Another Piece of NH World Disappears... [Archive]

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N2NH

07-20-2011, 11:52 PM

32 Years ago, I found a place that was relatively unknown. Even by NY Cab drivers. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was a place you passed on the way to the city or the airport. Hardly anyone knew it was there. The area was hardly known except for Disco devotees. Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst were the Mecca of Disco 35 years ago. Even before Saturday Night Live was filmed there. The film was made of a phenomena that already existed rather than the other way around. I was probably the only person for 5 years that didn't move there for the Discos and Dancing (can't dance a step still).

Today, the Discos are long gone and those who went to the Discos are either dead, old and hardly able to walk or running around in one of those electric wheelchairs. A lot of the people I knew then have passed on, many younger than I was. It sad to see someone who couldn't stop moving hardly able to walk.

I got married, was accepted by the community (no small feat in Brooklyn) and lived for over 3 decades with views of the Narrows, both bays, short summers and incredibly bad winters. For over 11 of those years, I took care of my homebound wife. It was a hard but honest life.

I had a great butcher there. Went there for 25 years. When I got back to New York, it was one of the first places that I came back to. They've been in business since 1969 and July 19th was their last day in business.

I know that it's a little story, but it's 25 years of my life with people who became good friends. A little chunk here and a little chunk there. It's been a year and a half since I left there and it's getting hard to recognize Bay Ridge already. So many people, so many bits and pieces have been chipped away that it has no resemblance to the place I moved to in the late 70s. None.

I'd like to blame those who make this necessary, but I intend to move on with the memory of the better days. A treasure of living if not in God's Country, at least in a place that was one of the last vestiges of Old Brooklyn. Something few have known and don't even know what they're missing. No, it's not just that I'm getting old, that much is true. It's that people and places are disappearing, a way of life, a way of thinking, a part of this city and country that is irreplaceable is being eradicated. I truly pity those who come in the next few years for never having had a chance to live this life.

Hope things were better in your neck of the woods today. :nono:

W1GUH

07-21-2011, 08:34 AM

PA5COR

07-21-2011, 02:53 PM

Same sentiments here, sign of times and getting old me thinks... I was born in the Hague, raised there till i was a smart large city kid of the ripe age of 10, then my parents moved to my hometown i still live, a small provincial city of then 12.000 people, but with a rich history, very old buildings from 1300 - 1800 in the inner city, almost unchanged over the centuries. Well, the 70's came, and lots of these nice old houses and buildings were demolished to make place for the dreadful architecture of the 70's. Really hurtful to see that go, luckily they came to their senses and stopped ripping the beautiful heart out of a city with roots starting before baby jebus was born. I travelled back to The Hague once to just have a look in my old neighbourhood i grew up as kid from a policeman. Then the old blocks were still there, but the neighbourhood already in decline and run down. 10 years later the whole area was razed to the ground and new houses build. In  a few weeks i will be 59, and i do find myself more and lore looking back, knowing it is a time passed, never to return. Somehow that saddens me. But there is enough in life to look forward too in the time remaining ;)

kb2vxa

07-21-2011, 05:06 PM

n2ize

07-21-2011, 06:11 PM

Benson hoist, home-a da Fishahmin, king-a channel 21. With a Johnson desk kilowatt into an antenna 14 stories up and receiving with an antenna down in the courtyard he was our favorite alligator, all mouth and no ears. Da hammah an' ring, da maul n' dell... deayh deayh da deayh deayh deayh. Nope, the neighborhood will never be the same without him.

Happiness is a big Johnson.

Artie Windjammer ? aka "The little man with the big voice". He was the only one I knew with a desk KW. I remember them from channel 15. Artie and the Awesome Foursome aka "The Monstah Raydyo Stayshuns".

W1GUH

07-21-2011, 06:15 PM

Happiness is a big Johnson.

:rofl::rock::cheers:

W1GUH

07-21-2011, 06:16 PM

Artie Windjammer ? He was the only one I knew with a desk KW.

Don't forget Irb. He's the only ham I knew with one.

W2NAP

07-21-2011, 07:32 PM

same as here where i live, at one time this city i live in was amazing. now its just another craphole.

N8YX

07-21-2011, 08:01 PM

Entropy is the only true constant.

This place was vibrant 30 years ago.

