Another Piece of NH World Disappears...

[N2NH]

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.

[W1GUH]

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.

[PA5COR]

Same sentiments here, sign of times and getting old me thinks...<BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR>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.<BR><BR>I travelled back to The Hague once to just have a look in my old neighbourhood i grew up as kid from a policeman.<BR>Then the old blocks were still there, but the neighbourhood already in decline and run down.<BR>10 years later the whole area was razed to the ground and new houses build.<BR>In&nbsp; a few weeks i will be 59,&nbsp;and i do find myself more and lore looking back, knowing it is a time passed, never to return.<BR>Somehow that saddens me.<BR>But there is enough in life to look forward too in the time remaining ;)<BR>

[kb2vxa]

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.

[n2ize]

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]

Happiness is a big Johnson.

:rofl:

[W1GUH]

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]

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

[N8YX]

Entropy is the only true constant.

This place was vibrant 30 years ago.

Now, the term 'melancholy' is more appropriate.



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]

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.