Hello my friends,
My winter wink and blink can only turn to Christmas in “OUR INWOOD”… there have been those who have said… (err, written)… that “OUR INWOOD” was/is “not really…nor culturally” part of Manhattan!
What!?!... Ahh, HUMBUG!
Humbug… I say… not only is OUR INWOOD part of Manhattan culturally and in every other way you can think of… but, to put it frankly… it is one of the few true residential neighborhoods in Manhattan… it was the destination of the “old landed gentry” of the New York City of the Golden Age… it afforded the rich and powerful a “bucolic and yet urban oasis” for their mansions… and later still… it was the destination of the newlyweds of the post-WWII era… and those people… were… I am very proud to say (for the most part)… our parents…
So, to those who say that “OUR INWOOD” was something closer to Yonkers, or god-forbid Staten Island…?
I say again and again… in this Christmas and Hanukkah season…
Bah HUMBUG!
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” that is how the words go when singing one of my favorite Christmas jingles… and it reminds me of how “OUR INWOOD” readied itself for the big day… how the stores would magically change over to the wrappings and trappings of Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving was over… now-a-days we don’t have to worry nor wait for Thanksgiving… since Christmas decorations go up in the stores on July 5th in advance of the big day… but, when we were celebrating “the season” in our day… it truly was as these youthful remembrances would have it… that the decorations appeared in our neighborhood almost as if by magic…
The first sense of “The Season” were the holiday street lights… ahh, my friends… the lights… as they were strung across the wide expanse of W. 181st Street, and Dyckman Street and W. 207th Street… like… well, yes, like… magic… those large wooden poles painted green or red and then on occasion painted both half green and half red… and the strands of lights were white, gold, red and green… some years the local store owner’s association really splurged and the streets were and alternating flood of colors… and always the strands had bells, snowflakes and stars centered on our grand shopping streets… the main avenues of “OLD NEW YORK” had nothing on our uptown shopping districts… oh, all right… all right…. 5th Avenue had all of those beautiful windows… and Macy’s over on 34th and Broadway… at Herald Square… they had window after window… and then there was Lord & Taylor, and Bloomingdales, and yes, in Sachs 5th Avenue and so on… and yes, Rockefeller Center had “THE TREE”…
But we also had our store windows… and Lt. Tighe Triangle had “OUR TREE”… and the snow was always falling in my winks, blinks and nods… and I’m walking on Dyckman Street and I’m looking at and in all of the shop windows… and everyone is smiling… and everyone is bustling around… to complete their lists and to get them wrapped and under the tree…
And speaking of trees… there were no artificial trees to be had… no sir… it was real… it was fragrant… it was Balsam, Douglas Fir or Scotch Pine… and it was tall and full… and it was always in the corner of the living room… you remember over near the front window… opposite the steam radiator…
The trees at last look in this wink and blink… were still out on the fire-escapes catching a blanket of white… they would not go up in the corner of many a living room until there were visions of sugar plums dancing in little heads all over “OUR INWOOD”…
Now you all know what I have to do… now, yes you do… you know… that I cannot let Christmas go by without doing it…
I just have to do it… even though it will be a repeat of sorts… I just have to write:
“The snow is falling… in OUR INWOOD”…
The windows of Barone’s Restaurant are steamed from the heat of the kitchen and everyone is enjoying bottomless bowl of pasta… a bottle of red… and Christmas Cheer…
Rite-way Fruit across the street has sold its last dozen oranges… and pineapples… and still as one of two wreaths available…
Regina Bakery is till open and the last of the rye, white and pumpernickels just left the store… the baker is busy redoing everything as there will be the Christmas Morning rush for cheese buns and rolls in the morning…
The snow is falling… and now is getting heavy under foot…
Hans signals for you to come into Schillingmann’s and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with that little cookie… or with an English Muffin with all of its nooks and crannies dripping in butter… the hot chocolate is so good… and so inviting that you don’t want it to end… the “little cookie” is the height of ice cream parlor elegance… but it does and as you wish Mr. & Mrs. Schillingmann, Hans and everyone else sitting a the counter and tables a very Merry Christmas… you’re out the door and onto Dyckman Street once more… and you guessed it…
The snow is falling… harder now…
Weiss’ Toy Store is closed and out of almost everything… the electric trains, the fire engines that will pump real water… the plastic ship models… battleships, aircraft carriers, pt-boats… everything is sold-out…
Mr. DeMiglio’s always a friendly fellow is selling the last of his trees… Danny D. wishes you a very merry and asks if you’re attending mid-night mass at OLQM… the answer is yes… and that you’ll see him there… and the Loews Inwood is showing a holiday film…
Woolworth’s is almost ready to call it a merry holiday… the little trinkets, a set of pot holders for Mom… and that great find of a pipe for Dad… are all sold… the luncheon counter has sold its last ice cream soda… and its last slice of apple pie… and the last balloon with a discount price has been popped…
And outside… The snow is falling… harder… it will be a blizzard…
The Denwin Tavern is packed to the walls… the trees that are being sold along its wall on Post Avenue by Big John and Billy C. are almost gone… Scotch Pine is all that remains… the holiday cheer abounds… Mr. Marino the Shoemaker has repaired his last heel & sole and has given his last shoeshine… he has left his little Christmas Tree in the window lit to wish all of his neighbors a blessed Christmas…
All is quiet… in the snow… on the corners of Post Avenue and Dyckman Street…
The windows of Lewis’ Appliance Store are dark… and Parness Women’s Shoppe is about to close… there is just enough time to pop in and buy Mom a Christmas pin for her coat…
Barracini’s Candy Store is still open and the last boxes of chocolate covered cherries and butter crunch are waiting for you to buy them…
Horn and Hardut is almost ready to call it a night… if you’re fast you can pop-in and pickup some rice pudding and fish cakes and spaghetti… because after all of this whirlwind shopping Mom has not held dinner for you… and of course H&H’s fishcakes and spaghetti are things of legend… and the rice pudding is getting a following too…
And yes, the snow continues to fall… your thoughts turn to sledding tomorrow…
A run across Sherman Avenue towards the Chase Manhattan Bank is now a feat since the snow is ankle deep – so much for the shoeshine… you glance back to see that Barry’s Bar is also ringing in Christmas in fine fashion… the joint is jumping…
You can hear the crashing of bowling pins and the clanking pin-setters coming from the Dyckman Bowling Alley… sounds like all the lanes are full… a few steps further and there it is… the television in the window of Whalen’s Furniture Store is on… Lawrence Welk is playing his dance music… and soon the channel will be showing that Ralph still thinks Norton is crazy… and that Alice is the greatest… in their own adaptation of the “Gift of the Magi”… then the greetings and blessings of Mid-Night Mass from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral will be on the air… after midnight mass… the annual Yule Log will once again blaze away… and it will give the viewer standing in the snow on Dyckman Street some electronic warmth…
The Hi-Ho is selling the last of the boneless chicken and chop suey… the egg rolls and fortune cookies are always a delight… the clock on the corner above Sarafian’s shows that there are but 20 minutes to make it to midnight Mass… at the corner of Vermilyea Avenue you can see that the younger crowd is making a grand time of it in GarryOwens… where the girls are always pretty and will help make Christmas magical…
The snow has now shut Broadway and Dyckman Street down…
You can hear nothing but the crunch of snow beneath your feet… slowly the Broadway Bus the #100 arrives quietly… the snow has softened everything.. the doors open and you hop aboard… just enough time to arrive at Good Shepherd and mid-night Mass… for at the end of Mass they will sing the Star Spangled Banner… and even though you’re from OLQM… the beauty of midnight Mass at GS is simply something to behold… with its never disappointing salute to God & Country…
Hopping off the bus in front of the bank… you see that Fanny Farmer is closed… all of the holiday candies have been sold… a very quick look around the corner shows that Tara Gifts has also finished selling its Irish gifts for the holiday… and the lights just went out in Esposito’s Liquor store…
Once mid-night mass is over…. it’s out into Christmas Morning… and the falling snow… and home to put the presents under the tree… but first, you slip into the Golden Rule Restaurant for another hot chocolate…
The #100 going downtown is no where in sight… and so you hoof it down Broadway… Minogues (later Costello’s)… Dolan’s (later the Hedgehog)… Freehill’s… Patrick’s… Markey’s… and The Park Gate… are all full and the patrons are toasting this Christmas and wishing for a New Year better than the one that is coming to an end…
This was Christmas in “OUR INWOOD” my friends… may all of your Christmases be as wonderful… may you get all the things that you always want and wish for… may you have the true gift of Christmas… and that is… what I wish for each of you… today and always…
Peace…
Inwood Guy
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
An "OUR INWOOD" Thanksgiving... friends, family... and...
Hello my friends…
Well… I certainly hope that all is well with you, and yours’ and of course you know that I wish only one thing for you all…and that of course comes at the bottom of my little posting… and my wink… blink and nod…
I cannot let the opportunity to go by and not wish for you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful Thanksgiving… and to remember the good old days of “OUR INWOOD” and this day that kicked-off the holiday season in the old nabe…
I had the opportunity last week to drive up Dyckman Street and hopefully… but, alas, I was too early for the holiday lights…they were not draped across the street… there were no green and red wooden poles standing like holiday sentries awaiting the hanging of alternating swags of green, red, white and gold lights… swags with centered stars, bells and snowflakes… and not seeing that they were there was a disappointment…
So, when I arrived home… I just started to take one of my winks and blinks back to those wonderful thoroughfares of both Dyckman and W. 207th Streets… of course in this little memory trip there are snowflakes falling… the stores are bustling… everyone is happy… shopping lists in hand we’re off to get the bird… the sweets and veggies… the stuffing… and of course the pies… just a few, a very few signs of Christmas are appearing… we were… I am proud to say traditionalists and Christmas waited until turkey day was over… one thing I always did do was to visit the Tara Gift Shop and get a little gift from Ireland for my grandmother… the first time I did it she exclaimed that she had never gotten a gift on Thanksgiving before… that made it a tradition for me… after all the woman who started a line of 25 grandchildren, 3-times that number in great-grandchildren deserved a little trinket from the land of her birth…
If Pop was up to it… we would make the quick subway ride downtown to “The Parade”… go over to Broadway and stand over a subway grate and be as warm as that bird we would devour later in the evening… the parade was always great… I’m talking about the years when the Philadelphia Mummers were the parade highlight… followed closely by the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile… the balloons were magnificent then and they still are… one thing we did not have “thank God” was NBC broadcasting “… Nothing But Commercial’s… and a network self-promotion!”