Now, the term 'melancholy' is more appropriate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WXcexId5s8

The shopping malls Chrissie mentions are closing or were closed - as have many other brick and mortar establishments - and the woods are slowly reclaiming now-empty lots.

N2NH

07-22-2011, 12:02 AM

The funny thing is that they were building too much in Brooklyn and BR when I was there. Then when the bubble burst, people started dying. Seems to be the way they handle downturns there. Ambulances flying by, lights flashing, sirens blaring as they're ferried to the hospital. Part of the problem was the elderly. There was an inordinate number of them in BR and most were homeowners. When they went, so did the base. Most were crotchety old republicans who voted the B-tards in then in true Rush fashion blamed everyone but the GOP.

Things were very good at one time. Back in '78 when I first saw the place it was straight out of an Archie comic. Really. A place time forgot. I really envied those who grew up there instead of Harlem or Hell's Kitchen. Problem was that it ill-prepared them for the rest of the world and the rest of their lives. It wasn't heaven, but it was the closest I ever saw that in New York, including Riverdale and Forest Hills. A lot of Norwegians and Greeks, with some Swedish, Irish and Italian. Interesting mix and very different from where I came from. We had our characters. A very large seagull that used to walk the yellow line of the street on most mornings, especially if it was foggy. He's strut down the middle of the main street for hours. My friend G---ar, who'd get drunk on the weekend, go on the fire escape with his fox terrier Max while 1/2 the fire companies in Brooklyn responded. One night I was just too tired and told the firemen (who'd cordoned off the street) I lived there and was exhausted and had to get some sleep. They reluctantly let me in and when G---ar offered me a drink, they couldn't believe we knew each other.

Then there was the day of the mass suicide. I knew a woman, through her sister, who kept giant hamsters or guinea pigs in cages. As well as chickens and a rooster. All in her apartment. She was a bit slow and one night came home late from the Disco, drunk, played with her 'friends' and forgot to lock the cages. At daybreak, as roosters are supposed to, the rooster started to crow. From the edge of the fire escape. With the chickens right behind, he jumped. And flew. For a second. Then he plummeted into the elephant grass growing in the courtyard six stories below. One by one the chickens followed suit. Someone, either half-asleep or maliciously called the police and told them there was a bunch of people committing suicide. The cops arrived in record time, just as I left for work. I heard a commotion from above and realized it was her chickens. As I looked up, one of them lept and fell the 125 feet to it's death. I tried to tell the cops what was going on, but they were too upset. The cops told me it was better if I just left as it would be messy. As another chicken hit, one jumped and the other said "OH MY GOD!" and they were gone up the stairs to stop the remainder from killing themselves.

Giving up, I agreed with them and laughed all the way to the subway. Hysterically, like an idiot.

Ah, there's more. Maybe I'll write a book someday. Lake Wobegone will look like Leave It to Beaver. ;)

Thanks to all for being understanding. Methuselah must've had one heck of a curse on him to live a thousand years.

W3WN

07-22-2011, 07:41 AM

< snip >
Happiness is a big Johnson.You know, down at the boardwalk in Ocean City MD, there's quite a few shops selling Big Johnson T-Shirts.

W1GUH

07-23-2011, 03:56 PM

'NH:

Then there was the day of the mass suicide.

Did you at least have a delicious roast chicken dinner? Did the Chinese Restaurant down the block have a "General Tso's Chicken" special that week?

N2NH

07-23-2011, 05:37 PM

'NH:

Did you at least have a delicious roast chicken dinner? Did the Chinese Restaurant down the block have a "General Tso's Chicken" special that week?

I wish I could say I did, but the cops were really pissed when they realized they got the bird X8 when they found out. They just put then in a box and stuck them in the trunk of the police car.

Funny, seems that anything worth anything is becoming nothing but S#!T these days. I was thinking about Staten Island, but they're not only geographically undesirable, they've changed too. Was it Rudy? Was it the Shrub? Is it Mike? Dunno, but there's a special place in hell for people who destroy a way of life. I know it sure as F'n hell changed in Florida. In four years it went from a pretty decent place to s#!thole USA.

I have noticed that a lot of this seems to be a change in attitude. People who think their rich thinking that they can lord it over those who they think aren't rich.

Oh, right, we've seen that. And most of those people were worth less than I was, yet thought I was poor. Well, we'll all be in the same dumpster pretty soon.

