I bcame a fisherman quite some time ago. I was 8 years old when I went fishing for the first time.
We were upstate in Loch Sheldrake and my father borrowed 2 fishing rods and we went out fishing.
We were using live minnows and had red and white floats or bobbers rigged up. With this setup we could have gotten perch, pickerel bass or blue gill sunnys. My float went down, I had a fish, I was so excited. My dad said " hook him" ,,,I'm like wtf does "hook him " mean. so I turn to my father and the fish pulls and swims fast and , well the rod and reel ended up at the bottom of the lake with the first fish I caught on the end of the line with a hook in his mouth. Ummm I was pretty embarrassed. My dad was too, he had to buy this guy Manny a new rod and reel.
I got better at fishing as the years went by. A fun thing to do was fish for minnows with the tiniest hook ever . A minnow is bait, they are like size of small sardine. So, to fish for them with a fishing rod is something no one does . However, it is quite a lot of fun. We take a tiny piece of bread and put it on the smallest #12 hook. We throw a handful of bread in the water to attract the minnows. You can actually feel the tiny fish nibble and then you hook it.. Yes I learned what "hook it" meant.
After we caught these we went fishing for bigger fish in Swan Lake. It was exciting watching bass jump out of the water , early in the morning. They usually hung out under the trees. '
When we weren't using live bait, we'd use spinners that shined to catch pickerel. Pickerel had weak jaws and we had a hand net to net the fish when it was close to the boat. If you didn't use the net, you could end up with just a fish mouth on your hook. We'd use the coolest lure, a hula popper, to catch bass. It kind of looked like a frog. It would float on top of the lake and you would jerk it, and it would make popping sound of a frog. Then a big bass would dive out of the water with the lure in his mouth and then dive deep. What a fight! then you'd land the fish and hope it was big enough to keep. I think at that time it had to be 12inches. Bass had no teeth. They would swallow a giant bull frog whole. They had a sharp needle-like top fin. Bass are cool fish.
Now back in the city, yep in East New York, me and the Napolitanos are getting ready to go fishing for snappers. I'm abut 12 years old now. We are going to the 1st bridge. Otherwise known as the Crossbay bridge. It's just past Howard Beach. I think the neighborhood was called Broad Channel. At the end of the bridge there were tons of tiny bait fish. These were called spearing. They actually taste good fried. But in those days we didn't eat spearing. We caught them in homemade nets.
We took window screen and using fishing line we made it into a basket. We then tied a rag to this basket and we had a long cord on it. We would buy Moosebec sardines for 9 cents a can , rub the sardines into the screen and pout the oil on the rag. we'd throw it in and watch the spearing swarm the net then we'd start pulling the net in fast. We'd end up with many beautifully shiny spearing and a few killies. The spearing had a silver horizontal line across their bodies. Most of the fishermen would spend 75 Cents on a box of frozen spearing. Every fisherman knows live bait is so much better than frozen. Even fresh dead bait is way better than frozen. We would fill small paper cups with the spearing and walk the bridge. Their had to be 50 guys fishing on the bridge. We'd sell a cup of spearing for 15 cents. we' d make between 10 and 20 bucks a day. We would take the spearing and put them on a long shafted hook and catch snappers. Tons of snappers. Snappers are baby blue fish. They are fast and fun to catch on a light weight fresh water pole. A few years earlier we would go way back in Jamaica Bay, on foot and fish for mostly snappers, but it turned out the water was polluted. Even the water by the 1st bridge was polluted for swimming , but we ate the fish anyway.
One year sharks chased in the mackerel. We would catch some snappers and cut them in chunks and then fish for mackerel. The mackerel put up a good fight and we would catch a bunch. Occasionally we would catch the fish that swim under sharks, called pilot fish. Those were fun to catch, but they weren't meant to eat. So we would throw them back. Other times of year when we were fishing on the 1st bridge, we would fish for porgies. Porgies were fished for on the higher part of the bridge. In the deeper water , and on the bottom. We usually used worms to catch porgies. Just a piece of a worm . Blood worms had 4 black teeth like claws in their head that would come out and grab you. Those little worms hurt. Ouch. Sand worms had 2 bigger black teeth-claws ,those would really hurt. Sometimes fishing for porgies we would catch a horseshoe crab. These were big black helmet like things with a long sword sticking out of them. They are kind of prehistoric. They war big too. We would then take a cherry bomb or M80 ashcan and put it inside these guys. They had waterproof fuses . We'd light it throw them over the bridge and watch them blow up . That explosion was accompanied by a loud boom. So much fun.
