Jackson Heights Life

Jeanette
Thanks for your response. I did send the msg to his email address, but after reading your note, I sent it again as a PM. If Kelso444 is still active on this site, he should get one or the other. Thanks again.

I knew Billy Brennan very well if you are referring to the BB that lived in a great Irish family located on the north side of Northern Bvd in the low eighties or high seventies. I'd been to his hours once or twice but can't remember the street. I was friends with him though our high school years and totally lost track after I went into the service in '52. I heard something vague about him moving to Texas but have never confirmed that. If you have any up on him since 1952, I'd love to hear about it. I'm going on 86 so Billy has to be around that age, if he'd still living. Contact me on my email address: greatpoobah@aol.com  Be sure to put Billy Brennan in the subject box. My Name is Howard Giordano

When I was in high school, I had a buddy with the name, Ralph Pollock. He was a consummate gambler, and he insisted that much of his tuition money attending William & Mary College came from his winnings in crap games behind the handball courts of the P.S. 69 schoolyard. Those years were between 1955-1960. Anyone know of the whereabouts of my fabulous friend, Ralph? We kept in touch over the years but like many from the past, we've lost contact.

A scene in my third suspense/thriller - awaiting release - takes place in Corona, and in it I make reference that the area was formerly the long time home of Satchmo. I know the neighborhood from growing up in nearby Jackson Heights.

My family moved to Jackson Heights from Astoria in 1943. We had an apartment on 73rd Street, north of 37th Avenue. I don't remember the address, but it abutted the building on the corner that was The Blue Haven -- when it was a respectable nightclub. I remember being a Junior Air Raid Warden, and boy didn't I think I was hot stuff. I went to P.S. 69 from the 3rd to the eighth grade; I was a cub scout at St. Marks Episcopal Church; and went to Mass at St. Joan of Arc. I grew up with a group of boys from the neighborhood that played all sports as a team called The Jackson Heights Trojans. I have so many great memories from that time of my life, I could fill a book. In 1987, Lew Ressequie, Joe Allen (the now famous restaurateur) and myself, Howard Giordano, organized a reunion at a Manhattan east side restaurant. Of the twenty or so kids that played on team at one time or another, we located eighteen guys, but only fourteen could make the reunion date. They came with wives, and one guy who couldn't make it, sent his sister as a stand-in. The evening turned out to be one of the most nostalgic evenings of my life.
More memories on another post.       

Wasn't there a shoe repair shop at 79th Street & 37th Ave

Your post brought back many memories, even though I'm a bit older and lived in JH from 1946 to '56 when I left for the military. Came back in '59 but relocated to Hempstead, LI while I attended Hofsta Universithy. After graduation in '59, I lived with my family at 35-06 72nd Street for about a year, then got my own apartment in a building at the corner where Broadway and 37th Avenue met (70th Street) for about 2 years, before moving into Manhattan. Your mention of Bobby Polichek made me smile. I remember him so well as one of the best neighborhood athletes, along with Lou Bronzo and his brother. Bobby could run the pants of anyone playing one-on-one with him on the basketball court in P.S.69. He was also a degenerate horse player and hitch-hiked out to Aqueduct almost every day. Aah, memories. I've got a boatload of them.

I was preparing a eulogy to give at my dear friend's service in two week - we both grew up in the Jackson Heights of the 1940s-1950s. While on-line searching for "Jackson Heights of the 1950s," I stumbled upon this wonderful web site.

I will be 86 years old in one month and predictably nostalgic about my youth. I lived at 35-06 72nd Street for years, graduated from P.S. 69, attended and graduated from The McBurney Prep School in Manhattan, spent four years in the USAF, then came home to attend and graduate from Hofstra University. I spent my early career in advertising on Madison Avenue with the celebrated Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency, among others, before I moved into the Thoroughbred Racing Industry for 11 years - New York Racing Association & President of NYC-OTB. I've been retired and living in Naples, Florida with my wife for the past 23 years. I was recently saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Lew, with whom I'd remained friends with for the past 76 years since first meeting him at St. Marks Church in Jackon Heights where we were members of the Cub Scouts, Pack 201. Lew, after a career in Broadway theater, retired with his wife to Sun City, Florida up near Tampa where our childhood friendship carried on. If anyone reading this recognizes me or Lew, please post a reply. It would be so nice to hear from and about old friends.