I am a “recovered” bowler. I bowled frequently between 1967 and the mid-1980s. I have mentioned my adventures from time to time in Forgotten New York. I doggedly pursued the sport even though I never really became good at it because I could not develop a hook (throwing the ball so it “hooks” or curves into the pocket between the 1 and 2 or 1 and 3 pins) which is necessary for consistent strikes. I’d just heave the ball down the middle and got a lot of splits (pins on opposite sides, hard to knock down for spares).
I began at Leemark on 88th Street in Bay Ridge, joining a grade school league. My first two games, I bowled a 6 and 7. I played in that league from 1967-1971, and then joined my Cathedral High School league, playing there for three years. We bused from Clinton Hill up Kent Avenue in a rattle trap van to Greenpoint Lanes on Humboldt Street. For one year, I bowled for my St. Francis College team at Bowlmor Lanes, and then for a couple years for a local league at bowling pro Mark Roth’s Rainbow Lanes on Knapp Street, which required a subway and bus trip late nights from Bay Ridge to Sheepshead Bay. ALL of those bowling alleys are closed or not in their original locations; Bowlmor was bought, moved and now operates under a different name. Once, my grade school league bowled a tournament in Elmsford, NY, as far away I have ever bowled a game. I did earn two athletic letters, C and F, for being part of my high school and college teams. As I say, I was never much good, breaking 200 only twice and averaging 150 at my very best. In the 80s, I gave up. My last couple games were at a smoky Bay Ridge Lanes, 8th Avenue and 64th Street, across from the disco 2001 Odyssey.
Additionally, my mother, father and I would head to Leemark on winter Sundays for a couple games (we would watch Chris Schenkel and Nelson Burton call games on the pro tour on Saturday). My grandmother accompanied us for rooting purposes. I’ll never forget when the old man, who usually averaged 100-120, went off and bowled 256.
On a recent walk down Bronxdale Avenue I found a remnant of Van Nest Lanes at Morris Park Avenue, which was in business 50 years but closed in 2020 during the pandemic. It was old-school with wood lanes (modern alleys are synthetic, high-pressure laminates) and manual scoring. One aspect of bowling I always enjoyed was the huge paper sheets you got with 10 frame games on which you marked scores with big pencils. Most of those were phased out decades ago in favor of electronic scoring done with sensors.
While the old “Bowling” sign remains above the Bronxdale Avenue entrance, you can see faint remnants of attached bowling balls and pins on the brickfront.
The Van Nest Lanes was also a shooting location for three major motion pictures: the 2007 film “American Gangster,” starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the 2012 film “Men in Black 3,” starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and the 2019 film “The Irishman,” starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. [Norwood News]
You can see those attachments on Will Smith’s photo on the linked article.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
5/11/26
2 comments
I didn’t know gangsters were such avid bowlers
Can’t understand why bowling has gone out of favor and so many have closed.