Several New York City neighborhoods come together in the triangle of territory opposite St. John’s Cemetery formed by Cooper Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue, and Woodhaven Boulevard. I have to pick one, so I’ll make it Glendale; but just east of here, you’re in Forest Hills, north of here you’re in Rego Park, and west of here it’s definitely Glendale. People get manic if you misidentify their neighborhoods, so I’ll profusely apologize in advance.
When the producers of the TV comedy All in the Family were looking around for a closing shot representing Archie’s place that would appear behind the credits while the closing theme “Remembering You” played (the music was written by Roger Kellaway and it actually had lyrics that didn’t appear on the show version written by Carroll O’Connor, who sings them here).
Ultimately they settled on a row of attached homes on the south side of Cooper Avenue, two of which appear here. The Bunkers’ address was given as 704 Hauser (pronounced Howser, as in MLB manager Dick Howser) in Astoria; however, that was an entirely fictional address. If you’re looking for a TV comedy that has an exterior filmed in Astoria, look no further than Seinfeld; George Costanza’s parents lived in one unit of similar-looking attached homes that were indeed photographed there.
St. John’s Cemetery, meanwhile, has become famed as a mobster repository, since John Gotti and a host of other wiseguys are there. My late uncle’s family also has a plot there, and it has some open plots—so who knows, maybe I’ll be there too.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
7/30/20
10 comments
I heard a story from someone who claimed to know the owner at the time. He was offered something like $25 per episode or a flat fee of $200 but only four pilot episodes were guaranteed. The owner took the $200.
Notice the difference between the sapling tree in the show opening and the mature tree 50 years later.
You rocked my world by telling me the All in the Family closing theme had lyrics. The music sounds like something from New Orleans, something James Booker would play. O’Connor seemed a bit nervous on the clip, but he pulled it off. The song, with a singer, should be a standard, and I’m surprised it isn’t.
Where can we find John Gotti’s grave in the cemetery? You ever visit it? Taken a photo of it? The photo’s not in Find-a-Grave although the burial in St. John’s is mentioned..
It’s located in a very hard to find, secluded section of the cemetery, but you’ll know it when you see it.
It’s a mausoleum, cut from a huge single block of granite, taking years to construct for a variety of reasons, the chief one being it was commissioned to be shaped like a calzone.
That in & of itself was difficult enough; handcarving the frieze even more so, given the “order” of the wrap around, machine gun banding design. Finally, the roof is topped off with a bronze shark, gazing southward towards the ocean.
Supposedly, the lone shark is a pun representing “loan” shark. Good Luck finding it!
Thanks, Howard, for injecting some much needed humor. Send my regards to Dr. Martin Abend (dec’d) & watch out for the perpetually offended wokesters.who live to troll.
Find a grave actually has images of it and the exact location…https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6494241/john-gotti
Some of the mobsters nearby in the mausoleum and out in the cemetery proper: https://thevelvetrocket.com/2012/01/18/st-john-cemetery-in-queens/
My paternal grandparent also laid out in St. John’s. Ptl. Thomas Cassidy NYPD and Eva Wright Cassidy.
CARROLL O’CONNORS MOTHER LIVED IN GLENDALE. THEY WOULD DINE AT GEBHARDTS RESTAURANT ON MYRTLE AVE AT CYPRESS HILLS STREET ONCE IN A WHILE. THAT MAY HAVE BEEN HER HOME PICTURED.
Carroll O’Conner’s mother taught school at and Carroll attended school at P.S. 68 in Glendale as did one Phil Rizzuto.
Carrol O’Connor and Jeanne Stepleton recorded a version of the opening theme with a dixieland band accompaniment in 1971 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZsBFqfNpvs