American Heritage Magazine article
October 13, 2006
Editor's Note:  Click on the link below to read an article in the current edition of American Heritage Magazine which refers to this web site in its seventh paragraph.
Click here to read the article


Anthony Zabrocki
October 11, 2006
Editor's Note:  Condolences to the family of Tony Zabrocki who passed away on October 7th. Tony had attended a Holy Child Jesus class reunion just last August. Click here. Click on the links below for his funeral arrangements
http://www.longislandvettes.com
http://www.corvettecavalry.com


Picture of Kitty Genovese
October 10, 2006
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
Many thanks to the family of Kitty Genovese for this photograph of her.




Fall Festival in Kew Gardens
October 8, 2006
Scheduled for October 21st is a Fall Festival in Kew Gardens. There will be a flea market next to the Bliss by the K.G. LIRR from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. There will also be a music show in the little park around the corner from the Kew Gardens Cinemas (next to the Post Office) from 12 noon to 5 P.M. I expect to have a rock group, a belly dancer, a ballroom couple, several vocalists and guitar and keyboard players. Everybody is welcome.
Aaron
[To contact Aaron Adler, click here]


Spirits Alive! Slide Show
October 3, 2006
Editor's Note:  The Kew Gardens Civic Association web site has a slideshow of last weekend's Spirits Alive! event at Maple Grove Cemetery in which friends and members of the Richmond Hill Historical Society portrayed some of the famous and not so famous people buried there.
Click here to view the slideshow on another web site


October 3, 2006
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
The apartment house at 125-05 84th Ave was actually not the first building on the property. In 1947 the "Devil's Den" club house was constructed. Here's Billy Mohr and Jay Rogers posing along side it. That's the back wall of the Chatillon Scale factory in the background. OK, we didn't have an architect and I'm sure that nobody who helped build it ever went into the construction business.
Jay Rogers
[To contact Jay Rogers, click here]


One more look back at September 11th
October 3, 2006
Editor's Note:  On September 10th, last month, Kew Gardens alumna, Doris Schaffer O'Brien (a contributor to the Guestbook - see below), had an Op-Ed piece published by the Santa Barbara News Press. Not only was it published, but the paper gave it a very prominent display on both the first and fourth pages of the Sunday editorial section. I've reproduced the article as best I can from a photostat and have also included the text of her article.
Click here to view a scan of the article
Click here to read the text of the article



October 3, 2006
    I do not recognize the little girl in the picture, but everything else is part of the memories. My old "residence" (Eton Hall) is prominently in the background, and my brother worked some summers for the dry cleaning establishment pictured. At one point there was a dress shop called "Claire's" (after its owner) in the same group of stores.
    I suspect that the child pictured would be a bit older than 70 now. Since the picture was taken in 1938 and she looks to be at least six years old, , she would have to have been born around 1932, making her in her mid-seventies. (Not that the distinction is so great at that age, all generally defined as "old.")
    I recently came across a graduation program for the PS 99 summer Class of 1946. Since all the students' (pupils?) names are listed on the back of the program, it would be possible to fill in any remaining blanks on the posted graduation picture for that year.
    The name Carol Binswanger is very familiar. Her age is between that of myself and my brother (Howard Schaffer). However, I think the recall has more to do with a possible PTA involvement by my mother and hers. Mrs. Edith Doman, the mother of Ruth, to whom Carol refers, was also very active in the PTA at PS 99. That is how a lot of women formed their friendships then.
Doris Schaffer O'Brien
PS '99 summer, '46 FHHS summer '50
[To contact Doris Schaffer O'Brien, click here]