Now the big fish. I went out at night with my father and this mechanic friend of his, into Jamaica Bay. It was somewhere between the 1 st bridge and JFK airport. It was called Idlewild Airport back then. It's real dark out there, and tons of sandbars. The boat was lit up like a Christmas tree. The guy had tail lights from cars all over the boat. This guy was drinking a lot of beer. He kept swerving all over the place. My father asked him why he is swerving . He said he was avoiding sandbars. I don't think we were near any of the sandbars he was avoiding. The guy was seeing sand bars. When he stopped swerving , Crash, he hit a sandbar.. He couldn't start the engine now. We started driving , he said it was a Cotter pin or Carter pin that broke. Now this is my first time going for Stripers. That is Striped Bass. The prized salt water fish to catch. At that time it had to be 16 inches to keep it. Nowadays , it has to be 28 inches to keep and was as high as 36 inches to keep.. So we are drifting and drifting. My line is in the water floating a big 'ol sand worm on top. My father and Sal, look scared. We go past the Marine Park bridge. That means we are approaching the Atlantic Ocean. I am not frightened at all. i want to catch my first striper. There weren't cell phones back then to call for help with. The 2 grownups are waving lights , as we drift out . Then POW,,,,i get a hit. I hook it hard, but pulling my rod straight back... I let it run....it breaks water and runs . I can hear my drag buzzing,as th fish runs out and I reel in every chance I get. My pop and his friend are busy looking for help. And i'm fishing with this big striped bass on my line. Finally I get the fish in... I am so happy . I am so proud . I finally get the attention of my father and Sal and show off my fish. They say "we are halfway to France and you were still fishing?" I say "yep, and here is my first striper". We measured it and it was a keeper. It was about 18 inches.. It was such a good fight. The U.S.Coast Guard showed up and towed us in. I was so happy, they were so thankful the Coast Guard showed up. They cracked open a couple of beers and we were on our way back to dock. What a great night.
After catching my first bass, I was psyched to catch more in my life. Me and some neighbors, Mickey Napolitano and his dad Fast Eddie, My dad, a friend named Barry and Wobby Boy would get ready at night and go to the 2nd bridge, aka Broad Channel Bridge. We'd stop on the way at Pizza City or Big Bow Wow for some Food. The Aliens Motorcycle gang hung out at the Bow Wow, and people drag raced between the two bridges. Anyway, we get to the bridge, find our spots . We'd put nice juicy big sand worms on the gold striper hooks. We'd use long long leaders, they were monofilament leaves about 3 feet long. We would float the word on top. The best Striper fisherman on the bridge were Striper Stanley , who was my friend Hoss's father. and Striper Bob. Bob would yell "Over the Bridge" every time he landed a striper. The 2nd Bridge was much higher than the 1st Bridge and it was long way up if you got a striper. If you got a huge one you had to walk it all the way to the end and bring it in on the shore. Anything under 20 inches you could bring up on the bridge. We all started using the same Striper cry " over the bridge"... We would fish until late and get back to the projects at like 3 AM. We did this in the hot summer. It helped us get away from the heat and mosquitoes. I think it did. Striper fishing was mucho fun.
We then got into Striper fishing at Lido Beach. Also shark fishing, as sharks would come in close to shore , as well as Sting rays. We bought Harnell Rods and Del Fino reels. These were the state of the art fishing equipment for surf fishing at the time. Mitchell 302's were also used or I'm pretty shire Penn made an open faced reel. We liked spinner reels and would use the Penn reels , like a Penn Senator on the Party boats. I remember Richie Napolitano or his brother Sonny catching a big sting ray. It weighted about 40 lbs and they thought they had a giant shark on. Those days were exciting.
That was many years ago ,,i mean many. The last 20 years I've been surfcasting on the East End of Long Island. We take our 4x4's on the beach and cruise from East Hampton to Montauk. It changed out there in the last 15 years, You used to be able to ride the beach anytime. Now it's limited times and limited areas. When blue fish were in , it was a lot of fun. There would be 1000's of them feeding frantically on bait and even biting each other. Just as frantic were the fisherman driving fast ,jumping out of their jeeps and throwing in their lines. Usually using Hopkins lures or Ava lures. We were very particular as to what color rubber tube was on the end of the lure. Or we had feathers on a Hopkins. Sometimes it was darters or swimming lures. We were experts. We wore our waders when the weather got cold. We would be in the water with the fish. A big bass was quite a fight. Catching big bass and fighting it , watching it run out , reeling it in. Watching it break water. Your arms tiring , hoping you would win out over the tenacious bass. You would get it all the way in and then it would make a big surge outward, swimming for its life. Finally you would haul it in and if you were lucky it would be a huge fish. 28 to 36 inches was the minimal size you were legally allowed to keep. The biggest Striper caught by someone that we were present for was a 100lb bass at Montauk Point, by a novice fisherman , that didn't even know what they caught. Sickening.
