got a little nervous about that.
But she quickly calmed herself down and took one of the two $10 bills out of the wallet and handed it to me saying. “This is-a so important to me, what-a you did. You have-a no idea. You must-a take this as my thank you.”
I told her I was happy I found her wallet, but there is no way I could take any money for simply giving her what belonged to her.
It was reward enough just to see her so happy.
She hugged me and said “Thank-a you – thank-a you! – OK – now, what-a you want-a for today?”
I noticed that as she put each of the items I asked for into a bag, she didn’t do what she usually did.
This time she didn’t write the price of each item on another grocery bag as she went along filling the order.
And, after she put the fruits and vegetables into the bag, she put a huge bunch of grapes in another bag, handed both to me and said,
“I know you-a love the grapes! You watch-a them all the time, I see you – I know whata you like! You take. You tell your Momma, no charge-a today.”
I was so excited to get home and tell Mom and Pop the great news.
Pop Corrigan, my Mom’s Dad, lived in the apartment house with us.
He would definitely be excited! Pop and I adored each other.
My Dad was rarely home because he worked two full time jobs in the city.
Mom had been back and forth in and out of the hospital for years struggling with Cancer, and the doctor bills had him in trouble.
Pop staying with us was a Godsend.
He was a lot of fun, very bright and literate, always quoting Shakespeare, or at least his versions of the Bard.
And, he had this great Irish accent. Put on a little I suspected.
However, when I arrived home with the good news, my Mother would have none of it.
She was a highly principled and tough Irish woman, and she exclaimed-
“Of course, you wouldn’t take any money from Mrs. DiPalma, for finding her wallet!
And of course we can’t take any charity because you did the right thing.
You get on your bike and back to that store and pay her for all these items.
You know how to add them up. You told her when she didn’t charge us enough!
I tried to explain to my Mother that I could only add the items up after I knew the prices of them.
But Pop interceded.
While Mom could be dogmatic, Pop was philosophical.
“No Margaret,” he said, “You’re wrong on this one.
Your Son is good with his numbers, and a fine lad.
He was only doing what you and his Father taught him to do.
You gave him wonderful advice –
To do the right thing.
And now you’re barking at him for it.
You two have raised this boy to be honorable and to understand that good deeds have a ripple effect.
Good things happen to the person performing them and others are moved to repeat them.
You’re always saying that yourself!
And now, Mrs. Dipalma is doing exactly that in the only manner she knows how.
Allow her to do her good deed!
And then pass the story along to other people of what she and your son did.
You tell me that your friend Mrs. Berg tells you that she agrees with you about the ripple effect of good deeds.
And you tell me that she explained to you that Jewish tradition calls a good deed a mitzvah!
And that mitzvahs multiply themselves.
Again, they cause ripples.
Tell her about Mrs. Dipalma’s and your son’s mitzvahs.”
But first, you call Mrs. Dipalma, to thank her for her generous gesture.
You do that, Margaret – this very minute!
And then let us both tell your son how he did the right thing.”
Mom’s reaction shocked me.
She admitted she had been terribly mistaken, and that Pop, of course, was exactly right.
And she immediately called Mrs. DiPalmer to thank her.
This completely surprised and amazed Pop and me.
While she was on the phone, Pop whispered to me –
“Tommy, my boy, can you believe this?
Did you hear your Mother actually, admit she was wrong?
When’s the last time that happened?
Now, there’s your first ripple, right there!
A damn Irish miracle is what it was!”
And then he added,
“Good deeds cause this kinda thing ya know!
You’ll discover the good in people more and more as you continue to do good deeds yourself, me lad.”
Best advice ever.
Late with this, had computer problems.
Read it to my 12 year old niece Sadie, who said, “Great story U Tommy, but you should have called it, “The Grocery Bag!” She was right..