Wonder when we'll see some other self-deluded vision of hierarchy created to keep the hoi polloi in their place? And with it an astronomically false sense of entitlement just like before?

It'll also be interesting to see what happens when gold becomes illegal to own again. Just bring it down to the center while you can before the forgiveness program expires...

Well, it's a 'demonocracy and we DID give it all away for a $600 tax cut. I guess this gives new meaning to cheap whore.

N2NH

07-23-2011, 06:09 PM

Very familiar with the sentiments you expressed there.

Gotta quote Mr. Lennon about this...

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain

Beatles from Rubber Soul. Full lyrices here (http://www.elyricsworld.com/there_are_places_i_remember_lyrics_beatles.html).

I was thinking of "In My Life" when I posted. The song that really came to mind was "Ordinary World" by Duran Duran.

Came in from a rainy Thursday
On the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly

I turned on the lights, the TV
And the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some are saying
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Funny. I spent nearly a decade living life as a serf there. I spent every moment of that time within a 1 mile by 1/2 mile area of Bay Ridge for those nine years never going outside of the neighborhood. Then, after over a decade, I was released from my obligations. I went to Times Square where I lived as a child and the same thing happened. It was transformed into a plastic Disney nightmarish phantasmagoria with perversely overly large buildings and not a single new yorker in sight. This city is slowly becoming a place that has nothing in common with me or my life. Even NHE said that it was like coming in from an alternate universe when we got back from six months in FL.

Eerily, It had changed even faster while we were gone.

We were in a totally different New York City. Even peoples attitudes were different. There was an air of depression, a desperateness that permeated everything, that cheapened the air, water and life itself.

I don't think I can find the door to the place I was, so I will move on. Instructions should be coming any day now.

kb2vxa

07-24-2011, 01:20 PM

"There was an air of depression, a desperateness that permeated everything, that cheapened the air, water and life itself."
You'll find that pretty much everywhere in the US these days.

"I don't think I can find the door to the place I was, so I will move on."
My thoughts exactly.

"Instructions should be coming any day now."
Australia.

N2NH

07-24-2011, 11:41 PM

"Instructions should be coming any day now."
Australia.

"Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me"

Nothing like time spent on the beach.

For all the others, just remember, lots are being sold at Big Bux Retreat in Paraguay. An offering by Bush Enterprises. Bids start at 1.5 Billion Euros.

W1GUH

07-25-2011, 08:21 AM

"Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me"

Nothing like time spent on the beach.

For all the others, just remember, lots are being sold at Big Bux Retreat in Paraguay. An offering by Bush Enterprises. Bids start at 1.5 Billion Euros.

Tie me kangaroo down, sport
Tie me kangaroo down.
.
.
.
Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred
Tan me hide when I'm dead.
.
.
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde
And that's it hangin' on the shed.

Did you hear the wobble board there?

Song was popular when I was spending all day and night in the shack putting together an HX-20.

Back on topic, sort of, it's always immediately obvious when an area (usually a hyped tourist area) had been the victim of re-development. You'll see a totally sanitized area that's as plastic and sterile as a mall, and the same restaurants and attractions as the last re-developed area you saw. Another common characteristic is that the "redeveloped" area is somewhere that used to be a functioning commercial or industrial area that was providing jobs and contributing to the economy that is now nothing more than a tourst trap. Some that I've seen have been utterly sad to see. The latest one that I've seen is Station Square in Pittsburgh. This was an area that was a real hotbed of the steel industry. I suppose that it's good that the area was recognized as historical and "saved" to the extent that physically it almost resembles what used to be there -- but when one realizes that what that masks is our total capitulation without even an honest effort to compete to other nations' innovation and industriousness -- one can get a tad angry and sad.

Other areas that resemble that are the Seaport in NYC, Quincy Market in Boston, Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, the pier in Redondo Beach, the waterfront in San Diego...the list is endless. Here's hoping that the current economic crash will eventually result in the realization that these areas are perfect exhibits to just how screwed up we've become.

W1GUH

07-25-2011, 08:22 AM

For all the others, just remember, lots are being sold at Big Bux Retreat in Paraguay. An offering by Bush Enterprises. Bids start at 1.5 Billion Euros.

I'd forgotten about that. Where the bush family will repair to when their cover has been blown and it's general knowledge how they've completely trashed the nation for their own gain.