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