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Oh how well I remember D’Palma’s. He was so good to my mom always pointing her toward the best stuff. Well worth the walk from Argyle Rd. There was an old Italian gal, Mary, and her husband who ran a sparsely inventoried grocery next to the firehouse. She had an unpleasant habit of removing a few slices of bread presumably for the two of them when loaves started appearing in resealable packages.
Best neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn is he best neighborhood. It is comprised of unique sections each with its own personality but We are all BROOKLYN. I always say I’m from the great State of Brooklyn. If anyone tries to tell yo it is part of NYC fuggedaboutit. If nothing else Brooklyn is a State of mind. There will never again be anything like it.
Cortelyou road was a place very dear to my heart. I grew up on 400 marlborough road. This place now has a strange dichotomy of restaurants, bars, cornerstores, bistros and still my favorite pizzaria san remos. Nothing beats a neighborhood that was entrenched with diversity but now I have to fathom the truth of a gentrified place with yuppies and hipsters rising the rent. The change is different but it gives a very different essence to what Cortelyou used to be. A place I will always call home but the truth is, it is not the same anymore.
Lived at 309 E 19 St from 1945 to 1960 — PS 139 – Walt Whitman JHS – On Cortelyou Rd. – Benny’s Candy Store – Campanelli’s Deli – De Palma’s – Bill’s Bicycle Shop – Stan’s Hobby Ctr. – Charlie & Walter’s Luncheonette – Goldleaf Supermarket – The gas station on the corner of Cortelyou Rd & E 16th St – The neighborhood bar’s on thr corner’s of E 16th st and one on the corner of Marlborough Rd. — and on and on — it was a great place to grow up.
Dennis, I do remember you. I used to hang with the late Pete Carrera and Gene MaArdle and a bunch of others on Rugby Road. I believe your father was a police lieutenant. I am sorry to hear about the fires you sustained and I do hope all is well and that you have been happy and successful in your life.
I lived on East 16th between Ditmas and Dorchester from 1960 until 1976, my mom continued living there until the mid 1990’s. As a kid I worked at De Palma’s, I remember Dr. Greenfield, Almac Hardware, Grillo’s seafood, going trick or treating at Ebinger’s house on East 19th St. Attended PS 139, Ditmas JHS and Erasmus Hall. Great neighborhood, beautiful homes!
hi John , does your middle name begin with a “G” and your birthday is in April ?
Hi john
Don’t know if you remember me I was friends with Anita and carol my name is Nadine Rosenfeld. We were your neighbors to the left. Hope all your family is well
Hi, can you please add me to this group since I went to Holy Innocents Grammar School from 1964 through 1971 and grew up in the area. I want to post our 100th Anniversary School Reunion Details on this page. Many of your members will appreciate being invited and many will want to share in our common historical background.
Lived on Regent Pl. and Flatbush, 18th & Cortelyou, and Ocean and Cortelyou from 1947 to 1979.
Went to Holy Innocents from 1952 until graduation in 1960 (and PS 139 in kindergarten).
I have been back in recent weeks. The buildings are mostly the same, but of course the feel is different. Will be back on October 11 for HI reunion and Sept 27 for St. Augustine high school reunion. Lost memories come back when you return to the scene of the crime. The best place in the world to grow up, especially if you were poor.
Cheers.
My family has always pronounced it with the emphasis on the first syllable.
I lived on the corner of E 4th St and Cortelyou from 1939 to the mid 60’s when I moved to Washington, DC. Went to St Rose Grammar school and Brooklyn Prep (61). I can positively say that the correct pronunciation is Cor-TELL-you.
I did go to college at La Salle College in Philly where I met a member of the Cortelyou family who insisted that the name was COR-telyou. Just goes to show that even the Cortelyou family couldn’t pronounce their family name properly.
What I miss most from those days were the corner candy stores and Jewish bakeries with their fresh baked seeded rye bread.
I lived on east.4th street (540) just north of Cortelyou from 1944-51. Attended P.S. 179 on Ave. C and east 2nd/3rd streets. There was a candy store on our corner in the 4 story apartment building. I rode on the Cortelyou bus many times and remember the intersection at Coney Island Ave. where the sharp turn used to knock loose the bus’s electric shafts off the overhead wires and the driver had to get out and re-track them.