Anyway, fishing can be a lot of fun. An old fisherman, named Francis, told me, that the "Stripers arrive when the Lilacs Bloom and then they go with the first snow". I can't wait to get out on the beach this year and catch a few bass. And of course cook it up and eat a most delicious meal. You are only allowed to keep one fish. That is for conservation purposes. If we think there will be many fish, we will catch and release the fish , and wait for the big one to take home. We surfcasters would always bid each other farewell by saying "tight lines' to each other.
I think there will be more fishing stories on this blog. Like the times I almost drown. Well that's a whole nuther story.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
My roots
My grandparents didn;t speak English. One grandfather i never met. All of the grandparents were from Russia. That's what they said. They were Russian. My grandfather was in the Russian army. The grandfather I knew was a furrier. His brother was a baker. Grandpa's name was Sam and his brother they called Juice. Because he drank a lot of juice. One side of the family was from Bila Tserkva, a town near Kiev. The others were from Volochisk ( aka Woloczysk) , in the West, near the Zbruch River. It is now all known as the Ukraine. Volochisk is in the Volhynia province of the Ukraine. This is Southwest of Kiev. My father said his family was richer than my mom's. He said "we had wood floors, your mom's family had dirt floors". I was impressed , haha. I really want to go to Russia/ Ukraine and see where my ancestors were from. I love the food, I grew up on that food. The language would have a familiar sound. One day I'll make it there.
Summers in the Mountains
When I was a kid my parents took us up to the Catskill Mountains for the summer. They would rent a bungalow most often at a place called Schreiberville, in Swan Lake. It was a lot of fun. The bungalow colony actually had different neighborhoods from poor to rich. We gradually moved up from the apartments to the Blueberry Hill area, a mid range bungalow. In the day time during the week we were in camp. Our scheduled activities were swimming and swim instruction. It is where I got my Junior Life Saver badge. Also softball and paddle ball. We carved our own wooden paddles at Arnie Naroff's arts and craft workshop. We burnt our names in them with a wood burner and shellacked the rackets. They were like solid wood racket ball rackets. Funny that one of the kids , Arnie's son, whom I used to play racket ball with , I now see on TV as a major financial guest on CNBC. Joel Naroff was an excellent paddle ball player. But me and Jeff Hausler beat him and my cousin Glenn in a 3 game match. Jeff was chubby but fast. Paddle ball was an awesome game. Our unscheduled activities were stealing sodas from the storage room of the Coffee Shop. Shooting cows , picking blueberries. Salamnder hunts were a popular activity too. There used to be a microphone in the office and all day long you would hear announcements like " Mickey Abramson come to the office" or "the Butcher is here" " the Fish man is at the parking lot" etc. Speaking of cars, My father had a 195o Chevy.. My brother was about 3 years old one year we were up at Schreiberville. My brother, they used to call Dennis the Menace. Well , one fine day, my father had parked the ugly grey chevy outside our bungalow on top of the hill. My brother wandered to the car and thought it would be a good idea to climb in. I have no idea if the keys were in the car, but I do know that it had a Starter button. In those days you pressed the starter button to start the car. At the bottom of the hill was first the paddleball courts. There were about 50 kids playing there. Just past the courts were bungalows.
We hear the starter cranking and all of a sudden, the little driver, My 3 year old brother, had the car started and rolling down the hill. Perhaps he just put it in neutral, i have no idea, and he couldn't reach the brake or the gas pedals. But he was moving fast and about to kill many kids. This truck driver guy with a shiny bald head, Al Stitchel, somehow dove thru the window and pulled the emergency brake and stopped the car. He scared the daylites out of my brother. The kid wanted to finish his ride; Oh well, 50 kids were saved. A memorable event.
One day a friend of my father was coming up to visit. The guy's name was Reese. Well, I was thinking since my father was such a great baseball player, and a huge Brooklyn Dodger fan, that it was Pee Wee Reese the Capt. of the Brooklyn Dodgers that was visiting. I wasted no time, and went to the office and announced on the microphone that "the great Pee Week Reese is at my bungalow". Kids started running back to their bungalows to grab their baseballs and gloves and pens to get his autograph. Some had cameras. I went into our bungalow and said hi to our visitors. My parents were wondering what was going on outside. Apparently they didn't hear the announcement. There were 100 people , kids and adults outside. I told them " they're here to see Pee Wee". My father said " who the heck is Pee Wee" . I pointed to Reese. They were thinking WTF , i'm sure. Well, my parents looked at each other and looked at Reese and looked at me. They then told me he was not Pee Week Reese. He was Harold Reese. Now ironically, Pee Wee's name was Harold too Damn, I was sure this guy was Pee Wee Reese and just didn't want to sign autographs.. Well this is a heck of a story, because I forgot what happened. Either he decided to sign autographs anyway, which I think is actually what happened or He said he wasn't Pee Wee Reese. Oh well, it was memorable except for the end.
