Jackson Heights Life

I was married in Our Lady of Fatima's Church that was a quonset hut. My home was on 82nd St between 32nd Ave & Northern Blvd.
The brown bus used to stop in from of our 6 family apt bldg.  I remember those quonset huts very well and all the places we frequented on
Northern Blvd. as teenagers.

           I was born in Jackson Hts. at Physicians Hospital in March 1944. I still live in Jackson Hts. and have lived here for 72 years, I served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force. I've seen so many changes have so many good memories of Jackson Hts. I lived with my parents, aunt & grandfather, uncle and brother's & sister in a house on 92nd. St. bet. Roosevelt Ave. & Elmhurst Ave.  Any one remember the guy in a white uniform on a bike with a bell riding around the neighbor hood selling good humor ice cream. I also remember an old Italian man with a horse drawn cart going thru the streets collecting rags.Remember a guy with a small van who drove around sharpening everyone's knives, scissors, tools etc. Remember seeing Ice man delivering large Blocks of Ice to all the houses and bars. In our old refrig the block of ice was put in top section of frig. All the houses were mostly heated by coal. The coal man would come and fill up our coal bin which was in the basement of our house. I remember Trollies running along Junction Blvd. There were several movies in Jackson hts. The Corona,on Junction Blvd. bet. Roosevelt Ave. & 37th. Ave. The Polk theater,on Polk Ave. between 93rd. St. & 94th. St. The Colony on 82nd. St. bet. Roosevelt Ave. & 37th. Ave. The Boulevard Theater on Northern Blvd. about 81st. St. There was another Movie House on 37th. Road bet. 73rd. St. & 74th. St. Does any one remember it's name. There also  was The Jackson theater, on 82nd. St. bet. Roosevelt Ave. & Baxter Ave. The Jackson is not really in Jackson Hts. it is in Elmhurst. I remember a big empty lot that was along Roosevelt Ave. bet. 93rd. St. & 94th. St. we all burned our used Christmas trees there. I remember a Carvel Ice Cream store with a drive in parking lot it was on Polk Ave. bet. 93rd. & 94th. Sts. I remember Movies cost 25 cents. You saw 2 full feature films, cartoons and News Clips. I remember usher at the polk Theater, she dressed in a white uniform and carried a flash light, the manager or owner of the Polk wore a suit and had a carnation in his lapel.  I also remember movie would stop for some type of malfunction if not fixed quick kids would go crazy and start screaming & yelling, there were times every one was kicked out of the theater. Okay enough for now. will submit more memories at a later date.

It was the Earle. I saw the James Bond film Thunderball there. Like many of the other theaters in area --the Fair, the Polk--it changed to more adult entertainment at one point.

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.       

me -- 1950 - 1975 at 33-16 82nd str

grand fun

Just recently discovered this site.

Lived in Jackson Heights from birth in 1941 until end of 1956, 86-10 34th Avenue, when we had to move after my father’s death. Watched as the tennis club disappeared plus the empty lots where lots of sports were played. In the end, schoolyards and streets were the playgrounds. Lots of good memories of fun and friends.

Schools:
K-5: P.S. 149
6-8: Garden Country Day School - basketball plus a couple operettas
9-10: Trinity School in Manhattan

Attended St. Mark’s for church and Cubs.

Friends - I’m sure I’ll leave some out:

Neighborhood friends: Billy Nussbaum, Lance Gaude, the Lyons brothers

GCDS:
Male-Doug Floren, Tommy Thulin, Ray Liggio.
Female- Dee Layer, Val Curtin, Mary Anne M.

Trinity- Went together with Doug Floren and Tommy Thulin from GCDS

I was sad to leave JH, but, obviously, my life changed dramatically.