But, ahh alas…, I digress from my wink, blink and nod…
Thanksgiving Day is not to be forgotten when we remember “OUR INWOOD”… I know that many of us went to our respective houses of worship… and of course to one or two (or maybe three) homes of relatives and friends… the main course at home… desert at another perhaps that of a favorite aunt & uncle or grandparents house (… by house I mean apartment…) and yes, yes, those late night turkey sandwiches in still another…the evening’s feast was indeed incredible…
The preparation for Thanksgiving was just as exciting as the day… the purchase of the vegetables was always a ritual… and always the same… fruit from Rite Way Fruit… the veggies from DeMiglio’s… the breads, both rye and pumpernickel from Regina’s… year’s later we would add an Irish Soda Bread from Johnnies… the ice cream was from… yes… you knew it… Schillingmann’s... and the bird? Ahh… The bird came from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company’s butcher shop…
Later on in years when we were older and more brazen… Thanksgiving Day saw us crashing the gate at the Hayes vs. Mount St. Michael Game at Baker Field…
Yes my friends, Thanksgiving in “OUR INWOOD” it was simple… it was home… it was love… and it was what I wish for you…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Well… I certainly hope that all is well with you, and yours’ and of course you know that I wish only one thing for you all…and that of course comes at the bottom of my little posting… and my wink… blink and nod…
I cannot let the opportunity to go by and not wish for you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful Thanksgiving… and to remember the good old days of “OUR INWOOD” and this day that kicked-off the holiday season in the old nabe…
I had the opportunity last week to drive up Dyckman Street and hopefully… but, alas, I was too early for the holiday lights…they were not draped across the street… there were no green and red wooden poles standing like holiday sentries awaiting the hanging of alternating swags of green, red, white and gold lights… swags with centered stars, bells and snowflakes… and not seeing that they were there was a disappointment…
So, when I arrived home… I just started to take one of my winks and blinks back to those wonderful thoroughfares of both Dyckman and W. 207th Streets… of course in this little memory trip there are snowflakes falling… the stores are bustling… everyone is happy… shopping lists in hand we’re off to get the bird… the sweets and veggies… the stuffing… and of course the pies… just a few, a very few signs of Christmas are appearing… we were… I am proud to say traditionalists and Christmas waited until turkey day was over… one thing I always did do was to visit the Tara Gift Shop and get a little gift from Ireland for my grandmother… the first time I did it she exclaimed that she had never gotten a gift on Thanksgiving before… that made it a tradition for me… after all the woman who started a line of 25 grandchildren, 3-times that number in great-grandchildren deserved a little trinket from the land of her birth…
If Pop was up to it… we would make the quick subway ride downtown to “The Parade”… go over to Broadway and stand over a subway grate and be as warm as that bird we would devour later in the evening… the parade was always great… I’m talking about the years when the Philadelphia Mummers were the parade highlight… followed closely by the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile… the balloons were magnificent then and they still are… one thing we did not have “thank God” was NBC broadcasting “… Nothing But Commercial’s… and a network self-promotion!”
But, ahh alas…, I digress from my wink, blink and nod…
Thanksgiving Day is not to be forgotten when we remember “OUR INWOOD”… I know that many of us went to our respective houses of worship… and of course to one or two (or maybe three) homes of relatives and friends… the main course at home… desert at another perhaps that of a favorite aunt & uncle or grandparents house (… by house I mean apartment…) and yes, yes, those late night turkey sandwiches in still another…the evening’s feast was indeed incredible…
The preparation for Thanksgiving was just as exciting as the day… the purchase of the vegetables was always a ritual… and always the same… fruit from Rite Way Fruit… the veggies from DeMiglio’s… the breads, both rye and pumpernickel from Regina’s… year’s later we would add an Irish Soda Bread from Johnnies… the ice cream was from… yes… you knew it… Schillingmann’s... and the bird? Ahh… The bird came from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company’s butcher shop…
Later on in years when we were older and more brazen… Thanksgiving Day saw us crashing the gate at the Hayes vs. Mount St. Michael Game at Baker Field…
Yes my friends, Thanksgiving in “OUR INWOOD” it was simple… it was home… it was love… and it was what I wish for you…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Piles of red, orange and brown...
Hello my friends,
Well... you'll excuse me I hope for my lengthy absence from the blog... and if my lack of posting offended anyone I apologize... but, work has gotten so busy that I have been distracted from my promise to post regularly...
Now that Mother Nature’s entire color canopy has fallen to the ground and I have been busy raking up those leaves... I could not let this Sunday afternoon in early November go by without a wink, blink and nod... back to the parks of "OUR INWOOD"... for in my mind's eye I can still see the huge piles of red, orange and brown leaves... piled to the sky in the park... I can still hear the crunch of the leaves under my feet as I ran through those mountains of maple and oak...
Ahh, my friends... the smells of Autumn are something to behold... fresh as all outdoors as they say... the paths of Fort Tryon, Payson and Inwood Hill were the most fun in the fall...
Going up Devil's Hill to the Sun house in Fort Tryon... walking with whomever the "girl of the month was" it was a great time... stealing a kiss and holding hands... and promising a love forever... the same for a Sunday walk into Payson Park... up from the Park House... over and down into Inwood Hill... it was a climb and quite a hike... but, the paths and turns... staircases and tunnels gave locations for wonderful places and moments of teenage bliss... that still last in a wink, blink and nod...
Enjoy your time this fall my friends... think back to an afternoon when you hugged, and pecked, and kissed that special someone... and relish the comfort that those memories bring back...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Well... you'll excuse me I hope for my lengthy absence from the blog... and if my lack of posting offended anyone I apologize... but, work has gotten so busy that I have been distracted from my promise to post regularly...
Now that Mother Nature’s entire color canopy has fallen to the ground and I have been busy raking up those leaves... I could not let this Sunday afternoon in early November go by without a wink, blink and nod... back to the parks of "OUR INWOOD"... for in my mind's eye I can still see the huge piles of red, orange and brown leaves... piled to the sky in the park... I can still hear the crunch of the leaves under my feet as I ran through those mountains of maple and oak...
Ahh, my friends... the smells of Autumn are something to behold... fresh as all outdoors as they say... the paths of Fort Tryon, Payson and Inwood Hill were the most fun in the fall...
Going up Devil's Hill to the Sun house in Fort Tryon... walking with whomever the "girl of the month was" it was a great time... stealing a kiss and holding hands... and promising a love forever... the same for a Sunday walk into Payson Park... up from the Park House... over and down into Inwood Hill... it was a climb and quite a hike... but, the paths and turns... staircases and tunnels gave locations for wonderful places and moments of teenage bliss... that still last in a wink, blink and nod...
Enjoy your time this fall my friends... think back to an afternoon when you hugged, and pecked, and kissed that special someone... and relish the comfort that those memories bring back...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Remembering heroes....
At this moment 9 years later... all this "Inwood Guy" can write... is that today those we lost at the WTC, the Pentagon, and at Shanksville... all touch the face of God... and someday... if our faith is true... we will also touch God's face with them as well...
May they... and all of the heroes who have answered the call to fight terrorism... Rest in...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
May they... and all of the heroes who have answered the call to fight terrorism... Rest in...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Lariats... tee-shirts... ferris wheels... and...
Hello my friends...
Greetings from Cape Cod... these dog days of summer bring about some very long and welcomed wink, blinks and nods... and as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean and sets over Cape Cod Bay... I am finally finding sometime to relax, smoke my cigars, read my newspapers and enjoy the memories of "OUR INWOOD" and our long hot summers of yesterday...
Rockaway and Long Beach are distant memories... as now I trade a NYC Subway or Long Island Rail Road ride... for a 5 hour car trip to just outside of Provincetown, MA... for 3 weeks of total communing with Mother Nature on what I believe to be the last best beaches on this great earth... Head of the Meadow on the Atlantic and Corn Hill on Cape Cod Bay...
Every morning I would jump out of bed and put on my Red St. Judes Day Camp tee-shirt... shorts or long jeans were the alternate pants of choice... the Kelly Green swim shorts were now fading to a bright yellow from all of the chlorine in the various swimming pools that we've visited throughout the summer...
The pools at Miramar (so close to the camp... yet, a world-a-way at the same time), Rye Beach, Bear Mountain State Park, Mad-Anthony Wayne, the Old Mill... ah, my friends those were the days... the silver buses would be lined up on the street outside the gates of St. Jude's School yard... the lunch of raw veggies, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Kool-aid would be loaded into the cargo hold... and off we went for a day of fun in the sun... the bus trip would be passed by the weaving of beautiful foot long lariats... box weave, diamond and barrel weaves were things of beauty... as the travel time idled by and yes the time on rainy days were passed by making 1 and 2 foot long chains of colorful beauty... black and white, yellow and red, blue and silver the color combinations were really endless...
In mid-August the yard would begin its magical transformation to prepare for the St. Judes Bazaar and that meant 9 nights of Ford Falcons being raffled off... and of outstanding fun... the Ferris Wheel... the coin pitch... the gambling hall... the pop-corn and cotton candy... the booths with spinning wheels clacking away... the guys and girls from all over the neighborhood would convene every night for fun and flirting... these late summer romances would very often provide great dating into the fall and perhaps if were lucky into the winter too...
Ahh, my friends... just close your eyes and think back to those wonderful summers in "OUR INWOOD"... those two months that seemed like it took a year to pass... those summers that were full of fun... full of laughs... full of young love and of course, full of...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Greetings from Cape Cod... these dog days of summer bring about some very long and welcomed wink, blinks and nods... and as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean and sets over Cape Cod Bay... I am finally finding sometime to relax, smoke my cigars, read my newspapers and enjoy the memories of "OUR INWOOD" and our long hot summers of yesterday...
Rockaway and Long Beach are distant memories... as now I trade a NYC Subway or Long Island Rail Road ride... for a 5 hour car trip to just outside of Provincetown, MA... for 3 weeks of total communing with Mother Nature on what I believe to be the last best beaches on this great earth... Head of the Meadow on the Atlantic and Corn Hill on Cape Cod Bay...