Noxema was a household item. Very popular with people who had fair complexions. I had many freckles and got sunburnt so easily. I used to go in the pool and stay in until my lips turned blue. My skin was bright red, so sun burnt and blue lips. What a sight. Quite often I was covered with noxema, what a smell. Unforgettable smell. I would be in the pool wearing my t-shirt, how embarrassing that was but my mom was just trying to protect me. One year i had such blisters from the sun, they had to soak me in vinegar. That was the cure back then, Noxema and vinegar.
At night, the bungalow colony had a "casino" it was just a big room with chairs and a stage. They either had Jackie Mason or some Nipsy Russell or some Borscht belt comedian performing, a live band or a movie. The only movie I remember seeing was High Noon, a great cowboy movie. The band was a cool small band. It was older guys. I think the name of the band was Abby Patner band. It's all coming back to me. One guy Herbie Shlanger had lived in Texas for a while, so they called him Tex. He had a big white standup bass. he was really good. Then a friend of mine, he was only about 12 at the time, was a great electric guitar player. His name was Pete. They were jamming the boogie boogie. Wow that music was great. We all had flashlights. There were no street lights outside. The movie time was a good time to sneak underneath the casino and steal sodas. They had Mission soda, really good stuff. That's where the store room for the coffee shop was , underneath the casino.
There were a few dogs up there. One dog gave birth under the casino , and a white pup named snowball was born. What a cute dog. My friend Sonny had a sheep dog named Curly what a friendly fun dog. Joel Naroff had a dog that was very friendly too, a Boston Terrier. Really fun dogs to play with . The rapist guy down the road , Luther, had a collie. Scary guy, he was famous and everyone stayed away from his house but we knew of him. Richie Brown's family had a guest house down the road. Richie was a cool guy and he also liked catching frogs and shooting sling shots. His older brother Punchy had the longest hair for those days. They were good guys and from Brooklyn, Turned out that 20 years later my friend Debbie Duck who I met in Berkeley, was a good friend of theirs.
Anyway, I know i'm rambling, so to wrap this up, It was fun summers. We didn't know about going to Europe or on cruises or stuff like that. We went to the mountains. After being up there all summer, and then the drive back to the city. We'd always stop at the Red Apple rest on Old Rt 17. It was packed. We would finally get to Manhattan and pass this Yale truck way up on top of a building, right by the West Side Highway.. It's still there today. Then we'd go through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. I loved tunnels. it was mesmerizing driving throughout the tunnel. As if you were falling into a deep endless hole. So cool. Then we get to East new york. You could smell it off the Belt Parkway. The stinky swamps. The buildings looks so drab and dirty, Such a noticeable difference between the country and the city. Hard to explain, but it just hit ya, that you were back in the city . Back in the projects.
We hear the starter cranking and all of a sudden, the little driver, My 3 year old brother, had the car started and rolling down the hill. Perhaps he just put it in neutral, i have no idea, and he couldn't reach the brake or the gas pedals. But he was moving fast and about to kill many kids. This truck driver guy with a shiny bald head, Al Stitchel, somehow dove thru the window and pulled the emergency brake and stopped the car. He scared the daylites out of my brother. The kid wanted to finish his ride; Oh well, 50 kids were saved. A memorable event.
One day a friend of my father was coming up to visit. The guy's name was Reese. Well, I was thinking since my father was such a great baseball player, and a huge Brooklyn Dodger fan, that it was Pee Wee Reese the Capt. of the Brooklyn Dodgers that was visiting. I wasted no time, and went to the office and announced on the microphone that "the great Pee Week Reese is at my bungalow". Kids started running back to their bungalows to grab their baseballs and gloves and pens to get his autograph. Some had cameras. I went into our bungalow and said hi to our visitors. My parents were wondering what was going on outside. Apparently they didn't hear the announcement. There were 100 people , kids and adults outside. I told them " they're here to see Pee Wee". My father said " who the heck is Pee Wee" . I pointed to Reese. They were thinking WTF , i'm sure. Well, my parents looked at each other and looked at Reese and looked at me. They then told me he was not Pee Week Reese. He was Harold Reese. Now ironically, Pee Wee's name was Harold too Damn, I was sure this guy was Pee Wee Reese and just didn't want to sign autographs.. Well this is a heck of a story, because I forgot what happened. Either he decided to sign autographs anyway, which I think is actually what happened or He said he wasn't Pee Wee Reese. Oh well, it was memorable except for the end.