I lived at 333 & 329 Stratford Road (between Cortelyou Rd and Beverly Rd) from 1960 (birth) until mid-1994. I have many fond memories of the neighborhood, and it will always have a special place in my heart.
How are ya John?
Harvey from Flatbush medical “I hear bells!”
Hi Kevin, things are good by me, how are things with you? Nice job on your website.
We lived at 409 East 21st from 1956 to 1969, near the corner of Cortelyou. We always called it cor-TELL-you, and I think the subway conductors used the same pronunciation when the train pulled into the Cortelyou stop. Fond memories of Claude’s Pizza Hut at Cortelyou and Flatbush and the great Loew’s Kings.
I lived at 425 Marlborough Rd. from 1968 to 1972 just off Dorchester Rd. The BMT ran down below from our house. The local stopped at Cortelyou Rd. and the D train was the express which stopped at Newkirk Ave. going to Brighton Beach.
I remember Sal’s Pizza on Cortelyou and I worked at a Candy Store on Cortelyou off Stratford Rd.
I also remember Benny’s candy store on Church Ave off Stratford Rd. I remember one time asking Benny how much a Chocolate Sundae was and he said to me ” For anybody else half a dollar, for you 50 cents” Benny and Bessie were wonderful people.
A great place to hang out and the penny candy, the Egg Cream’s were best.
Re. pronunciation — my mom and various relatives pronounced it as “caw-TELL-u”.
This is my second reply to this article. I’m LC, a few comments up. Anyway, I grew up on East 17th btwn Beverley & Albemarle. I still live here today. Cortelyou has changed so much over the last 15 years. I remember Beverley and Cortelyou train stations being run down in the late 80s and 90s (84 baby). Church avenue was worse! But I once read that those two stations(bev & cor) are the two closest to each other in the entire system. Also,the dead end on albemarle Rd used to have an overpass going across the train trench to the other side where it continues to Coney Island avenue. Remnants of the stairs still remain. I don’t remember it but being the history junkie I am,I asked some old heads from my block who confirmed it with me. What I also discovered while walking my dog back there one day was another overpass with a shed looking structure connecting over the tracks to the back of those houses on buckingham road (the block of the oriental style orange/green painted house). You’ll only be able to locate it if you walk inside that parking lot on the dead end (there’s two-the one closer to the tracks). Once you walk in you’ll get a full view of the knickerbocker tennis courts from the back! And on the side is that extra overpass,with stairs on the side leading to the tracks! I was in awe when I saw them! Now as far as the shed overpass, I’m convinced that the local raccoons that occupy the neighborhood now,dwell in that shed because I’ve seen them go in and out of it before! You should definitely come check it out. You can even email me and I’ll show you the location myself. There might be some interesting history on those overpasses you’d like to know. In either case,sorry for the long post but I love this site. Keep it up.
Lou
LC: Around 1948 I was a 6-year-old kid and I remember the Knickerbocker Club with its green gate where that dead-end is and a walkway over the subway tracks. My dad used to play tennis at the club. There was a big club house.
Mr. Cook- wow that’s amazing! Any other cool stories you wouldn’t mind sharing? I’d love to hear them .
Hung out at Perks luncheonette on 15th street and Cortelyou rd. Anyone remember the Friday night dances at Holy Innocents? From there many of us then met at Perks. Some of the names….John O’Connor…Don and Jim Herold…..Eileen Mason….Nancy Tolin…many more.
do not remember going to perks do remember going to 1600 club andhaving a couple o f brews
Wow, Perks, My sister Barbara Calahan and Jim Herold (her husband) used to talk me there when I was a baby back in late 1950’s
Tom – Now I see that you do have a sister Barbara – I was right! And the other connection is the fact that Donny Herold was my buddy! His Mom took us to an Opera once! I cant believe this site. I have two other comments in here, sent to people I’ve had no connection with since my Mom died and we moved from E 16th and Beverly to Oceanside in 1952! Amazing!