Every morning I would jump out of bed and put on my Red St. Judes Day Camp tee-shirt... shorts or long jeans were the alternate pants of choice... the Kelly Green swim shorts were now fading to a bright yellow from all of the chlorine in the various swimming pools that we've visited throughout the summer...
The pools at Miramar (so close to the camp... yet, a world-a-way at the same time), Rye Beach, Bear Mountain State Park, Mad-Anthony Wayne, the Old Mill... ah, my friends those were the days... the silver buses would be lined up on the street outside the gates of St. Jude's School yard... the lunch of raw veggies, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Kool-aid would be loaded into the cargo hold... and off we went for a day of fun in the sun... the bus trip would be passed by the weaving of beautiful foot long lariats... box weave, diamond and barrel weaves were things of beauty... as the travel time idled by and yes the time on rainy days were passed by making 1 and 2 foot long chains of colorful beauty... black and white, yellow and red, blue and silver the color combinations were really endless...
In mid-August the yard would begin its magical transformation to prepare for the St. Judes Bazaar and that meant 9 nights of Ford Falcons being raffled off... and of outstanding fun... the Ferris Wheel... the coin pitch... the gambling hall... the pop-corn and cotton candy... the booths with spinning wheels clacking away... the guys and girls from all over the neighborhood would convene every night for fun and flirting... these late summer romances would very often provide great dating into the fall and perhaps if were lucky into the winter too...
Ahh, my friends... just close your eyes and think back to those wonderful summers in "OUR INWOOD"... those two months that seemed like it took a year to pass... those summers that were full of fun... full of laughs... full of young love and of course, full of...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
For Tonypepperoni...
Tony...
I am sorry... but, I am not "John"... and I think I know the John to whom you refer... he gets a big kick out of the assumption by some that he is "Inwood Guy"... but, like I have always said... it does not matter who I am...
What does matter... is that we keep "OUR INWOOD - memories" alive!
Thanks, Tony for your interest!
Peace,
Inwood Guy
I am sorry... but, I am not "John"... and I think I know the John to whom you refer... he gets a big kick out of the assumption by some that he is "Inwood Guy"... but, like I have always said... it does not matter who I am...
What does matter... is that we keep "OUR INWOOD - memories" alive!
Thanks, Tony for your interest!
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
A wrench... a hydrant pump... and someone watching "Chickie"...
Hello my friends...
Well, well, well... that's what I was hoping would not go dry in this beautiful July weather of 104 degrees in our beautiful upstate county... so far so good... had to top off the pool due to evaporation... you know... we never had to worry about pools when we were in "OUR INWOOD"...
After breaking an incredible sweat doing these tasks today... I settled back into the air-conditioned haven of my family room (err, that's something else we didn't have in our day... no family room, nor air conditioner)... but, my wink, blink and nod today... took me... and will hopefully take you back to sneakers melting on blacktop... someone finally having had enough... getting their father's wrench and opening up the fire hydrant!
Ahh, yes... roaring torrents of ice cold water... girls in summer man tailored blouses running for dear life... as the payment for getting too close was getting dragged under... ahh, there really was something to say about a beautiful white blouse becoming skin tight... oh, well, I certainly digress...
On almost every block there was the spot where we would congregate to get wet! we would take turns looking out for "Chickie" --- "The Cops"...
For some reason the policeman always... and I mean always... moved very slowly as he pulled up in the squad car... got out and shut it down...
There were summers when we got really bold... like the time we took Mr. Esposito's wine barrel and placed it over a fully opened hydrant... the water shot straight-up two to three stories... that is until it exploded!
These are the dog days of summer my friends... but, they are also opportunities to remember ice cold fountains of water... walks in the park... trips up to Miramar Pool... the subway out to Rockaway...
These are the memories of our lives... this is the one thing that a great wink, blink and nod brings on a scorching summer afternoon...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Well, well, well... that's what I was hoping would not go dry in this beautiful July weather of 104 degrees in our beautiful upstate county... so far so good... had to top off the pool due to evaporation... you know... we never had to worry about pools when we were in "OUR INWOOD"...
After breaking an incredible sweat doing these tasks today... I settled back into the air-conditioned haven of my family room (err, that's something else we didn't have in our day... no family room, nor air conditioner)... but, my wink, blink and nod today... took me... and will hopefully take you back to sneakers melting on blacktop... someone finally having had enough... getting their father's wrench and opening up the fire hydrant!
Ahh, yes... roaring torrents of ice cold water... girls in summer man tailored blouses running for dear life... as the payment for getting too close was getting dragged under... ahh, there really was something to say about a beautiful white blouse becoming skin tight... oh, well, I certainly digress...
On almost every block there was the spot where we would congregate to get wet! we would take turns looking out for "Chickie" --- "The Cops"...
For some reason the policeman always... and I mean always... moved very slowly as he pulled up in the squad car... got out and shut it down...
There were summers when we got really bold... like the time we took Mr. Esposito's wine barrel and placed it over a fully opened hydrant... the water shot straight-up two to three stories... that is until it exploded!
These are the dog days of summer my friends... but, they are also opportunities to remember ice cold fountains of water... walks in the park... trips up to Miramar Pool... the subway out to Rockaway...
These are the memories of our lives... this is the one thing that a great wink, blink and nod brings on a scorching summer afternoon...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Monday, July 5, 2010
Hello Friends...
Altough I cannot prevent anyone from doing a cut & paste of a post onto the Manhattan Board... I ask you not to do so... what I would appreciate is your letting everyone know about this blog... THANKS!
Peace,
IG
Peace,
IG
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Glorious 4th!
Hello my dear friends,
Do you remember the “Glorious 4th”?... in "OUR INWOOD"?
I always remember from Sister George’s history and civics classes that John Adams called it “… the Glorious 4th!”
Ahh, my dear friends… it is the 4th of July… and the memories come flooding back as this wink, blink and nod… takes me back to going “…down the river…” to the Henry Hudson Ball fields… a paper bag full of fireworks… purchased on Mulberry Street… right on the Little Italy/Chinatown border…
About 10 packs of crackers… 6 bottle rockets… and as many roman candles too… will get us through the evening… perhaps if Joey A. is down there I will be able to buy a couple of Cherry Bombs… we’ll see…
The fields are full… families having fun… Mr. Casey gives me a tip that a good 6 to 8 inch piece of clothesline well-lit with a cigarette lighter will burn all night… and is the best firecracker fuse lighter around… he was right…
The show is about to begin as the sun has gone down beyond the Palisades… Roman Candles are lighting up the sky with green red and blue bursts of fire… the bottle rockets whistle high into the air and explode… the packs of crackers go off in rapid succession…
You can see the older guys who are wearing their heavy boots stepping on the duds… couldn’t do that with a sneaker…
The local police squad-car cruises through and as soon as they see that half the fathers are cops… they will not be seen again… for the rest of the evening…
The day of course began with the traditional marathon stickball game… a real 12 inning affair… with so many 2 sewer homeruns you lost count… only to be ended by a 3 sewer blast that lost the ball… the late afternoon and early evening saw one of the bar league games being played… GarryOwens beat Sam’s 3-2…
Now-a-days, the 4th is celebrated with a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of Town Hall… and then a stop at the Pork Store for Brats… and then back home to the pool… its different… that’s for sure… as we’ve moved out to the burbs…
But, the memories are still vivid of a neighborhood coming together to celebrate the birth of our nation… of fathers who were just 10 years home from a world war that defeated the enemies of our wonderful democracy… and saved the world for us… and of course they were the men who brought back one very important thing… to "OUR INWOOD"!... they brought back...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Do you remember the “Glorious 4th”?... in "OUR INWOOD"?
I always remember from Sister George’s history and civics classes that John Adams called it “… the Glorious 4th!”
Ahh, my dear friends… it is the 4th of July… and the memories come flooding back as this wink, blink and nod… takes me back to going “…down the river…” to the Henry Hudson Ball fields… a paper bag full of fireworks… purchased on Mulberry Street… right on the Little Italy/Chinatown border…
About 10 packs of crackers… 6 bottle rockets… and as many roman candles too… will get us through the evening… perhaps if Joey A. is down there I will be able to buy a couple of Cherry Bombs… we’ll see…
The fields are full… families having fun… Mr. Casey gives me a tip that a good 6 to 8 inch piece of clothesline well-lit with a cigarette lighter will burn all night… and is the best firecracker fuse lighter around… he was right…
The show is about to begin as the sun has gone down beyond the Palisades… Roman Candles are lighting up the sky with green red and blue bursts of fire… the bottle rockets whistle high into the air and explode… the packs of crackers go off in rapid succession…
You can see the older guys who are wearing their heavy boots stepping on the duds… couldn’t do that with a sneaker…
The local police squad-car cruises through and as soon as they see that half the fathers are cops… they will not be seen again… for the rest of the evening…
The day of course began with the traditional marathon stickball game… a real 12 inning affair… with so many 2 sewer homeruns you lost count… only to be ended by a 3 sewer blast that lost the ball… the late afternoon and early evening saw one of the bar league games being played… GarryOwens beat Sam’s 3-2…
Now-a-days, the 4th is celebrated with a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of Town Hall… and then a stop at the Pork Store for Brats… and then back home to the pool… its different… that’s for sure… as we’ve moved out to the burbs…
But, the memories are still vivid of a neighborhood coming together to celebrate the birth of our nation… of fathers who were just 10 years home from a world war that defeated the enemies of our wonderful democracy… and saved the world for us… and of course they were the men who brought back one very important thing… to "OUR INWOOD"!... they brought back...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pole Dancing....
Hello my friends...
I hope that the beginning of your summer days are quiet, full of fun and of course most peaceful...
For a moment there... from the title of my little post... I’ll bet that you thought I was going to take you down a path of tantalizing memories or discovery...
Well my dear friends, I am...
For the pole that I see on this warm early summer's day (and on every upcoming hot summer's afternoon) in my quick wink, blink and nod... stands in the center of the playground in Fort Tyron Park... it is tall and round and steel gray... and yes many a pretty girl in a bathing suit will shimmy-up its length and slide back down... it is the source of an arc of cool... no, cold... and refreshing water... an oasis of fun and enjoyment on many a hot sunny afternoon... more legal than opening the fire hydrant... even though it may have not been as much fun... I will save the memory of the fire hydrant, the torrent of ice cold water, the ruined man-tailored blouses and the appreciation of a wet tee-shirt for another post...
