I consider myself fortunate to come from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and though I have been in Queens since 1993, a good 30 years now, I keep threatening to return. I like the building I’m in in Little Neck, but the neighborhood itself has gotten dead as a doornail in recent years, as my favorite haunts such as the Scobee Diner, Little Neck Inn, Stop & Shop, Aunt Bella Pizza, North Shore Hardware, Staples and even a Subway where I got a sandwich once a week have all reached the hangman’s noose, one by one. I work at home, remotely, but when you work in type and print, all jobs are tenuous. I think the best bet is to stand pat and hope for the best.
Bay Ridge is chockablock with historic artifacts, like St. John’s church, Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn’s smallest cemetery and the Verrazzano Bridge. I still visit regularly. However it has had its share of losses; Zeke’s Roast Beef, Nathan’s and even Blimpie are gone (it was crappy anyway) and the dentist who treated me for over 30 years retired.
Once or twice a year I take a lengthy ramble and find things I never knew about when I lived there. One of them is this stolid structure on Bay Ridge Ave. (er, 69th St.) just west of 3rd Avenue, which has served as a Masonic temple, a church, and a school in recent decades, but its original purpose can be discerned on the keystones above the windows. Though some have been buffed out, the remaining ones depict former volunteer fire companies’ seals and names—such as Old Jackson H&L (Hook & Ladder); Blythebourne Engine; Neosho H&L; Bay Ridge Engine—of the former New Utrecht Exempt Firemen’s Association. (“Blythebourne” is the original name of the development that gave rise to Borough Park. “Neosho” stumps me, since it is a town in Missouri. Mets star Donn Clendenon was from Neosho.)
In the name “New Utrecht Exempt Firemen’s Association” you find two tidbits of history. A fireman known as “exempt” was a member of a volunteer fire company for five years; a number of other exceptions and corollaries to this rule further explained the term “exempt.” As far as “New Utrecht” is concerned, Bay Ridge was a part of the town of New Utrecht since the town’s establishment in 1683 until it was annexed by the City of Brooklyn in 1894, and then Greater New York absorbed Brooklyn in 1898. While Brooklyn had its own fire department (the BFD, the trigraph seen on a number of old firehouses around the borough) far-flung realms like Bay Ridge were served by a number of volunteer fire departments. This was a building where exempt firemen could meet and take advantages of services offered by the Association.
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4/7/23
11 comments
“This was a building where exempt firemen could meet and take advantages of services offered by the Association.”
It was the Racoon Lodge of its day.
Back in the 1950’s I remember a small wooden building on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing that was adjacent to the “Causeway” that linked the stores on Roosevelt Avenue with the new municipal parking lot a block to the north. Even as a kid I was curious to read any plaque or tablet or sign that I encountered. That building, which was already an anachronism had a sign that told it was the Flushing Volunteer Fire Department Exempt Members Hall. It was gone in the 1960’s, as were most remaining Exempt Members. Volunteer Fire Companies mostly disappeared within the five Boroughs of the new Greater New York after the Consolidation of 1898. As the membership of the Exempts dwindled and disappeared, their halls had no purpose. As I said, such Volunteer Companies disappeared, but not all. I am aware of a few in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
” …my favorite haunts such as the Scobee Diner, Little Neck Inn, Stop & Shop, Aunt Bella Pizza, North Shore Hardware, Staples and even a Subway where I got a sandwich once a week have all reached the hangman’s noose…”
You could go big time and dine at Peter Lugers on Northern or go low at White Castle at Bell and Northern or sneak into a shindig at Leonard’s..
I’m a true and true Queens guy. I miss Niederstein’s, The Eagles Nest, Sly Fox, Evergreen Chinese, The Crab House, Pour Richards, Jahn’s and more.
But time marches on and more favorites will soon disappear. Such is life and death,
Philipe: How about The Amber Lantern which was on Northern Blvd near 149 St :
https://www.cardcow.com/images/set666/card00061_fr.jpg
The specialty of the house was called “ale steak” which I enjoyed on several occasions.
The specialty of the house was called “ale steak” & I enjoyed it many times.
I wonder if any old Bay Ridgeites remember a bicycle store on 4th ave. that had a
crudely made wooden boy pedaling a bicycle on its sign above its windows.
Sometimes the store would turn it on and he would be pedaling away(via a
electric motor,of course)but most times it would be conked out.I ask anyone
from around there if they remember it but all I get are dumbfounded looks and
they quickly change the subject
Did someone mention Leonards of Great Neck?Right,all the Glitz and Glamour of Vegas right there on
Northern Blvd.A class joint straight out of Goodfellas
At one time, “exempt” volunteer firefighters were exempt from jury duty. I don’t know whether that is still the case.
Don’t forget Patrick’s Pub and the Harp & Mandolin. Also heard that Leonard’s is closing after all these years. Progress. I guess it’s a perfect spot for another ugly multi-use building. Yuck!
Patrick’s Pub ceased operations around the turn of the century, I believe. It was replaced by a Korean barbeque restaurant which was good, but it couldn’t match the charm of “PP”
All torn down and replaced by a small bland strip mall with bland stores.
Sad, but not surprising; it could be anywhere:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=My+City+Is+Gone&&view=detail&mid=CFFB634306635E3BA5CCCFFB634306635E3BA5CC&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DMy%2520City%2520Is%2520Gone%26form%3DSWAUA2