Noxema was a household item. Very popular with people who had fair complexions. I had many freckles and got sunburnt so easily. I used to go in the pool and stay in until my lips turned blue. My skin was bright red, so sun burnt and blue lips. What a sight. Quite often I was covered with noxema, what a smell. Unforgettable smell. I would be in the pool wearing my t-shirt, how embarrassing that was but my mom was just trying to protect me. One year i had such blisters from the sun, they had to soak me in vinegar. That was the cure back then, Noxema and vinegar.
At night, the bungalow colony had a "casino" it was just a big room with chairs and a stage. They either had Jackie Mason or some Nipsy Russell or some Borscht belt comedian performing, a live band or a movie. The only movie I remember seeing was High Noon, a great cowboy movie. The band was a cool small band. It was older guys. I think the name of the band was Abby Patner band. It's all coming back to me. One guy Herbie Shlanger had lived in Texas for a while, so they called him Tex. He had a big white standup bass. he was really good. Then a friend of mine, he was only about 12 at the time, was a great electric guitar player. His name was Pete. They were jamming the boogie boogie. Wow that music was great. We all had flashlights. There were no street lights outside. The movie time was a good time to sneak underneath the casino and steal sodas. They had Mission soda, really good stuff. That's where the store room for the coffee shop was , underneath the casino.
There were a few dogs up there. One dog gave birth under the casino , and a white pup named snowball was born. What a cute dog. My friend Sonny had a sheep dog named Curly what a friendly fun dog. Joel Naroff had a dog that was very friendly too, a Boston Terrier. Really fun dogs to play with . The rapist guy down the road , Luther, had a collie. Scary guy, he was famous and everyone stayed away from his house but we knew of him. Richie Brown's family had a guest house down the road. Richie was a cool guy and he also liked catching frogs and shooting sling shots. His older brother Punchy had the longest hair for those days. They were good guys and from Brooklyn, Turned out that 20 years later my friend Debbie Duck who I met in Berkeley, was a good friend of theirs.
Anyway, I know i'm rambling, so to wrap this up, It was fun summers. We didn't know about going to Europe or on cruises or stuff like that. We went to the mountains. After being up there all summer, and then the drive back to the city. We'd always stop at the Red Apple rest on Old Rt 17. It was packed. We would finally get to Manhattan and pass this Yale truck way up on top of a building, right by the West Side Highway.. It's still there today. Then we'd go through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. I loved tunnels. it was mesmerizing driving throughout the tunnel. As if you were falling into a deep endless hole. So cool. Then we get to East new york. You could smell it off the Belt Parkway. The stinky swamps. The buildings looks so drab and dirty, Such a noticeable difference between the country and the city. Hard to explain, but it just hit ya, that you were back in the city . Back in the projects.
Friday, January 18, 2013
let's get macho
As a kid and teenager, growing up in East New York was an ongoing test of manliness or machoness.
I guess the start of things like this was the " I dare you to" or even better " I double dare you". So we did stuff , like shoot a rubber band at an old lady, steal a candy bar, squirt a water gun at someone, drop a water balloon on a persons head, or maybe set a field on fire.
We played games like "stretch" aka "land" , where you put your foot out , next to your friends' feet and throw your knife in the ground, trying not to hit the other guy's foot. Yes, we all had knives, and yes sometimes the knife hit someone's foot. A favorite game was called "chicken" or "chicken fights" we would be on our bikes ( 2 wheel bicycles) most often Schwinn Hornets or Roll Fasts with 26 inch wheels. We would set up like knights on horses jousting. Go full speed and possibly crash into the oncoming bike. Of course quite often someone would turn away or bail out, thus it was called chicken fight, since someone often chickened out.
We played games similar to dodge ball but with pink rubber ball , called poison ball. same rules as dodge ball , but the ball was small and came faster and harder. Sometimes we had " punk tests".
One of the things we did was put two people's arms together. Forearm against forearm. then someone dropped a lit cigarette between the two arms. The forearms of each participant of the punk test would heat up and start to burn. The winner would be the one who didn't pull away. The one who pulled his arm away because he couldn't take the heat , was the "punk". I still have the scar on my left forearm from a cigarette burn.