For us growing up in "OUR INWOOD" in the summer visiting the parks was an every day event.... first of all when we played there, err, visited... err, no, almost lived there.... there was no admission charge what-so-ever.... that's right it was free.... and play, we did... knock hockey was “the game”... tournaments were held... with champions representing the various parks and playgrounds of the city traveling to regional and then City-wide tournaments... as a matter of fact I married a Payson Park Knock Hockey Champion...
Growing up there were so many things to do... arts and crafts, ping pong, checkers, chess (for the more cerebral), marbles, shuffle board, the monkey bars, the small and big kid swings, the sand boxes... and if all of that was taken (and it usually was)... and we were lucky enough to have a Spaldeen in our pocket... and if we could find a Popsicle Stick... we had hours of a little game called “hit the stick” ahead of us...
And then... if that was not enough... and yes, very often it was not enough for us... there would be more fun up in... The Cloisters...
Yes that castle that we would share with friends playing Knights and Ladies of the Old Round Table... or we had our own version of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.... sure we would even play Cowboys and Indians, and even then there was “WAR” (our version of G.I. Joe) up in Fort Tryon Park.... but running around the property of a world class medieval museum and not knowing or appearing to care that the art work was hundreds and even a thousand years old.... was really quite commonplace for us.... but, when we look back now.... the memories of those games are really precious....
The Cloisters was so special.... a very special gift from old John D. Rockefeller himself.... he didn't have to do it.... but, all of us who grew up in Inwood are certainly in his debt.... for believe it or not, the place did rub-off on us.... we did emerge from "OUR INWOOD" with some culture.... and an appreciation for fine art.... and yes, the dedicated teachers of OLQM, GSS, SJ and PS152, PS98 and JHS52 all had something to do with it.... and yes, when STING sat there in that chapel at the Cloisters for his interview on CBS... I had the joy of telling my daughter.... "You see that place, right there where STING is.... I stole more than a few kisses right there, right there...."
Thank God, one or two (no... many) of those kisses was from her Mother... I'm proud to say.... Ahh, what a place it was, so cool inside... it was a refuge from a hot summer's day and a warm retreat on a cold winter’s day walk in the park.... was that really the “Holy Grail” that sat under the glass case? Were there really a King and Queen in regal repose and forever enshrined-in-state in that Royal Hall? Did Knights, Vassals and Serfs really man the ramparts in defense of the King and Queen? Did the drawbridge gate really keep out hordes of marauding Vikings? Ahh, my friends... the memories on a summer’s day abound... our imaginations ran wild…. wild indeed... in a beautiful wink, blink and nod!
Happy Summer Days of 2010 my dear, dear friends and as always I wish you...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
I hope that the beginning of your summer days are quiet, full of fun and of course most peaceful...
For a moment there... from the title of my little post... I’ll bet that you thought I was going to take you down a path of tantalizing memories or discovery...
Well my dear friends, I am...
For the pole that I see on this warm early summer's day (and on every upcoming hot summer's afternoon) in my quick wink, blink and nod... stands in the center of the playground in Fort Tyron Park... it is tall and round and steel gray... and yes many a pretty girl in a bathing suit will shimmy-up its length and slide back down... it is the source of an arc of cool... no, cold... and refreshing water... an oasis of fun and enjoyment on many a hot sunny afternoon... more legal than opening the fire hydrant... even though it may have not been as much fun... I will save the memory of the fire hydrant, the torrent of ice cold water, the ruined man-tailored blouses and the appreciation of a wet tee-shirt for another post...
For us growing up in "OUR INWOOD" in the summer visiting the parks was an every day event.... first of all when we played there, err, visited... err, no, almost lived there.... there was no admission charge what-so-ever.... that's right it was free.... and play, we did... knock hockey was “the game”... tournaments were held... with champions representing the various parks and playgrounds of the city traveling to regional and then City-wide tournaments... as a matter of fact I married a Payson Park Knock Hockey Champion...
Growing up there were so many things to do... arts and crafts, ping pong, checkers, chess (for the more cerebral), marbles, shuffle board, the monkey bars, the small and big kid swings, the sand boxes... and if all of that was taken (and it usually was)... and we were lucky enough to have a Spaldeen in our pocket... and if we could find a Popsicle Stick... we had hours of a little game called “hit the stick” ahead of us...
And then... if that was not enough... and yes, very often it was not enough for us... there would be more fun up in... The Cloisters...
Yes that castle that we would share with friends playing Knights and Ladies of the Old Round Table... or we had our own version of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.... sure we would even play Cowboys and Indians, and even then there was “WAR” (our version of G.I. Joe) up in Fort Tryon Park.... but running around the property of a world class medieval museum and not knowing or appearing to care that the art work was hundreds and even a thousand years old.... was really quite commonplace for us.... but, when we look back now.... the memories of those games are really precious....
The Cloisters was so special.... a very special gift from old John D. Rockefeller himself.... he didn't have to do it.... but, all of us who grew up in Inwood are certainly in his debt.... for believe it or not, the place did rub-off on us.... we did emerge from "OUR INWOOD" with some culture.... and an appreciation for fine art.... and yes, the dedicated teachers of OLQM, GSS, SJ and PS152, PS98 and JHS52 all had something to do with it.... and yes, when STING sat there in that chapel at the Cloisters for his interview on CBS... I had the joy of telling my daughter.... "You see that place, right there where STING is.... I stole more than a few kisses right there, right there...."
Thank God, one or two (no... many) of those kisses was from her Mother... I'm proud to say.... Ahh, what a place it was, so cool inside... it was a refuge from a hot summer's day and a warm retreat on a cold winter’s day walk in the park.... was that really the “Holy Grail” that sat under the glass case? Were there really a King and Queen in regal repose and forever enshrined-in-state in that Royal Hall? Did Knights, Vassals and Serfs really man the ramparts in defense of the King and Queen? Did the drawbridge gate really keep out hordes of marauding Vikings? Ahh, my friends... the memories on a summer’s day abound... our imaginations ran wild…. wild indeed... in a beautiful wink, blink and nod!
Happy Summer Days of 2010 my dear, dear friends and as always I wish you...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Remembering Father's Day... and the men who made it great...
Hello my friends,
On the day that has been set aside to honor fathers… I will begin by remembering the men who shared in the birth of the man… and who shared in the birth of the woman… who shared in my birth…
I invite you my dear friends to do the same… about the great men in your life…
If we were lucky enough… truly lucky enough… there would be 3 men who we would come to know… and love… and who we would call at some very appropriate time in our lives… Pop... and Grandpa... and Daddy...
They were… I am most honored to say… true… “GIANTS”…
The first two… were handsome and graying gentlemen… who I’m sure most of us (like I did)… thought they were ancient from the very outset of our lives… but in hindsight… they were really quite young… and it was being in their presence and listening to their stories and their wisdom… that now places so many things in proper perspective… Pop (paternal) and Grandpa (maternal)… both… if you’re my age… were born in a year that began with 1800 and something… and they were GIANTS… yes they were the GIANTS on whose shoulders we all stand today… they were the GIANTS who would father the GREATEST generation… and therefore my friends… that makes us all… the luckiest generation… yes… we are very lucky indeed… I know that I have written some of these words before… they deserve repeating…
The first (paternal)… was born in La Plata, Argentina… in the Irish Colony there… my second (maternal) was born at 57 Clarkson Street, NYC… amongst the Irish Colony here… the first would sail the length of a perilous South Atlantic with a great-grandfather and great-grandmother who I would never know… back to County Westmeath, Ireland… and then at the very young age of 21… he would cross a cold and damp North Atlantic to arrive at Ellis Island on November 6, 1906… with only $8 in his pocket… he would go on to father six children… my Pop was the oldest… and grandfather and great-grandfather more cousins than I can count… I would come to truly admire and deeply appreciate what he had done long after he was gone…
The second would father 6 of his own… after becoming the step-father of 6… also at the age of 21… later in life he would become a recluse… he might have shut himself off from the world... but he did not shut the world off from himself... for in his quiet place he had his crystal radio set and his daily pile of newspapers… and of course he had his cigars and pipe tobacco… he was the first to tell me “to never smoke a cigarette… and that if I was going to enjoy a smoke… smoke real tobacco… ‘Smoke a Cigar!’”… he would also occasionally ask me to buy Guinness Stout and would not believe me when I told him at the age of 9 that I could not buy beer for him – “what kind of law is that?” he would ask… he would become my first history teacher… taught me my numbers by cheating me out of my pennies with his home made dice… I swear that Abbott and Costello got their dice routine from Grandpa… he was my very first “best friend”… and the “rest young man”… as he would always say… is “history”… and it was nostalgia too…
Number 3… was Daddy to begin with… and then became “Pop”… from the day when I called him that… and he told me he was honored to be called by that title…
Pop worked hard… and unfortunately he drank just as hard… he did not know that all of his examples were good ones… he worked two jobs to pay the rent and to pay for an annual vacation to Rockaway Park and later to Long Beach… and then he would change careers to pay two Catholic high school tuitions… and still later it would be the result of his heroism in the sands of North Africa, the mountains of Sicily, the hell that was Anzio and Salerno and the ultimate victory in France… that would help pay for a college education… as a child of a disabled veteran… yes indeed… today I will look upon his two Purple Hearts and his Silver Star …. and know once again, that I am (as you are too)… indeed… part of the “luckiest generation”…
I hope that these short remembrances get you to post your memories too… I hope that you will share your thoughts and your nostalgia also… but before I sign off… remember that these men gave us many great things… they gave us life… they gave us love… and they gave us the greatest gift of all… they gave us…
Peace…
Inwood Guy
On the day that has been set aside to honor fathers… I will begin by remembering the men who shared in the birth of the man… and who shared in the birth of the woman… who shared in my birth…
I invite you my dear friends to do the same… about the great men in your life…
If we were lucky enough… truly lucky enough… there would be 3 men who we would come to know… and love… and who we would call at some very appropriate time in our lives… Pop... and Grandpa... and Daddy...
