Jackson Heights Life

I saw a Pizza Boy delivery car the other night. I was wondering it if was the same one.

There's one in woodside, roosevelt ave, might technially be woodside ave, right where they cross each other around 59/60th street

I remember Abehill!  That was like local housewares/hardware shop.  I also remember running from one Key Food to the next!

Has anyone mentioned that the "Eagle" theater was once the "Earle," and showed art and foreign movies?

Excellent! I've forgotten lots of these places.---bred in Jackson Heights ---over 30 years total.
Let's see some that may have been missed.

Green Theme Florist on the corner of 75th and 37th ..northside...very dubious place...all sorts of plants and "herbage" could be purchased there. I was too young..just rumours

Raja's candystore which was located where the city cafe is now..across the street from PS69. Old guy who was really grumpy and wore an old white smock would sell all the  baseball card, fake bubblegum cigarettes, handballs, bazooka gum and milkshakes you ever wanted ...(may be that the furniture in City is part of the original Rajas...looks familiar).

Ferns!! on 74th street!! good call on that one...BUT do you remember that beautiful black wooden saddled..and when I say saddle I mean I think it was a real saddle-- coin operated horse?

Don's on the corner of 80th street and 37th avenue ...where the bodega is now.  Candystore soda shop with video games at the rear!

The Pit! the arcade in the lower levels of the 74th street station. Great stamp collectors shop across the hall and that sketchy bar right by the bus terminal on the 74th and Roosevelt.---had to pass the bar to get to the stairs leading to the arcade.

Jackson Heights Discount Bookstore
Tons of old comic books, and I remember when they first opened they had 1000's of promotional movie photo BW stills..25 cents each.

Barrs across the street from the Post office...a toystore and gift shop. Had great boardgames in the back!

Numbers Records and Tapes (and 8 tracks...dad bought Saturday Night Fever there)...used to be on the corner where Ingrids is now on 78th street.

Of course the Colony...snuck into my first rated R movie there.  Conan the Barbarian....starring Gov,. Schwarzenegger.

There used to be a store joined to ShopWise on the 76th street side. I think it was a toy store of sorts but my memories about that place date me to about 3 years old so a little foggy.

There was  a great Chinese restaurant where that Atlantis 2000 club is now. It was Chino Latino..as they all spoke Spanish and my 1st Communion party was hosted in the rear social room!

Speaking of social clubs...right there on 37th road and 77th street..a real sketchy social club that was eventually closed by the police..big raid and all.

Concha D'Oro was the name of the pizza place next to the  Eagle ..and I swear they had the Best slice I have had to this day. I really miss that pizza. Was not very busy.

Guilllietas Pizza was the name of the present Thomas' on 77th. Slice for 5o cents sicilian 55.

If I remember anything else....


HEY if anyone has any photographs of these shopfronts please let me know. I just posted something about Toy City which is cited somewhere here im sure. I'm working on a little Jackson Heights memories project.

I remember spending a lot of money at Numbers Records & Tapes as a teen.  In addition to records, etc., they also stocked a large variety of those black t-shirts that had silk-screened images of rock stars on them.  That was our uniform back then....Lee jeans, t-shirts and sneakers.  Come to think of it, things haven't changed much!   

Fern's on 74th and Woolworth's on 82nd were the stores I frequented for school supplies.

Green Theme Florist was across the street from Armondo's.  They sold a nice variety of green house plants.

Do you remember the Carollos' of Carollo bakery?  The bakery's original locale was larger than the current one, and the pastries were better as well.  I steer clear from it these days as the quality is not the same as when the Carollo family were the owners.

Remember the benches in front of the post office?

I remember that small gift shop. I was friendly with the owner. She liked to get stuff that was hand-crafted. Prior to her closing, she was having a hard time selling. She did well around the holidays, and then nothing. She gave me one beautiful hand-crafted photo album for a wedding present.

Does anyone remember woolworths? I think it's now Duane Reade. The other memory is Rockbottom on 74th st. Parade of shoes (which I loved). And whatever happened to Cafe Greco?

ANCIL HOUSE!  yes! thanks for remembering for me.  i loved that place. 

tante mieux as a name, however, i don't remember so well.  maybe i was too entranced by all the lovely things in the window to look up and recognize the name.

does anyone actually shop in the store next to seba seba--i forget the name (i am obviously horrible at recalling names).  it's a new age shop. or rudy volcano?  --the two "nicer" retail stores in the area.  i've never stepped a foot into either, so just wondering how well they do with other patrons.

The mention of Seba Seba reminded me of the small coffee shop that was located at that corner prior to Seba.  It was a pretty run down looking place, but business always seemed to be hopping, particularly at breakfast time.  The tables were wobbly, the booths were taped up and the stools sometimes fell off.  It was a family owned business, and on occasion, the owner's kids would help in the kitchen preparing dishes or cleaning-up.  They had a waitress named Maria, who was like a machine.  She'd take orders, cook, clean, work the register, etc.  The prices were dirt cheap.  Maybe that explains why the place always seemed crowded.  The coffee shop didn't occupy the entire space that Seba Seba has now though.  Seba expanded once the Makeup Shop salon moved to their present location at 78th Street.

The space currently occupied by the Makeup Shop salon was previously an old fashioned shoe cobbler shop.  The space was huge.  I believe that business was moved to a smaller spot northeast on 37th Avenue, somewhere in the mid 80s.  There was talk of his retirement recently, so I'm not sure if he's still repairing shoes today.

Does anyone remember 18 de Julio?  This was an Argentinean grill spot that was located in the space currently occupied by La Boina Roja (the one in the 70s).  That place had a huge grill by the front window and was always jam packed.  They also had a large screen tv broadcasting futbol games.  Fans would gather in the restaurant as well as outside to catch a glimpse of the action.  I was surprised to see it close, especially since they seemed to do good business there.