October 1, 2006
This message is for Bert Kaplan. I think you are a little younger than I am. My name is Carol Binswanger Bowen, and I attended PS99. I would have graduated from the 8th grade in January of 1944, but in the summer of 43 we moved to Wichita, Kansas. I enjoyed your letter, because I think I remember the pharmacy on the corner of Metropolitan Ave and Lefferts Blvd. I lived at 118-80 Metropolitan Ave., on the first floor. I would love to know if that apartment house is still standing. I am also looking for some old classmates. Ruth Doman and Paul Marko III. I have found one of my old friends, Marjorie Schwartz. She is now living in Florida. Anyway, your letter was the first one that mentioned that pharmacy on the corner, and I remember during the war, the owner would always save some hershey bars for my Dad.
Carol Binswanger Bowen
[To contact Carol Binswanger Bowen, click here]


Green Bus Lines, The Very Early Years
October 1, 2006
    I have often been asked how I know so much about Green Bus Lines (especially the early years).
    I consider myself to be a living link to the past merely because I was involved with the company at a time between the middle forties and early sixties when most of the original stockholder/drivers were still working. The many that I became friendly with related stories to me about the �old days�, and I have retained most of those memories.
    It was long before the official incorporation of the company in 1925 that Green Line actually had its beginnings. The taxi industry in Manhattan was still in its infancy in the late teens (the Checker-Yellow-Hertz-GM alliance had not fully matured yet) and these young entrepreneurs were basically cab drivers that had no intention of going into the bus business!
    With �used� six seat Indianas (and you can picture what anything used was in 1918!) they trundled up and down both Madison and Park Avenues looking for fares, and often being chased and arrested by the police for operating without permits. BTW; the story that they went as far as screwing down seats to truck beds is untrue! (actually, these �Indianas� were the first real S.U.V.�s in their station wagon like configurations).
    It was about 1922 that things really began to heat up; the aforementioned �Checker� alliance had taken hold, had become all powerful politically, and declared war on �wildcat� operators. It was not uncommon for their �goon� squads to harass independents to the point of actually cutting them off in the streets!
    The stage was set for amalgamation and while city fathers discouraged any organized assault on the taxi industry they did suggest and aid in obtaining the necessary permits to operate buses on cross town routes in the borough.
    The rest, as they say, is history.
Al Linsky
[To contact Al Linsky, click here]


Bigger Images
October 1, 2006
Editor's Note: Since more people now have broadband connections and higher resolution screens, I am beginning to bump up the size and resolution of the images I display here. So, instead of averaging 20 - 35 KB, images will start to average 60 - 80 KB. If enough dial up users find these file sizes make viewing the web pages too slow, let me know and I will reduce the file sizes.


Get a Gmail Account Free
October 1, 2006
    Editor's Note: As of February 1, 2005, Old Kew Gardens [.com] got with Gmail, which is the Google web based email service. You've probably heard that Gmail offers two gigabytes [2,000 MB] of free storage. It's free, but available by invitation only. Invitations are so sought after that they are being offered for sale on eBay. I have invitations I can distribute to friends. I'm not selling them, I'm giving them away. They are available on a first come first serve basis. Just send me an email telling me you'd like one.
    Update: Unless I know you, your request must come from a bona fide working ISP email address. To prevent abuse, email requests coming from free web based email services like Yahoo or Hotmail will not be honored.
    Update: I will remove this post when I run out of invitations. If you're reading this, then there are still invitations left to give out.


Posting Messages Here
October 1, 2006
[Ed.'s Note: The reason each guest book posting does not appear here immediately is that I review each message individually before posting to eliminate spam or unwanted adult content. Email me if you want to make a correction to a message you have already posted or if you would like a message removed.]




How to contact Guestbook signers

Some Guestbook signers choose not to publish their email addresses. If you wish to contact one of them, send me an email identifying the guestbook signer you wish to contact and giving me the date his or her message was posted. Your email to me must contain your full name, and may also include anything else you wish to tell the signer. I will forward your email to the Guestbook signer you wish to contact, but with no cc or bcc to you. It will be the signer's decision whether or not to make contact with you. Any emails which contain spam, adult content, or appear suspect for any other reason will not be forwarded. ~The Editor.