Someone else among these good folks mentioned chestnut fights – I wrote a story about them and Reminisce published it along with pictures of my brother and me holding chestnuts on a string. This site is like time travel………
Tom Woodward
My name is Eddie Dieffenbach I grew up on Flatbush ave. and Cortelyou Rd.,went to P.S.139 knew a lot of people from H.I.S. went to after school center at 139 played basketball there with John Canderlaria.
Hi Eddie do you miss Henry’s Jimmy
Eddie, You had a brother Richie and Little man ?
If so you & I go way back…how you doing!!
tom woodward
Tom Callahan- did you have a sister named Barbara? If so, she was beautiful!
I have a lengthy response above about D’palmas fruit store on Cortelyou road near the school………
Eddie did you ever marry Evelyn?
Hi, I too grew up on Cortelyou Road. Does anyone remember the name of the kosher deli that was on the Corner of the firehouse on Cortelyou Road? And if anyone is interested, we have a Facebook page called “Old School Cortelyou In Flatbush”, and we reminisce about the old days. If anyone who is on Facebook would like to see, or join the group, here is the link. Just copy, and paste into a browser, or do a search in the Facebook app for “Old School Cortelyou In Flatbush”. Link –>> https://m.facebook.com/groups/368369351883?ref=bookmarks
Our family lived on Argyle between Dorchester and Ditmas from mid 50s to 2010. Fond memories of Petersons deli, Saturday morning trips to Ebingers or walking to Flatbush for the matinee horror movies!
Anyone remember the name of the pharmacy on the corner of Argyle and Cortelyou while it was independent in 60’s. (?? Padnus ???).
Thanks for the memories!!
You are correct! Padnis…. very pleasant man.
Yes, Nat Padnis a very pleasant man indeed. For a time he permitted me to bicycle around the neighborhood making deliveries for him.
My Grandfather was a descendant of two Dutch families, his name was Van Wyck Cortelyou so both of his names have controversial pronounciations. We pronounce it CORtelyou, and Van Wyke- not Van Wick. He used to write letters to newspapers if TV or radio announcers didn’t pronounce it right. He was the 11th generation descended from Jacques Cortelyou who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1652. I am the 13th generation.
Cor- tell – you. Lived there 1974-2008. Lived on Coney Island ave and on Cortelyou later on ocean parkway and Cortelyou.
Lived in Brooklyn from 1968-1982. 910 Ocean Avenue between Ditmas and Dorchester. Attended PS 139 and Ditmas JHS. Love this thread! We always said CorTELLyou. In third or fourth grade we were allowed to leave school grounds and eat pizza at one of the 3 pizza places on Cortelyou….3 Brothers, San Remo, can’t remember the other one. 2 slices and a Coke for a buck. Ivy Zeller.
Riviera was the third pizzeria, directly opposite 139.
My great grandmother and great grandfather (Haviland/Otten) were married & had their reception at the Cortelyou Club in 1925. Does anyone know if this building is still standing? I am researching my family history & love looking at old pictures & imaging how life must have been back then.
I lived at 410 East 17th off Cortelyou Rd. I worked for Morris and Max the Kosher butchers who were right on Cortelyou. Morris Lew and his family owned the tailor shop on he corner and the guy from the A and P was always delivering food on his bike. Nice block in the 60s.
When I was growing up on Argyle we use to go to a butcher shop on Cortelyou ( always pronounced cort- ul-you) I think it was Kahanas ( sorry about spelling.)
From Argyle Rd it was about a block past the BMT station and across Cortelyou.
Does this sound familiar to any one?
I lived at 1414 Cortelyou Rd. and then we moved to 332 East 16th Street. My father was the one who put up the flagpole in front of 332 East 16th Street. We lived in the areas from the early 50th to the early 70’s. It was a great area to grow up in.