They were… I am most honored to say… true… “GIANTS”…
The first two… were handsome and graying gentlemen… who I’m sure most of us (like I did)… thought they were ancient from the very outset of our lives… but in hindsight… they were really quite young… and it was being in their presence and listening to their stories and their wisdom… that now places so many things in proper perspective… Pop (paternal) and Grandpa (maternal)… both… if you’re my age… were born in a year that began with 1800 and something… and they were GIANTS… yes they were the GIANTS on whose shoulders we all stand today… they were the GIANTS who would father the GREATEST generation… and therefore my friends… that makes us all… the luckiest generation… yes… we are very lucky indeed… I know that I have written some of these words before… they deserve repeating…
The first (paternal)… was born in La Plata, Argentina… in the Irish Colony there… my second (maternal) was born at 57 Clarkson Street, NYC… amongst the Irish Colony here… the first would sail the length of a perilous South Atlantic with a great-grandfather and great-grandmother who I would never know… back to County Westmeath, Ireland… and then at the very young age of 21… he would cross a cold and damp North Atlantic to arrive at Ellis Island on November 6, 1906… with only $8 in his pocket… he would go on to father six children… my Pop was the oldest… and grandfather and great-grandfather more cousins than I can count… I would come to truly admire and deeply appreciate what he had done long after he was gone…
The second would father 6 of his own… after becoming the step-father of 6… also at the age of 21… later in life he would become a recluse… he might have shut himself off from the world... but he did not shut the world off from himself... for in his quiet place he had his crystal radio set and his daily pile of newspapers… and of course he had his cigars and pipe tobacco… he was the first to tell me “to never smoke a cigarette… and that if I was going to enjoy a smoke… smoke real tobacco… ‘Smoke a Cigar!’”… he would also occasionally ask me to buy Guinness Stout and would not believe me when I told him at the age of 9 that I could not buy beer for him – “what kind of law is that?” he would ask… he would become my first history teacher… taught me my numbers by cheating me out of my pennies with his home made dice… I swear that Abbott and Costello got their dice routine from Grandpa… he was my very first “best friend”… and the “rest young man”… as he would always say… is “history”… and it was nostalgia too…
Number 3… was Daddy to begin with… and then became “Pop”… from the day when I called him that… and he told me he was honored to be called by that title…
Pop worked hard… and unfortunately he drank just as hard… he did not know that all of his examples were good ones… he worked two jobs to pay the rent and to pay for an annual vacation to Rockaway Park and later to Long Beach… and then he would change careers to pay two Catholic high school tuitions… and still later it would be the result of his heroism in the sands of North Africa, the mountains of Sicily, the hell that was Anzio and Salerno and the ultimate victory in France… that would help pay for a college education… as a child of a disabled veteran… yes indeed… today I will look upon his two Purple Hearts and his Silver Star …. and know once again, that I am (as you are too)… indeed… part of the “luckiest generation”…
I hope that these short remembrances get you to post your memories too… I hope that you will share your thoughts and your nostalgia also… but before I sign off… remember that these men gave us many great things… they gave us life… they gave us love… and they gave us the greatest gift of all… they gave us…
Peace…
Inwood Guy
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Remembering Dad's... and "OUR INWOOD"...
Hello my friends...
I was sitting here thinking about our Fathers... I just read the posting that another dear friend has lost her Dad... I can remember Mr. Aiello from the old neighborhood... his fruit and vegetable stand was a nice place... he was also polite and friendly...
Over the years I have come to renew my friendship with Barbara... and see her brother Frank from time to time... and it's as though the years have never separated us in any way...
Well... you see... that's "OUR INWOOD"... showing itself once again...
I wish that I could make the pain of losing a Father go away for Barbara... but, we all know that, that is part of life... and we also know that we'll see our parents once again... in a much better place... and we'll all be young and carefree... and of course... we'll be at...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
I was sitting here thinking about our Fathers... I just read the posting that another dear friend has lost her Dad... I can remember Mr. Aiello from the old neighborhood... his fruit and vegetable stand was a nice place... he was also polite and friendly...
Over the years I have come to renew my friendship with Barbara... and see her brother Frank from time to time... and it's as though the years have never separated us in any way...
Well... you see... that's "OUR INWOOD"... showing itself once again...
I wish that I could make the pain of losing a Father go away for Barbara... but, we all know that, that is part of life... and we also know that we'll see our parents once again... in a much better place... and we'll all be young and carefree... and of course... we'll be at...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Saturday, May 8, 2010
"Our Inwood".... revisited...
Hello my friends… I hope that you are well…
I wanted to post today… about finding “OUR INWOOD”… the reason is I have to confess… is because I became a bit melancholy… I’m not going to kid you… I miss the place… that’s why I blink, wink and nod about it whenever I can…
The thing about finding “OUR INWOOD” is that we can find it everywhere… it never leaves us… it is what we are… it is what we will always be… we will always see “OUR INWOOD” in almost everything that we experience…
I know that many of us see it in our children and if blessed our grandchildren… no matter where they live… no matter where we live… we see it in their laughter and we see it in their tears… we see it in their scout meetings… we see it in their little league games… we see it in their school plays… we see it in their grammar and high school graduations… we see it in their speech and conversations and we see it in their tribulations too… for when we witness all of these things it is simply “OUR INWOOD” repeating itself…
And with that… I leave you for this weekend in…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
I wanted to post today… about finding “OUR INWOOD”… the reason is I have to confess… is because I became a bit melancholy… I’m not going to kid you… I miss the place… that’s why I blink, wink and nod about it whenever I can…
The thing about finding “OUR INWOOD” is that we can find it everywhere… it never leaves us… it is what we are… it is what we will always be… we will always see “OUR INWOOD” in almost everything that we experience…
I know that many of us see it in our children and if blessed our grandchildren… no matter where they live… no matter where we live… we see it in their laughter and we see it in their tears… we see it in their scout meetings… we see it in their little league games… we see it in their school plays… we see it in their grammar and high school graduations… we see it in their speech and conversations and we see it in their tribulations too… for when we witness all of these things it is simply “OUR INWOOD” repeating itself…
And with that… I leave you for this weekend in…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Getting the fever... baseball... softball... stickball... strike... memories...
Hello to all of you, my friends...
A beautiful early spring day is a call for some good old nostalgia at last... I was beginning to think that we were going to have to go through the fall and winter without some of the fondest memories of "OUR INWOOD" not being remembered...
Stickball, Strike, In the Pan... and all of those legendary Softball and Hardball Games of "Our Inwood"... now, 'ya talk’ in!
For Stickball.... I would have agree that JHS 52 schoolyard going from the apartment house towards the school building was the very best for a clear-field for stickball... and the low wall in the back of the playground to the left playing across the schoolyard with the Vermilyea Avenue apartments across the street was one of the best for "Strike" (or In the Box)...
Playing Stickball... now, hitting the ball into the second schoolyard on a fly was a tremendous shot... hitting the ball up and roofing the school building was indeed a "prodigious shot"... as was roofing the ball across the street when playing Strike (In the Box)....
Now, playing "In the Pan" in PS 152 was a good game as the metal coal-chute doors gave back an indisputable ping noise that clearly designated a strike from a ball... the boxes in JHS 52 needed a lot of Indian Chalk... so that the ball did not lie with its distinctive markings of blue, yellow, red or white.... depending on the chalk that was used...
For "school yard" Softball... the best was PS 152 in the back "stadium" field... a natural as they would say.... home plate looked out onto an immense playing field... a good left field wall with the five story school building creating a left-field wall that would rival the Green Monster of Fenway in Boston...., a deep center field with that long alley in left center that rivaled the alley of the Polo Grounds... and a tricky right field as the wall that bent around Hillside Avenue could be played for some interesting short-shots that could clear the bases in an instant and could easily be as tricky as right field in the old Polo Grounds as well....
I am being carried away here... the nostalgia is overwhelming....
For Hardball (Baseball), nothing surpassed Inwood Hill Park's Diamonds #1 and #5.... Although the Henry Hudson Ball field’s Diamond, #1 was a decent enough field in its heyday....
The "Bar League" softball games were the best around.... Garryowen’s, Sam's, The Wigwam, Barry's, McGoldrick's, Barone's, The Park Gate.... just to mention a few... their battles were the thing of legend....
The sandlot baseball games of the old Morning Glories and others in Inwood Hill Park on Sunday mornings were truly great....
Ahh those were the days, the memories are flooding back, when the games were great, the guys were even greater, and morning gave way to afternoon and evening... and there was something about the game, the friendships and the contests... and the best of it all, was that it all was done, in good sportsmanship and....
Peace,
Inwood Guy
A beautiful early spring day is a call for some good old nostalgia at last... I was beginning to think that we were going to have to go through the fall and winter without some of the fondest memories of "OUR INWOOD" not being remembered...
Stickball, Strike, In the Pan... and all of those legendary Softball and Hardball Games of "Our Inwood"... now, 'ya talk’ in!
For Stickball.... I would have agree that JHS 52 schoolyard going from the apartment house towards the school building was the very best for a clear-field for stickball... and the low wall in the back of the playground to the left playing across the schoolyard with the Vermilyea Avenue apartments across the street was one of the best for "Strike" (or In the Box)...
Playing Stickball... now, hitting the ball into the second schoolyard on a fly was a tremendous shot... hitting the ball up and roofing the school building was indeed a "prodigious shot"... as was roofing the ball across the street when playing Strike (In the Box)....
Now, playing "In the Pan" in PS 152 was a good game as the metal coal-chute doors gave back an indisputable ping noise that clearly designated a strike from a ball... the boxes in JHS 52 needed a lot of Indian Chalk... so that the ball did not lie with its distinctive markings of blue, yellow, red or white.... depending on the chalk that was used...
For "school yard" Softball... the best was PS 152 in the back "stadium" field... a natural as they would say.... home plate looked out onto an immense playing field... a good left field wall with the five story school building creating a left-field wall that would rival the Green Monster of Fenway in Boston...., a deep center field with that long alley in left center that rivaled the alley of the Polo Grounds... and a tricky right field as the wall that bent around Hillside Avenue could be played for some interesting short-shots that could clear the bases in an instant and could easily be as tricky as right field in the old Polo Grounds as well....
I am being carried away here... the nostalgia is overwhelming....
