"...somehow the old home town just ain 't the same anymore!" It has now been over sixty years since my first introduction to Far Rockaway. Through those six decades much has changed about the place -indeed, very little has not changed! Back in the early 1950s I saw it to be nothing other than a simple resort community - ever expanding with new homes and beautiful modern schools. I considered it to be just about the perfect setting for any childhood. Life was easy, my "job" was to attend school, satisfy my parents, and enjoy playtimes with my friends, and not necessarily in that particular order. Although my immediate surroundings were pleasant, peaceful, and clean -even from an early age I was aware of problem areas on the peninsula. My mother had a friend who was employed at the famous Rockaway's Playland and on many occasions I took the local street (Green Lines) bus from the corner location of my apartment building to the amusement park which was located some eighty blocks further west on Beach 98th Street. Those lengthy bus trips took me through some of the less desirable parts of the downtown Hammels and Holland areas. As a child I witnessed first-hand the substandard living conditions of these parts of the Rockaways. Wooden buildings which had once served a summer population, once standing proper and proud had through years of exposure and neglect been relegated into slum housing - a blight on any community. Boarded-up store fronts, abandoned front laws, long-ignored gardens and parks, tireless automobiles propped up on blocks, hoards of unsupervised children playing on curbs and on city streets. These certainly were the areas to be avoided at any cost. Go to Archives to read the previously published chapters
We mourn the passing of Vincent Seyfried, the preeminent historian of Long Island, the Long Island Rail Road, and particularly what is most dear to our hearts, the Rockaways. Mr. Seyfried died this past Saturday from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He would have celebrated his 94th birthday on Thursday, April, 19, 2012. Seyfried grew up in the Hollis section of Queens. He received his bachelor and masters degree from Fordham University and served in the Air Corps during WWII. When we visited the Queens Historical Society this past November, we saw firsthand the esteem in which he was held by this fine organization of which he was a founding member. His book "Old Rockaway, New York In Early Photographs" which he coauthored with William Asadorian, is undoubtedly the finest work ever published depicting the glorious history of the Rockaways.
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From Lew Feldstein to Stevie S. Stevens, dated March 28, 2012: Mr. Stevens, Loved your piece on Bergers Restaurant. Evocative. My family was involved in running the Riverside Funeral Home for many years. We wer regular customers of Bergers, among other Far Rockaway stores. Did this appear in a larger history of Far Rockaway that covered the 50s-70s? Is it on line? Can I get a hard copy? If not, have you done other pieces on Far Rockaway buldings during the 50s - 70s? Much thanks. Lew Feldstein Read entire letter and Stevie Stevens reply From Herb Hirschfeld to Rockaway Memories dated March 16, 2012:
Dear Marty, I came across this photo which was taken when George Bell (FRHS,1955) came up to visit me several years ago. The occasion was a surprise 70th birthday party that my wife arranged which took place 4 weeks before my actual birth date. I didn't have a clue. Sadly, George, passed away about two years ago. He grew up on Beach 9th Street in Far Rockaway. I lived around the corner at 1132 Beach 12th Street. Despite the fact that George later resided in Florida and then Atlanta and I was in New York, we still maintained out connection throughout the years. |
IN THE midst of a world of tumult and trouble, a visit to the small cemetery back of the Postal Cable Building on Greenwood Avenue, Far Rockaway, might put one in a philosophical and peaceful frame of mind. Here lie the earthly remains of those who, in their day, worried and fretted over problems and troubles which to them were as serious, or more serious, than those which concern us today. Their lives, as well as their fortunes, were often at stake. Were the boys able to kill or capture the wolves which destroyed the cattle in the pasture? Did grandfather's chickens die of disease or were they killed by the yellow fox? The Indians are roving about the plantation committing depredations and threatening the lives of the family, -- some one must go to Manhattan and report the matter to the Governor. A stranger opened the gates and our horses have escaped into the forest and can't be found. Son Thomas started for "York", -- as New York was then called, -- in the new sloop "Sally Ann". A violent storm wrecked the boat on the Jersey Coast. These were catastrophies which only the courageous could withstand. But those interred in this cemetery were of that type. As we enter the west gate of the grave yard, the first stone we see is a memorial to Thomas Cornell, Esq. He was the grandson of Richard, born 1703, died 1761, distinguished for his services to the public and to the poor. He served for twenty-seven years as representative in the General Assembly in the Colony of New York, and we read on the stone that it was erected by his weeping widow. Henry Foster, Benjamin Cornell, Abegil Cornell, members of the Ebenezer Lockwood family and other descendants of the founders of the Rockaways were interred here. Many of their great-great-grandchildren still live in these parts, wholly oblivious that their ancestors, uncles or cousins are interred here. Few even know of the existence of this cemetery, yet it is one of the oldest in the State of New York.
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