Basically, we were nuts. We even took a nickel and rubbed it hard on our arm, making our initials. Rubbing the skin until it bled, and it scabbed. when the seab came off you had a scar with your initials. I still have a slight remnant of that. it is unrecognizable but I remember it well.
There were other silly things we did, like walk on hot coals, play William Tell with various items from paper clips and rubber bands, to pea shooters, to BB guns. That was totally dumb.
Anyway, i'm still alive today to reminisce and talk about it.
Walking was another thing,,, Yeah , how you walked. we would practice until it was natural. We would walk with a "bop". Some would call it jitterbuggin'. You would walk in a rhytnic way, bouncing back and forth. Almost with a sort of limp. We would keep our heads down and our collars up. We thought it looked tough. The bop became just our natural walk , that made our parents' heads spin. I still have a little bit of a bop. Crazy stuff.
I guess the start of things like this was the " I dare you to" or even better " I double dare you". So we did stuff , like shoot a rubber band at an old lady, steal a candy bar, squirt a water gun at someone, drop a water balloon on a persons head, or maybe set a field on fire.
We played games like "stretch" aka "land" , where you put your foot out , next to your friends' feet and throw your knife in the ground, trying not to hit the other guy's foot. Yes, we all had knives, and yes sometimes the knife hit someone's foot. A favorite game was called "chicken" or "chicken fights" we would be on our bikes ( 2 wheel bicycles) most often Schwinn Hornets or Roll Fasts with 26 inch wheels. We would set up like knights on horses jousting. Go full speed and possibly crash into the oncoming bike. Of course quite often someone would turn away or bail out, thus it was called chicken fight, since someone often chickened out.
We played games similar to dodge ball but with pink rubber ball , called poison ball. same rules as dodge ball , but the ball was small and came faster and harder. Sometimes we had " punk tests".
One of the things we did was put two people's arms together. Forearm against forearm. then someone dropped a lit cigarette between the two arms. The forearms of each participant of the punk test would heat up and start to burn. The winner would be the one who didn't pull away. The one who pulled his arm away because he couldn't take the heat , was the "punk". I still have the scar on my left forearm from a cigarette burn.
Basically, we were nuts. We even took a nickel and rubbed it hard on our arm, making our initials. Rubbing the skin until it bled, and it scabbed. when the seab came off you had a scar with your initials. I still have a slight remnant of that. it is unrecognizable but I remember it well.
There were other silly things we did, like walk on hot coals, play William Tell with various items from paper clips and rubber bands, to pea shooters, to BB guns. That was totally dumb.
Anyway, i'm still alive today to reminisce and talk about it.
Walking was another thing,,, Yeah , how you walked. we would practice until it was natural. We would walk with a "bop". Some would call it jitterbuggin'. You would walk in a rhytnic way, bouncing back and forth. Almost with a sort of limp. We would keep our heads down and our collars up. We thought it looked tough. The bop became just our natural walk , that made our parents' heads spin. I still have a little bit of a bop. Crazy stuff.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Snow Storms in the projects
I find it interesting or disturbing that I don't remember what I have already written about. Of course I vaguely remember, possible events i covered. In my early posts about growing up in East New York, I know I talked about the witches, the blue rats,fishing for rats in sewers with chewing gum on a string,weapons, packs of stray dogs, shoplifting, burning my moms kitchen down, lots of cool stuff. I'm too lazy to look back and see what i wrote about. So for those who read all the old stuff, forgive me if i repeat myself. For those who didn't ,, what are you waiting for , read the old ones, those are the best, well they were the longest haha.
Since it is snowing outside now I think I'll recall the snow storms of the 50's. My memory tells me the snow was at least 6 feet high. Considering that I must have been 4ft 6" the snow was probably 2 ft high and some deep drifts. All I know the snow was over our heads in some places. One cool thing about East new York was there was these barren fields we called "the lots". Some were once farms. Some were just empty plots of land. But they were always down a hill. That being said, hills and snow, that means sled riding. We all had those wooden sleds with metal runner blades. The brand was something Flyer,, maybe Famous Flyer, Sky Flyer , i can't recall. But they were indestructible. We always had a rope tied to the wooden steering handle.It didn't exactly steer it, it kind of bent the metal blades to guide you in a direction. We would hold the sled up , like holding a surf board. We would run with it and dive with it down onto the hill , and ride it down that snow so fast , it was scary. We'd often end up buried in a snow bank. Or we would flip over and roll down the hill with the sled. Sometimes we would crash into our friends and ummm try to kill them. No one ever died that i know of. The more we sledded, the more packed down the snow got, and the faster we would go. There was a hill, we heard about since we were little, but we were too young to go to. But when we were 13 we were old enough to attempt the deadly "Snake Hill". It was up by Highland Park. That was past East New York a few blocks after Fulton St or Jamaica Ave. The Park was bordered by Ridgewood on one side, and Forest Park, Woodhaven on the other side. Anyway, the hill was crazy. And it went across a road with traffic. And you couldn't stop . And you could surely get killed. But we all tried it. Snake Hill was for ENY sled heroes. Houdini's grave is in Highland Park by the way. Every year someone steals his head from the statue of him. Years later, drug addicts would hang out by his grave and leave cough medicine bottles on the monument there. After a rough , scary sled ride there, we would stop by White Castle for a 9 cent or 12 cent hamburger. Well usually several of them.