You were Doris Ann’s friend
i lived on tennis court in the 50s. the knickerbocker club was down the street. no jews allowed. (we tried.) after the apartment building went up, you could still see the clubhouse from the bridge over the train tracks. last i visited there were still courts behind the apartment building and a cinderblock club house – and a diverse membership. what we lost in architecture we gained in goodness.
I grew up on East 18th Street, just south of Albermarle Road. I lived there from 1947 to 1966. I remember the tennis club and recall my folks
telling me Knickerbocker Tennis Club was anti-semitic….I went to PS 139 from 1951 – 58. What nostalgia.. . .
Harvey
the rove inn and hurley’s where you would stop for a beer coming of the train.sam and helen and son ira put the sunday news together sat nite for the waiting crowd who knew each other and gossiped and bonded and saw each other at church the next day.snows hardware,waldells hobby shop,hi sams,riviera pizza(what happened to dom ?)campenelli’s dipalma’s met food bohacks saverissi.dept of sanitation collecing leaves in the fall,piling them up against the overpass on albermarle rd and leaving the 10 foot deep piles for us to jump off the tressele into.2 hand touch and soft ball in 139 schoolyard.drinking beer on the corner and growing up safe
does ANYONE remember a record store on the corner of Flatbush and Cortelyou?????
Sure, Ambose’s Music Shop.
You talking about Ambrose’s?
Hello everyone,
Just enjoying all the nostalgia. Thought I would jump in here. I was just thinking about that record store the other day. I forgot the name of it but I remember a father and son owned it. Im pretty sure the sons name was Albert. That might have been the name of the record store, not sure. Does any one remember the bar my uncle owned and father used to bar tend at, Hurleys. Im Vinny Hurley Junior. Any good stories. Please good memories only, lol
Wasn’t Hurley’s on Cortelyou just before Coney IslandAvenue?
Goober?
Hi Ditmas Park colleagues (Where did that come from?)
I lived at 399 Stratford Road between CorTELLyou Rd and Dorchester from 1940 to 1947. Went to 139 during the week and religious instruction at Holy Innocents Wed afternoon and Sunday. In those days it was Fr White and Sister Mary Sebastian with the clicker. It was grand – my block was the best (aka my world.) Did a year at Erasmus before moving to LI.in 1948. Compared to outsiders view of “Brooklyn” it was like the suburbs with Prospect Park and the Rialto, Kings, Marlborough, and Kenmore plus at an art theater next to Erasmus. Everyone on my block did the right thing – Italian grocer and barber, Greek restaurant, German butcher and beer garden, Jewish tailor and candy store and a Chinese laundry. On Saturday the firemen put the engines on the street, let the kids put on helmets and shined the brass. My mother also went to PS 139 on CorTELLyou Rd. The domographics had changed but Ebingers was still there. On Jewish holidays all the remaining kids were put into the assembly in a study hall until the holidays were over. After the war the 52/20 returning GIs played basketball in the school yard. Etc etc
In my days the corner of Westminster and Cortelyou was Kleins – an ice cream parlor throughout the war.
Here’s an interesting tidbit. On E 7th St between Avenue C and Cor-TELL-you there’s an anomaly that put addresses 524 and 526 out of order.
My family lived at 238 Argyle between Beverly and Cortelyou from 1954, when I was born, until 2005, when my mother finally sold the house. My father had died two years earlier. My sister and I went to P.S. 139.
It has been almost a year since your post but I just found this site. I knew you as “Butchie” and if you would like to get in touch [as a former resident of Argyle Road; and student of PS 139] please advise.