For Hardball (Baseball), nothing surpassed Inwood Hill Park's Diamonds #1 and #5.... Although the Henry Hudson Ball field’s Diamond, #1 was a decent enough field in its heyday....
The "Bar League" softball games were the best around.... Garryowen’s, Sam's, The Wigwam, Barry's, McGoldrick's, Barone's, The Park Gate.... just to mention a few... their battles were the thing of legend....
The sandlot baseball games of the old Morning Glories and others in Inwood Hill Park on Sunday mornings were truly great....
Ahh those were the days, the memories are flooding back, when the games were great, the guys were even greater, and morning gave way to afternoon and evening... and there was something about the game, the friendships and the contests... and the best of it all, was that it all was done, in good sportsmanship and....
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Pitchers & Catchers - remembering when Little League ruled!
Hello my dear friends...
Well.... how could I let the fact that “Pitchers and Catchers” reporting to spring training by the Yanks and Mets in only a couple of days go by... without a little nod to "OUR INWOOD" and to our days in the Inwood LL and the Dyckwood Junior League....
I would imagine that mentioning in addition to the Inwood Little League that mentioning the Dyckwood Junior League is going to date myself....
Moreover, perhaps narrow the prospect as to just who is "IG"?...
But I really had to write this morning about our days of being the "Boys of Summer".... err, “...the boys of early Spring”.... “...no, the boys of late Winter”.... yeah, that's it.... “The Boys of Late-Winter”.... for getting ready in February & March to be standing on the field in early April... at Inwood Hill Park or down at the Henry Hudson Ball fields was most definitely what makes us all... "The Boys of Late Winter"....
Nevertheless, as my good friend "Eddie Gray" would be.... and probably is... saying somewhere....
"... Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play!"....
Our true Winter days were spent in anticipation of getting out there.... gloves that were prepared with a healthy dose of Neat’s-foot Oil.... wrapped shut with an old ball.... and placed under the bed for safe keeping were brought out and opened for the "season"....
The big diamonds (#1 and #5 at Inwood Hill) were packed for tryouts for the sponsored teams and the outfields were used as makeshift fields... GSS, St. Jude's, American Legion, Settlers Club, Dyckman Democratic Club, AAMRO.... just to mention a few.... and cuts were made quickly.... after all there would be minor league managers waiting (in a week's time) on the side diamonds #2,3 and 4.... and then we would be off and running.... bases that are....
Ahh, my friends.... those Saturday mornings were cold.... but they were soon followed by warmer days... and then even blistering hot days... but the desire to make that major league team was always red-hot.... even though the best games (I think) were played at the minor league level...
I still say.... in my wink, blink, and nod.... where "Inwood Guys" take the field for the best sandlot baseball that Manhattan ever saw....
"Put me in Coach... I'm ready to play, and play and play..."
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Well.... how could I let the fact that “Pitchers and Catchers” reporting to spring training by the Yanks and Mets in only a couple of days go by... without a little nod to "OUR INWOOD" and to our days in the Inwood LL and the Dyckwood Junior League....
I would imagine that mentioning in addition to the Inwood Little League that mentioning the Dyckwood Junior League is going to date myself....
Moreover, perhaps narrow the prospect as to just who is "IG"?...
But I really had to write this morning about our days of being the "Boys of Summer".... err, “...the boys of early Spring”.... “...no, the boys of late Winter”.... yeah, that's it.... “The Boys of Late-Winter”.... for getting ready in February & March to be standing on the field in early April... at Inwood Hill Park or down at the Henry Hudson Ball fields was most definitely what makes us all... "The Boys of Late Winter"....
Nevertheless, as my good friend "Eddie Gray" would be.... and probably is... saying somewhere....
"... Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play!"....
Our true Winter days were spent in anticipation of getting out there.... gloves that were prepared with a healthy dose of Neat’s-foot Oil.... wrapped shut with an old ball.... and placed under the bed for safe keeping were brought out and opened for the "season"....
The big diamonds (#1 and #5 at Inwood Hill) were packed for tryouts for the sponsored teams and the outfields were used as makeshift fields... GSS, St. Jude's, American Legion, Settlers Club, Dyckman Democratic Club, AAMRO.... just to mention a few.... and cuts were made quickly.... after all there would be minor league managers waiting (in a week's time) on the side diamonds #2,3 and 4.... and then we would be off and running.... bases that are....
Ahh, my friends.... those Saturday mornings were cold.... but they were soon followed by warmer days... and then even blistering hot days... but the desire to make that major league team was always red-hot.... even though the best games (I think) were played at the minor league level...
I still say.... in my wink, blink, and nod.... where "Inwood Guys" take the field for the best sandlot baseball that Manhattan ever saw....
"Put me in Coach... I'm ready to play, and play and play..."
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Store Run... and a half-a-buck at the finish line...
Remember those runs to the store... for your grandparents... post your memories too... enjoy!
Hello my friends,
I can remember going on my afternoon run for my grandfather... the list was always the same... a quart bottle of Ballantine Beer or Ale... "Don’t get anything else... if they don't have Ballantine they're useless!"... he would say...
In addition, I had to get all of the newspapers...
And back then, we are talking about...
The Daily News, the Daily Mirror, the Journal American, the Herald Tribune, the New York Times and the Chief... now I have to tell ya... I absolutely dreaded that run on a Sunday! There I was carrying a large brown paper shopping bag in one hand... containing the two quart bottles of Ballantine... and I only got that because I had a note from Grandfather... and Connie (of Connie’s Deli knew my family and knew also that I was on the up & up as he would say...) and balancing all of those newspapers under my other arm....
The Old Man was the best "read guy" in town... no doubt about it... he was up on all local, city, national and international events... and then of course, I would have to stay and listen to him read out loud from the newspaper... but, I loved every minute of it!
Also, in addition to the quart of Ballantine Beer or Ale depending on what the deli had... no cans mind you, only in a bottle... Grandpa would always say "...don't want to ruin the taste boy... beer is never colder than it is in a bottle... always remember that... when your time comes" (and of course as I started to get older I wondered all the way to Connie's and back -- just when would my time come?).... I would also have to get Bugle Boy or Granger Tobacco and a pack of rolling papers... and occasionally... Prince Albert in a can... at Christmas time it was a box of Dutch Masters' Blunts.... thank God - Eli at Eli's Soda Fountain on the corner of Thayer Street and Nagle Avenue knew me and the family well... no questions were asked (like at Connie's) when buying the tobacco and papers...
Ahh, those were the days my friends... because at the end of my little sojourn to the stores on Nagle Avenue and to the news stand on Dyckman Street was a big bright and shiny .50 cent piece... old Ben Franklin himself right there on a half-a-buck!...
Man... I was rich... I mean I was rolling... I could buy one, two, no maybe even three Dad's Root Beers.... I could go to the Loews Inwood... the Alpine or...
yep, you all know me by now... to Schillingmann's for an ice cream soda or a cup of hot chocolate with the little cookie! I will never ever forget that little cookie I always thought it was the height of elegance!
Ahh, the memories come flooding back... the sunshine is bright upon all of "OUR INWOOD" and we're all together making a run for Grandpa or Grandma... and the future ahead is as bright... as a new half-a-buck... and full of...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Hello my friends,
I can remember going on my afternoon run for my grandfather... the list was always the same... a quart bottle of Ballantine Beer or Ale... "Don’t get anything else... if they don't have Ballantine they're useless!"... he would say...
In addition, I had to get all of the newspapers...
And back then, we are talking about...
The Daily News, the Daily Mirror, the Journal American, the Herald Tribune, the New York Times and the Chief... now I have to tell ya... I absolutely dreaded that run on a Sunday! There I was carrying a large brown paper shopping bag in one hand... containing the two quart bottles of Ballantine... and I only got that because I had a note from Grandfather... and Connie (of Connie’s Deli knew my family and knew also that I was on the up & up as he would say...) and balancing all of those newspapers under my other arm....
The Old Man was the best "read guy" in town... no doubt about it... he was up on all local, city, national and international events... and then of course, I would have to stay and listen to him read out loud from the newspaper... but, I loved every minute of it!
Also, in addition to the quart of Ballantine Beer or Ale depending on what the deli had... no cans mind you, only in a bottle... Grandpa would always say "...don't want to ruin the taste boy... beer is never colder than it is in a bottle... always remember that... when your time comes" (and of course as I started to get older I wondered all the way to Connie's and back -- just when would my time come?).... I would also have to get Bugle Boy or Granger Tobacco and a pack of rolling papers... and occasionally... Prince Albert in a can... at Christmas time it was a box of Dutch Masters' Blunts.... thank God - Eli at Eli's Soda Fountain on the corner of Thayer Street and Nagle Avenue knew me and the family well... no questions were asked (like at Connie's) when buying the tobacco and papers...
Ahh, those were the days my friends... because at the end of my little sojourn to the stores on Nagle Avenue and to the news stand on Dyckman Street was a big bright and shiny .50 cent piece... old Ben Franklin himself right there on a half-a-buck!...
Man... I was rich... I mean I was rolling... I could buy one, two, no maybe even three Dad's Root Beers.... I could go to the Loews Inwood... the Alpine or...
yep, you all know me by now... to Schillingmann's for an ice cream soda or a cup of hot chocolate with the little cookie! I will never ever forget that little cookie I always thought it was the height of elegance!
Ahh, the memories come flooding back... the sunshine is bright upon all of "OUR INWOOD" and we're all together making a run for Grandpa or Grandma... and the future ahead is as bright... as a new half-a-buck... and full of...
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Super Bowl... remembering when...
Well hello my friends…
I thought I would post something new… err, wait…, no… its old… its nostalgic…
Its here!... Super Bowl Sunday….
Well, golly! Whadda ‘ya know… the Saints are play’in the Colts… stay tuned… don’t miss a moment of the hoopla… the excitement… the television commercials… and it all begins at 6:15 pm!