The other thing we would do as kids, when it snowed was build a fort. We were obsessed with forts. We built some good forts and defended them against the enemy. The enemy was always the kids from the neighboring buildings. Like 740, 756, or maybe the guys from "Dry Gulch" that was the area by our elementary school. PS 273 aka The Wortman School. There were good "lots" near the school.
We would have our forts and line up 100 snow balls to throw. We were well armed with snow balls. Some were more like ice balls. I used to love when one of us would yell out "Attack!" We'd grab a bunch of snow balls run towards the enemy , and bombard them. then run back to the fort and hide, and make more ammo. It was fun. By the end of the day we'd be frost bitten. Even on more peaceful snowy days when we'd build a giant snowman, with carrot nose and coal buttons, we'd still get frost bitten. We would go inside the building and put our frozen gloves on the radiator in the lobby. the hallway was always wet from our snowy boots. We usually wore long underwear or two pairs of pants. Sometimes we even had flannel lined jeans. You don't see those anymore. We had our woolen beanie caps that we pulled over our faces . You could see through that wool. We'd love to throw snowballs at tractor trailers. To hear the sound of 20 snowballs hitting the side of the container was a wonderful drum- like sound. Some friends of mine , one time ventured up to the train station on Van Siclen Ave. and were bombarding the subway trains with snow or ice balls as it went by. My friend Sandy and Dennis got arrested for that. Imagine, all the shootings you hear about today and my friends get arrested for throwing snowballs at a train. Come on,,, what the heck. Anyway, moving right along, I learned fast that leather gloves turned into the hardest things after you wear them in the snow all day and put them on a radiator. The worst part of this learning experience was that it was my father's leather gloves,,Oh yeah, he was so pissed off. But hey, at least my hands stayed warm most of the day.
Well I hope it snows and snows tonite. It will bring back those fond memories of big snow storms in Brooklyn.
Since it is snowing outside now I think I'll recall the snow storms of the 50's. My memory tells me the snow was at least 6 feet high. Considering that I must have been 4ft 6" the snow was probably 2 ft high and some deep drifts. All I know the snow was over our heads in some places. One cool thing about East new York was there was these barren fields we called "the lots". Some were once farms. Some were just empty plots of land. But they were always down a hill. That being said, hills and snow, that means sled riding. We all had those wooden sleds with metal runner blades. The brand was something Flyer,, maybe Famous Flyer, Sky Flyer , i can't recall. But they were indestructible. We always had a rope tied to the wooden steering handle.It didn't exactly steer it, it kind of bent the metal blades to guide you in a direction. We would hold the sled up , like holding a surf board. We would run with it and dive with it down onto the hill , and ride it down that snow so fast , it was scary. We'd often end up buried in a snow bank. Or we would flip over and roll down the hill with the sled. Sometimes we would crash into our friends and ummm try to kill them. No one ever died that i know of. The more we sledded, the more packed down the snow got, and the faster we would go. There was a hill, we heard about since we were little, but we were too young to go to. But when we were 13 we were old enough to attempt the deadly "Snake Hill". It was up by Highland Park. That was past East New York a few blocks after Fulton St or Jamaica Ave. The Park was bordered by Ridgewood on one side, and Forest Park, Woodhaven on the other side. Anyway, the hill was crazy. And it went across a road with traffic. And you couldn't stop . And you could surely get killed. But we all tried it. Snake Hill was for ENY sled heroes. Houdini's grave is in Highland Park by the way. Every year someone steals his head from the statue of him. Years later, drug addicts would hang out by his grave and leave cough medicine bottles on the monument there. After a rough , scary sled ride there, we would stop by White Castle for a 9 cent or 12 cent hamburger. Well usually several of them.
The other thing we would do as kids, when it snowed was build a fort. We were obsessed with forts. We built some good forts and defended them against the enemy. The enemy was always the kids from the neighboring buildings. Like 740, 756, or maybe the guys from "Dry Gulch" that was the area by our elementary school. PS 273 aka The Wortman School. There were good "lots" near the school.