The nostalgia is incredible!!! I lived on E 18th Street between Albermarle and Beverly Roads…I went to PS 139 between Sept 1951 and June 1958. I remember when we had a change in administration when I was in either first or second grade…Mr. Dickler and Mr. Pincus (principal and assistant principal) left and Mr. Kaufman and Mr. Litt replaced them respectively. I can recall two candy stores on Cortelyou Road, Bernie’s and another a block or so away called Carmen’s (I think it was also called Fernandez’s)
Harv
Does anyone remember Carl Hart’s Bicycle Shop? All the neighborhood kids bought their bikes there and had our bikes fixed there in the 60’s. He left sometime around the end of the 60’s, I think. I’m not sure what the store became, but it was on the Corner of Cortelyou(Cor-TELL-You) and either Rugby or Argyle I think.
I remember the place. Bought my first 10 speed there around ‘68. Also knew Carl’s son Herbie. He’d occasionally get his dad’s Lincoln Continental, with the suicide doors, and load up about 10 of us to cruise the neighborhood. We had to ante up 25-50 cents each for gas, which was about 25 cents a gallon then.
Yes, my Mom took me for a walk to Harts Bicycle shop to surprise me with a black English racer for my birthday! Beautiful bike. Lots of rides to Prospect Park.
It really is a wonderful neighborhood and it was a great place to grow up. I was back in the neighborhood in October 2001 when I was serving on the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force after September 11th, and actually got to meet the family who currently live in my home of 391 Rugby Road, between Caw-TELL-you and Dorchester Roads. Bennett and Gretchen Fisher and their daughters could not have been nicer and invited me into what was my former home where I lived on the second floor and attic with my family from March 1961 to October 1989. It was truly amazing to see the inside of my old home once again after 12 years and I was nearly overcome with emotion seeing where I spent so many happy times with my beloved family, who are all gone now, sad to say. They shocked me even more by saying they knew all about me from my old childhood friend and neighbor from down the block, Eugene McArdle, and that I STILL received mail there after all those years. I was very pleasantly surprised years later to find they were even the subject of a New York Times article all about their purchase and renovation of the house, called “Happenstance House,” March 13, 2011, nytimes.com/2011/03/13/realestate/13Habitats-ditmas-park.html and I wound up being mentioned for my visit.
Anyone remember Lily’s candy store and luncheonette on the corner of Caw-TELLyou Road and Marlborough Road for egg creams and milk shakes? Waldell’s Toy Store on the corner of Rugby Road and Caw-TELL-you Road? Dominick and Nancy’s great Riviera Pizza on Caw-TELL-you between Rugby and Argyle Roads? Alexander’s Brooklyn Pub (what used to be Hurley’s Bar) on the corner of Caw-TELL-you Road and Marlborough Road? The Sgt. Joyce Kilmer Post No. 55 of the American Legion on Marlborough Road, where many a party was held celebrating anniversaries and birthdays? Ebinger’s Bakery, next to the Riviera Pizza? Great blackout layer cake!
Hope all is well with my former Cathedral/SFC class mate.
AMBROSE RECORDS. I left many $$$$ there
Me too. It’s also where I got the weekly WABC hits lists.
I remember you Peter. You lived next to my aunt The Gershwin’s. I remember when you brother Johnny was killed in Nam and I actually looked up his name on The Wall when it first opened. I thought he was a good guy back then. Hope all is well with you, Billy
I lived at 385 Argyle Road, Argyle and Cortelyou. My memories of the stores on Cortelyou heading toward Flatbush Ave:
Gold Leaf Supermarket, Bernie;s candy store, Snow’s hardware, Ebingers, Waldell’s hobby store I believe on the corner of Westminster Rd., a camera shop whose name eludes me, Fernandy’s candy store, pop Franklin’s dark little candy store next to the subway station (throw a dime in the cigar box and take your paper) Greenfield’s drugs, my dad’s small watchmaker’s shop, and the large TV repair shop on the corner (run by Artie and Dick; Artie and Mrs. Artie were good family friends for several decades.) Across the street was a typical old Brooklyn Chinese restaurant. Some 30 years here in southern Nevada one of my quests was to find a typical old Brooklyn style Chinese restaurant. When I ultimately found one and took the family there (late 70s to the 80’s) my dad smiled for one of the few times in his life, looked at me with a knowing expression and proclaimed “this is a Cortelyou Rd. place….”. I remember the Chinese laundry on Argyle Rd. just off Cortelyou. Bernie Schwartz owner of the aforementioned candy store around the corner used to teach the Chinese gentleman’s son (Harry and Edmund) several aspects of Yiddish culture: when the kids would enter his candy store Bernie would yell out “when do we light the candles” whereupon the kids would yell “Shabbos”. Next to the laundry on the corner of Corner of Argyle and Cortelyou and to the left of the firehouse was Nat Padnis’ drug store from where I would be dispatched to delivering medication to neighborhood residents which usually earned me 2 bits a pop. Oh the memories…….