Well, my friends…. long before there was a televised super bowl and long before there was an endless string of television commercials… there was Saturday and Sunday Football… our own versions of Super Bowl Saturday… and Super Bowl Sunday… long before the Bud Commercials and the “magical icebox”… there were iced-down chests of product from the F. & M. SCHAEFER BREWING COMPANY… our own version of the king of beers… in cans, bottles, quarts, nips, you name it… we had it… and we drank it…
Inwood had its Redskins… its Colts… Washington Heights had its Rebels… JUST… to mention a few (I invite you to name others)…
Organized sandlot football… great games, great guys, and even greater girls there to cheer us along… long before a “Cowgirl Cheerleaders”…
There we were traveling to the Dyckman Street Ball fields… Inwood Hill Park… and GW High Stadium… there was a game to be played… and a neighborhood honor to be defended… those games were beyond super… they were splendid examples of teamwork, of friendship and yes… do I dare say it… err… write it… a “mutual love”… between guys…
Yes, guys… (teammates)… who would throw a block that would rattle the another neighborhood’s back teeth… guys who would run through a goal post rather than break a play-pattern… folks… err, my friends… THIS WAS FOOTBALL!
Tonight… America will sit down to America’s Game… and New Orleans Saints stand in the way of the Indianapolis Colts… I hope that the best team wins… But what is really good… what is really huge… can be found in a wink, and a blink and a nod… on a cold and windy field in “OUR INWOOD and WASHINGTON HEIGHTS” it can be conjured up right now…
Because when our trip back to those games that were super long before the NFL’s is over… I guarantee that you’ll be happy… because you were young once again… for just a moment… and you broke that tackle… threw that block… ran that post pattern… and scored that touchdown… and with that memory will come…
Peace…
Inwood Guy
I thought I would post something new… err, wait…, no… its old… its nostalgic…
Its here!... Super Bowl Sunday….
Well, golly! Whadda ‘ya know… the Saints are play’in the Colts… stay tuned… don’t miss a moment of the hoopla… the excitement… the television commercials… and it all begins at 6:15 pm!
Well, my friends…. long before there was a televised super bowl and long before there was an endless string of television commercials… there was Saturday and Sunday Football… our own versions of Super Bowl Saturday… and Super Bowl Sunday… long before the Bud Commercials and the “magical icebox”… there were iced-down chests of product from the F. & M. SCHAEFER BREWING COMPANY… our own version of the king of beers… in cans, bottles, quarts, nips, you name it… we had it… and we drank it…
Inwood had its Redskins… its Colts… Washington Heights had its Rebels… JUST… to mention a few (I invite you to name others)…
Organized sandlot football… great games, great guys, and even greater girls there to cheer us along… long before a “Cowgirl Cheerleaders”…
There we were traveling to the Dyckman Street Ball fields… Inwood Hill Park… and GW High Stadium… there was a game to be played… and a neighborhood honor to be defended… those games were beyond super… they were splendid examples of teamwork, of friendship and yes… do I dare say it… err… write it… a “mutual love”… between guys…
Yes, guys… (teammates)… who would throw a block that would rattle the another neighborhood’s back teeth… guys who would run through a goal post rather than break a play-pattern… folks… err, my friends… THIS WAS FOOTBALL!
Tonight… America will sit down to America’s Game… and New Orleans Saints stand in the way of the Indianapolis Colts… I hope that the best team wins… But what is really good… what is really huge… can be found in a wink, and a blink and a nod… on a cold and windy field in “OUR INWOOD and WASHINGTON HEIGHTS” it can be conjured up right now…
Because when our trip back to those games that were super long before the NFL’s is over… I guarantee that you’ll be happy… because you were young once again… for just a moment… and you broke that tackle… threw that block… ran that post pattern… and scored that touchdown… and with that memory will come…
Peace…
Inwood Guy
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Christmas Promise
"Christmas Promise".... was posted on Christmas Eve 2009... I hope that you enjoy it...
Hello my friends,
Well this is Christmas… and as the song goes “… what have you done? - another year older…” ahh, you remember the rest…
The point is this… as I have been in touch with so many of “OUR INWOOD” brothers and sisters… I have come to realize that many of you have done great and wonderful things… you have fulfilled… whether you realize it or not…
“The Promise of Inwood”…
Yes, the promise of Inwood… that your grandparents and parents ordained for you… that you were to be born and raised in a wonderful neighborhood and that you would achieve… greater and better things than they did…
I congratulate you all… at Christmas… for fulfilling the promise… and as we all grow older together… I ask you to pass “The Promise of Inwood” onto your children and yes, grandchildren…
I also cannot avoid a wink, blink and nod… this Christmas Eve afternoon… as I have finished trimming the tree… traced down a short in the wire leading to Frosty the Snowman… and await our daughter’s Christmas Eve date to finish wrapping the last of her gifts…
And the wink, of course, takes me back to an Inwood apartment…
The wink never fails… the corner of the living room which yesterday was bare… is now adorned with the biggest Balsam Pine that you would ever see… it has to be the one that you were eyeing every afternoon in front of DiMeglio’s on Dyckman Street… you remember how you would move closer to the curb and the line of trees… to inhale those vapors of Balsam, Douglas Fir and Scotch Pine…on your way home from school… or on Saturdays before Christmas to look at those toys in the window of Weiss’ Toy Store, especially that model of the USS Saratoga that you intend to glue together and add to your bathtub-fleet… after all the fleet needs an aircraft carrier… last Christmas you added the USS Nautilus… so, your underwater warfare is covered…
The blink also delivers a Christmas treat of walking into Schillingmann’s Ice Cream Parlor… sitting up at the counter and asking Hans for a hot chocolate and an English Muffin… the cup arrives with the hottest of chocolate and real whipped cream oozing over the sides and down onto the little cookie that always placed a Schillingmann’s hot chocolate apart from the competition… the cookie is the memory… buttery and fresh… it was the epitome of class… the English Muffin just added to the holiday atmosphere… and of course, it was the ever present graciousness of Mr. & Mrs. Schillingmann that always furthered the Christmas cheer!
The nod… ahh, my friends… the NOD…
Well you knew it was coming… you just knew the NOD would be saved for last… and you also know… if you’ve followed these annual posts… that something big and beautiful is happening in “OUR INWOOD” and it happens every Christmas Eve…
Dyckman Street is awash in lights… the poles that line the street from Nagle Avenue to Broadway are strung across in red, green, gold and white swaged strings of lights and garland … the stars, the bells and the snowflakes that heralded the coming of Christmas… now shine and glow... for its…
Christmas in Inwood… and the snow is falling…
The window of Barone’s is steamed and foggy with the joy of the evening as bottomless bowls of pasta, warm bottles of wine and the camaraderie of good friends and family celebrate the eve…
Jack’s Pants is now closed… the last pair of gloves and tie and tie clasps have been sold… and now sit wrapped under a handsome tree in a home on Post Avenue…
The little Christmas tree in the window of Tony the Shoemaker on the corner of Post Avenue and Dyckman Street is still lit… and tells everyone passing that good will and good times are his wish to all…
A glance back down the street shows that Regina’s Bakery is selling out the last of its sliced rye’s… and coconut custard pies… Rite Way Fruit has finished selling all of its pears, pineapples and oranges… its snowing harder now… and Inwood is growing quieter as the snow under foot softens the sounds of the traffic…
The LOEWS Theater is showing a holiday flick… As the snow is falling and getting deeper now… It’s Christmas in Inwood and the snow is falling ... it’s a very special time of year…
The clock out in front of Sarafin’s Jewelers can still be seen and it tells all that it’s 9:30 p.m. … just enough time to finish this winter’s trek up Dyckman Street… stop into the HI-HO and buy an Egg Roll... get home… get dressed… and make it over to your favorite girl’s house to wish all a very Merry… and go to Midnight Mass… at OLQM… Good Shepherd or St. Jude… the stop at the corner of Dyckman and Sherman shows that Horn & Hardart has sold its last Rice Pudding, Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner and Health Salad…
A quick glance over the shoulder shows that Barry’s Lounge is jumping… the Chase Manhattan Bank has closed its last Christmas club account… and yes, the T.V. which is still on in the window of Whalen’s Furniture Store shows that the Yule Log still burns with its electronic crackle and pop… which is helping to warm a frigid Dyckman Street… and on the way back from Midnight Mass and a few very warm and very merry Christmas kisses… you’ll see that Ralph still loves Alice and Norton and Trixie feel the same way about each other…
Now you’ve reached Broadway… the snow is absolutely a Blizzard… everything has shutdown and this Christmas snowfall will be a thing of legend… to be nostalgically reminisced about by some guy who attached Inwood to his moniker and who on occasion goes on far too long on a future thing called the internet and on a great site called "Inwood Guy's Blog"…
The winks, the blinks and the nods… take us to a place where heroes came to live… where the dream of a bright future and promise to fulfill that future was formed… where grandparents and parents worked two and three jobs to give us the best possible start of fulfilling that promise… their only ask… was that we do better than they did… in hindsight… they still did better than we did… they started it all… in a beautiful place called Inwood… and still to this day… in a dream full of snow… it still brings us…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Hello my friends,
Well this is Christmas… and as the song goes “… what have you done? - another year older…” ahh, you remember the rest…
The point is this… as I have been in touch with so many of “OUR INWOOD” brothers and sisters… I have come to realize that many of you have done great and wonderful things… you have fulfilled… whether you realize it or not…
“The Promise of Inwood”…
Yes, the promise of Inwood… that your grandparents and parents ordained for you… that you were to be born and raised in a wonderful neighborhood and that you would achieve… greater and better things than they did…
I congratulate you all… at Christmas… for fulfilling the promise… and as we all grow older together… I ask you to pass “The Promise of Inwood” onto your children and yes, grandchildren…
I also cannot avoid a wink, blink and nod… this Christmas Eve afternoon… as I have finished trimming the tree… traced down a short in the wire leading to Frosty the Snowman… and await our daughter’s Christmas Eve date to finish wrapping the last of her gifts…
And the wink, of course, takes me back to an Inwood apartment…
The wink never fails… the corner of the living room which yesterday was bare… is now adorned with the biggest Balsam Pine that you would ever see… it has to be the one that you were eyeing every afternoon in front of DiMeglio’s on Dyckman Street… you remember how you would move closer to the curb and the line of trees… to inhale those vapors of Balsam, Douglas Fir and Scotch Pine…on your way home from school… or on Saturdays before Christmas to look at those toys in the window of Weiss’ Toy Store, especially that model of the USS Saratoga that you intend to glue together and add to your bathtub-fleet… after all the fleet needs an aircraft carrier… last Christmas you added the USS Nautilus… so, your underwater warfare is covered…
The blink also delivers a Christmas treat of walking into Schillingmann’s Ice Cream Parlor… sitting up at the counter and asking Hans for a hot chocolate and an English Muffin… the cup arrives with the hottest of chocolate and real whipped cream oozing over the sides and down onto the little cookie that always placed a Schillingmann’s hot chocolate apart from the competition… the cookie is the memory… buttery and fresh… it was the epitome of class… the English Muffin just added to the holiday atmosphere… and of course, it was the ever present graciousness of Mr. & Mrs. Schillingmann that always furthered the Christmas cheer!