We would have our forts and line up 100 snow balls to throw. We were well armed with snow balls. Some were more like ice balls. I used to love when one of us would yell out "Attack!" We'd grab a bunch of snow balls run towards the enemy , and bombard them. then run back to the fort and hide, and make more ammo. It was fun. By the end of the day we'd be frost bitten. Even on more peaceful snowy days when we'd build a giant snowman, with carrot nose and coal buttons, we'd still get frost bitten. We would go inside the building and put our frozen gloves on the radiator in the lobby. the hallway was always wet from our snowy boots. We usually wore long underwear or two pairs of pants. Sometimes we even had flannel lined jeans. You don't see those anymore. We had our woolen beanie caps that we pulled over our faces . You could see through that wool. We'd love to throw snowballs at tractor trailers. To hear the sound of 20 snowballs hitting the side of the container was a wonderful drum- like sound. Some friends of mine , one time ventured up to the train station on Van Siclen Ave. and were bombarding the subway trains with snow or ice balls as it went by. My friend Sandy and Dennis got arrested for that. Imagine, all the shootings you hear about today and my friends get arrested for throwing snowballs at a train. Come on,,, what the heck. Anyway, moving right along, I learned fast that leather gloves turned into the hardest things after you wear them in the snow all day and put them on a radiator. The worst part of this learning experience was that it was my father's leather gloves,,Oh yeah, he was so pissed off. But hey, at least my hands stayed warm most of the day.
Well I hope it snows and snows tonite. It will bring back those fond memories of big snow storms in Brooklyn.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Hurricane and phone service
Hurricane Sandy left me with no phone service on my landline and fax line.
Both Verizon and At&t were and still are out of service. They changing the date repairs will be completed. I figure it will be in 6 months. AT&T was a problem even before Sandy. Their cells service was the worst. I asked one of their representatives if AT&T meant Always Telephone Trouble, they didn't laugh.
I had a conversation the other day with a Verizon representative. I asked for a credit on my bill, since I have had no service since the storm hit. I called into repair a few weeks later to see what their progress was. I didn't think I had to call in immediately since my whole neighborhood is out of service. They told me credit is only from when I called in, they said I should have called sooner..I said , "how could i have called, i didn't have phone service". Then they said , If i didn't pay the balance they would cut off my service. I'm scratching my head... I don't have any service ,,, now they want to cut off my service.. So I ask them " if you cut off my service , how will I know?" since I do not have any service ,,, hmmmmmmmm
Both Verizon and At&t were and still are out of service. They changing the date repairs will be completed. I figure it will be in 6 months. AT&T was a problem even before Sandy. Their cells service was the worst. I asked one of their representatives if AT&T meant Always Telephone Trouble, they didn't laugh.
I had a conversation the other day with a Verizon representative. I asked for a credit on my bill, since I have had no service since the storm hit. I called into repair a few weeks later to see what their progress was. I didn't think I had to call in immediately since my whole neighborhood is out of service. They told me credit is only from when I called in, they said I should have called sooner..I said , "how could i have called, i didn't have phone service". Then they said , If i didn't pay the balance they would cut off my service. I'm scratching my head... I don't have any service ,,, now they want to cut off my service.. So I ask them " if you cut off my service , how will I know?" since I do not have any service ,,, hmmmmmmmm
Monday, November 5, 2012
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy hit hard. I thought it was all hype but i have to admit I was wrong.
Manhattan, which seems invincible ( before 911 happened) was flooded and a major part of Manhattan was flooded and without phones and power. Pretty much sucked. Now there are gasoline lines miles long. Crazy stuff. Anyway, I found a place to stay that had power outside of manhattan and while people were buying flashlights and water, I was busy buying ingredients to make a delicious Bolognese sauce for my pasta.
Several years back, when in East Hampton, Hurricane Bob hit hard. Bob lifted 100 year old trees out of the ground and me and my friend Frank were busy looking for pizza dough to make pizzas.
Some things never change.
Manhattan, which seems invincible ( before 911 happened) was flooded and a major part of Manhattan was flooded and without phones and power. Pretty much sucked. Now there are gasoline lines miles long. Crazy stuff. Anyway, I found a place to stay that had power outside of manhattan and while people were buying flashlights and water, I was busy buying ingredients to make a delicious Bolognese sauce for my pasta.
Several years back, when in East Hampton, Hurricane Bob hit hard. Bob lifted 100 year old trees out of the ground and me and my friend Frank were busy looking for pizza dough to make pizzas.
Some things never change.
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