I also remember the electric busses (trackless trolleys) which ran on Cortelyou Rd. in front of Dad’s store.
Wasn’t striving for anonymity. Rick Newman here, same guy who remembers Ambrose Records and the electric busses.
We lived on Marlborough Rd. between Church and Caton Aves. in the late ’40s. They built an elementary school across the street from our house a couple of years after we left. I went to P.S.139 for grades 1-6 then moved to Long Island (Roslyn) in 1949. Definitely remember Mr. Dickler. And teachers like Mrs. Conway and Mrs. Simmons. We played punch ball in the schoolyard. And in the street. Never stickball. And stoopball. And went to the Parade Grounds for touch football and for baseball. Took the B.M.T. subway to Dodger games at Ebbets Field. $.60 to sit in the center field bleachers. Our grandfather took my brother and me to our first game in 1947 – against the Boston Braves. Went to movies at the Kenmore theater on Church Ave. Double features, of course, with newsreels of WWII. And sang briefly in the boys choir at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Holy Innocents? A couple of the kids up the block who we played punchball and stoopball with went there. We told them their school should have been named Holy Devils since they were – like us? – typical mischievous kids. Oh, and I only heard it called COR-rel-you Rd.
Oops, COR-tel-you
I remember the RKO Kenmore had an unusual black marquee. Across Flatbush Ave. from Garfield’s if memory serves.
Pardon me while I reminisce…..some of the favorite stores this youngster walked to from 385 Argyle Road…..a small Chinese restaurant across from the area near the Cortelyou Road subway station, Greenfield’s Drugs and pop Franklin’s. On or near Flatbush and Cortelyou was “My Friend’s Book Shop” (on Clarendon Rd. just off of Flatbush Ave)….I still have a few of the great collectibles I bought there over 55 years ago. There was a terrific pizzeria on the S/W corner of Cortelyou and Flatbush across the street from a flower shop on the S/E corner. To the left was a record store from which I purchased my first walkie talkie (Ch. 14 supplied). Always wondered about the efficacy of operating a record store so near “Ambrose’s”. On the N/W side of the intersection was “Chin’s” with the prominent red marquee. Further to the left of “Chin’s” was a small stamp and coin shop where I spent $.15 or more each on several wanted pennies for my collection. There was the “Loew’s Kings” and “Macys” and a falafel place next to or near Erasmus. On the other side of Flatbush Ave. was a “Jahn ‘s Ice Cream Parlor” a book store whose name eludes me and my favorite of all stores “Jerry’s Card Shop”, something of a misnomer as in addition to the usual Hallmark’s Jerry’s was your one stop shop for rubber vomit, fake dog poo, marked cards, loaded dice, squirting and disappearing coins and flowers, Mexican jumping beans, hand buzzers and much else in the same vein guaranteed to have made any parent in the area something other than entirely proud.
R u the guy I knew as Rickie? I lived across the street at 400 Argyle and we used to go to Hebrew School together. LMK like to catch up. BB [I had a pet poodle named Andrew]
If you’re the Bennett with a lovely gal named Lola for a mother, sister Mindy, a white poodle named Andrew, either a hirsute dad or uncle Mel who at one point took us to a glazier on McDonald Ave. whose acronym “FAPCO” we found amusing, a small Sony portable TV for which I lusted, a neighbor at 400 Argyle who for some mysterious reason beat it to Alaska, the same Bennett who found Popeye’s sons bellowing “wahhhh” curiously funny then I’d say it’s fairly unlikely I’m the fellow of whom you speak. Nevertheless I’d be more than pleased to accept your LMK request. I may be contacted at “ricknewman@juno.com”.