The nod… ahh, my friends… the NOD…
Well you knew it was coming… you just knew the NOD would be saved for last… and you also know… if you’ve followed these annual posts… that something big and beautiful is happening in “OUR INWOOD” and it happens every Christmas Eve…
Dyckman Street is awash in lights… the poles that line the street from Nagle Avenue to Broadway are strung across in red, green, gold and white swaged strings of lights and garland … the stars, the bells and the snowflakes that heralded the coming of Christmas… now shine and glow... for its…
Christmas in Inwood… and the snow is falling…
The window of Barone’s is steamed and foggy with the joy of the evening as bottomless bowls of pasta, warm bottles of wine and the camaraderie of good friends and family celebrate the eve…
Jack’s Pants is now closed… the last pair of gloves and tie and tie clasps have been sold… and now sit wrapped under a handsome tree in a home on Post Avenue…
The little Christmas tree in the window of Tony the Shoemaker on the corner of Post Avenue and Dyckman Street is still lit… and tells everyone passing that good will and good times are his wish to all…
A glance back down the street shows that Regina’s Bakery is selling out the last of its sliced rye’s… and coconut custard pies… Rite Way Fruit has finished selling all of its pears, pineapples and oranges… its snowing harder now… and Inwood is growing quieter as the snow under foot softens the sounds of the traffic…
The LOEWS Theater is showing a holiday flick… As the snow is falling and getting deeper now… It’s Christmas in Inwood and the snow is falling ... it’s a very special time of year…
The clock out in front of Sarafin’s Jewelers can still be seen and it tells all that it’s 9:30 p.m. … just enough time to finish this winter’s trek up Dyckman Street… stop into the HI-HO and buy an Egg Roll... get home… get dressed… and make it over to your favorite girl’s house to wish all a very Merry… and go to Midnight Mass… at OLQM… Good Shepherd or St. Jude… the stop at the corner of Dyckman and Sherman shows that Horn & Hardart has sold its last Rice Pudding, Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner and Health Salad…
A quick glance over the shoulder shows that Barry’s Lounge is jumping… the Chase Manhattan Bank has closed its last Christmas club account… and yes, the T.V. which is still on in the window of Whalen’s Furniture Store shows that the Yule Log still burns with its electronic crackle and pop… which is helping to warm a frigid Dyckman Street… and on the way back from Midnight Mass and a few very warm and very merry Christmas kisses… you’ll see that Ralph still loves Alice and Norton and Trixie feel the same way about each other…
Now you’ve reached Broadway… the snow is absolutely a Blizzard… everything has shutdown and this Christmas snowfall will be a thing of legend… to be nostalgically reminisced about by some guy who attached Inwood to his moniker and who on occasion goes on far too long on a future thing called the internet and on a great site called "Inwood Guy's Blog"…
The winks, the blinks and the nods… take us to a place where heroes came to live… where the dream of a bright future and promise to fulfill that future was formed… where grandparents and parents worked two and three jobs to give us the best possible start of fulfilling that promise… their only ask… was that we do better than they did… in hindsight… they still did better than we did… they started it all… in a beautiful place called Inwood… and still to this day… in a dream full of snow… it still brings us…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
Remembering my friend... Kevin
Kevin McGuire was a friend to all who knew him and loved him... he was a true "Inwood Guy"... below is my remembrance of Kevin... we will all miss him dearly...
Hello my dear friends…
The “Fun” in remembering our days in “OUR INWOOD” will never be spelled with a capital again… no, it really won’t… for you see the “FUNNIEST GUY” and one of our best childhood friends has left us much too soon…
Kevin McGuire was MY FRIEND (as I know he was yours)… we’ve been together in friendship since the 1st grade… we took our grammar-school lumps and heartaches together… he was at my wedding… and even though the years had separated us and we took different paths away from “OUR INWOOD”… every time we got back together for lunch… or at Patrick’s for a quick beer… or at the Park Gate Reunion down the river… the first thing that Kevin would say was... “Ya, know we always made each other laugh…” I would answer... “Yeah, Kev... we always did…” and his response would be “Yep, it was something special.”
That was the essence of Kevin McGuire… to everyone who was blessed to know him… he was “something special”… quick of wit… and just as quick to realize when a friend needed someone to talk to… and yes, even cry with… for me, it was a FRIENDSHIP from the very first day of the 1st grade that never died… it was separated yes… by year’s and moves to new places… but, it never, ever, and will never die… for having known an “Inwood Guy” like Kevin McGuire... was the chance of a lifetime... and was indeed “something special…”
Back in the old days… Kevin would kid me about my participation in local Democratic Party politics (we were really closet Republicans together– but there were not any Republican primaries in the city – and even Kevin would say, “that you win or lose the city in the primaries”)... yes, my friends… Kevin was an astute political observer… It was not that Kevin did not agree with whom I was supporting… he just thought that we could use our time to better and more young gentlemanly pursuits… like having more time for a beer or two at the Park Gate, Patrick’s, Freehill’s or The Sloop… or enjoying a good cigar... or a pipe-full of Cherry Blend... sitting on a bench outside of Fort Tyron Park…
One day I talked Kevin into taking a re-election banner for the local assemblyman and got his promise to hang it from his apartment fire-escape that overlooked Broadway… well, Kevin did as he promised… and dutifully hung the banner out for all passers-by on Thayer Street and Broadway to see… and as I walked across Riverside Drive one afternoon I looked up in horror... to see that the banner no longer read “Re-elect Jack Walsh – Assemblyman”… no… to Kevin’s enjoyment and immense delight… the banner now read: “Re-elect Jack Walsh – Soothsayer!”…
That was Kevin… truly one of the funniest people I ever met…
He was a great friend and buddy to all who knew him... and loved him…
I know that we will all miss him dearly… I will miss those occasional phone calls that started with “McGuire here… how the hell are you doing?”… and then we would talk and laugh for an hour or more… I will miss those lunches in Little Italy and in Chinatown… I will miss his call telling me that our cigars smoked together at the Park Gate Reunion were “superb!”… I will miss not seeing him at the curbside south of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saint Patrick’s Day as I march up the avenue…
But, if our faith is indeed true… we will all see his face again one day… and we’ll laugh once again for hours on-end… and we will all be young… and every day will be beautiful… and full of what I wish for my dear friend Kevin to Rest-in-Forever…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
P.S. This is the original posting that was inexplicably changed by the Administrator of the Manhattan Board when whomever it is at the MB changed my name to another... and is the reason why I will never publish a nostalgic posting on the Manhattan Board again...
Hello my dear friends…
The “Fun” in remembering our days in “OUR INWOOD” will never be spelled with a capital again… no, it really won’t… for you see the “FUNNIEST GUY” and one of our best childhood friends has left us much too soon…
Kevin McGuire was MY FRIEND (as I know he was yours)… we’ve been together in friendship since the 1st grade… we took our grammar-school lumps and heartaches together… he was at my wedding… and even though the years had separated us and we took different paths away from “OUR INWOOD”… every time we got back together for lunch… or at Patrick’s for a quick beer… or at the Park Gate Reunion down the river… the first thing that Kevin would say was... “Ya, know we always made each other laugh…” I would answer... “Yeah, Kev... we always did…” and his response would be “Yep, it was something special.”
That was the essence of Kevin McGuire… to everyone who was blessed to know him… he was “something special”… quick of wit… and just as quick to realize when a friend needed someone to talk to… and yes, even cry with… for me, it was a FRIENDSHIP from the very first day of the 1st grade that never died… it was separated yes… by year’s and moves to new places… but, it never, ever, and will never die… for having known an “Inwood Guy” like Kevin McGuire... was the chance of a lifetime... and was indeed “something special…”
Back in the old days… Kevin would kid me about my participation in local Democratic Party politics (we were really closet Republicans together– but there were not any Republican primaries in the city – and even Kevin would say, “that you win or lose the city in the primaries”)... yes, my friends… Kevin was an astute political observer… It was not that Kevin did not agree with whom I was supporting… he just thought that we could use our time to better and more young gentlemanly pursuits… like having more time for a beer or two at the Park Gate, Patrick’s, Freehill’s or The Sloop… or enjoying a good cigar... or a pipe-full of Cherry Blend... sitting on a bench outside of Fort Tyron Park…
One day I talked Kevin into taking a re-election banner for the local assemblyman and got his promise to hang it from his apartment fire-escape that overlooked Broadway… well, Kevin did as he promised… and dutifully hung the banner out for all passers-by on Thayer Street and Broadway to see… and as I walked across Riverside Drive one afternoon I looked up in horror... to see that the banner no longer read “Re-elect Jack Walsh – Assemblyman”… no… to Kevin’s enjoyment and immense delight… the banner now read: “Re-elect Jack Walsh – Soothsayer!”…
That was Kevin… truly one of the funniest people I ever met…
He was a great friend and buddy to all who knew him... and loved him…
I know that we will all miss him dearly… I will miss those occasional phone calls that started with “McGuire here… how the hell are you doing?”… and then we would talk and laugh for an hour or more… I will miss those lunches in Little Italy and in Chinatown… I will miss his call telling me that our cigars smoked together at the Park Gate Reunion were “superb!”… I will miss not seeing him at the curbside south of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saint Patrick’s Day as I march up the avenue…
But, if our faith is indeed true… we will all see his face again one day… and we’ll laugh once again for hours on-end… and we will all be young… and every day will be beautiful… and full of what I wish for my dear friend Kevin to Rest-in-Forever…
Peace,
Inwood Guy
P.S. This is the original posting that was inexplicably changed by the Administrator of the Manhattan Board when whomever it is at the MB changed my name to another... and is the reason why I will never publish a nostalgic posting on the Manhattan Board again...
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