I have tried to get in touch w you at the juno.com email without success. If you get this message please contact at bennett52453@earthlink.net I remember many fun times on our way to Hebrew school!
If you’re the Bennett with a lovely gal named Lola for a mother, sister Mindy, a white poodle named Andrew, either a hirsute dad or uncle Mel who at one point took us to a glazier on McDonald Ave. whose acronym “FAPCO” we found amusing, a small Sony portable TV for which I lusted, a neighbor at 400 Argyle who for some mysterious reason beat it to Alaska, the same Bennett who found Popeye’s sons bellowing “wahhhh” curiously funny then I’d say it’s fairly unlikely I’m the fellow of whom you speak. Nevertheless I’d be more than pleased to accept your LMK request. I may be contacted at “ricknewman@juno.com”.
I was hoping to have removed this erroneously repeated post months ago though I’ve found no way to accomplish this. Likewise my two previous requests to this blog’s administrator to please delete it have yielded no response. Good luck should you for whatever reason attempt to edit or worse have second thoughts and want to delete your post.
Does anyone remember the Holy Innocents schoolyard on East 18 Street supervised by Mrs Kearns,from 1955 to 1959? I am her daughter Maureen Kearns and just discovered this site and wanted to share some memories. We lived on Hinkley place between Stratford Road and Coney Island Ave
Karen Kearns Cano, I graduated from Holy Innocents in ‘58. Do you remember Fr. Sheridan? Every time you went to confession, he would call you by name. In 1977, My oldest son received his First Holy Communion from Fr. Sheridan in Suffern, N.Y. What a small world.
my parents lived on clarendon road 3215 clarendon road house was built in 1910. the area.looks awful and the house is a condo now! my mom was very upset/dismayed..my grandfather joseph kilbride owned the house at 3215..he is buried in holy cross..does anyone remember the fatal acident at the corner of clarendon road and new york avenue summer 1967?? my mom was a dazed upset spectator who made the cover (along with alot of others) on the cover of THE DAILY NEWS..a young jewish guy was killed while riding his bike…the houses were beautiful victorian houses built in 1910…and there was a church across the street on the corner.my mom remembers being shocked when the paper came out the next day. my parents bought a home in elmont nassau county..my grandfather moved in 1973…
BTW..THE poor guy who died in that accident lived in my late godmother’s apartment building off rutland road in brooklyn..his mom read the letter a priest wrote to her after her son’s untimely terrible death to my godmother because they were friends..next door to my parents it was al irish..german and italian…when visiting my grandfather before he moved the neighbor next door was an old lady named mrs. henges..who was yelling at me to stay off her property..threatened me..yowsa`!!..what a temper!
i live on e 8th street and ave c from 1050-till 1975 work at chris florist –great place to grow up
lived on e 8 th st and avc c from 1950-1975 worked at chris florist great place to grow up
“Does anyone remember the Holy Innocents schoolyard on East 18 Street supervised by Mrs Kearns,from 1955 to 1959?”
Yes, indeed I do. Hello Maureen. I went to HI from 1952 to 1960, and for most of that time lived at 18th and Cortelyou. The
thousands of memories remaining from 1947 – 1979, when we moved to D.C., come rushing back, lo these many years later.
While this is not a subject relative to Cortelyou road and its environs I’m nevertheless wondering if any other folks can remember the summertime Tuesday night fireworks events from Coney Island. My dad and I would head up to the roof of our Argyle road apartment house on those warm evenings and watch those wonderful displays. On one occasion dad and I drove down to Coney island to see the show from a closer vantage point. Another great memory.