Letters from Our Readers:

In a message dated April 24, 2010, Ben Budick writes to Stevie S. Stevens

Love your recent photo essay Stevie…
As someone who grew up in Far Rock I share much of your memories and sadness….I have this memory of walking with my Mom on Mott Ave and seeing the section of the “el” that crossed Mott Ave being demolished…I must have been 5 or 6…
To those of us who were fortunate enough to have grown up there in the 50’s and 60’s Far Rockaway was a magical place…sorta this weird cross between Andy Hardy’s Carville and Coney Island…
We had this duality of a small VERY provincial town for 9 months of the year and then the carnival came to town for 3 months!
Your photo essay brought to mind another similar experience I had….I lived in Hollywood for most of 1971…It was the tail end of the LA hippie period and in retrospect it was hilariously MELLOW….I lived for half of my time there in the middle of Hollywood, just off Hollywood Blvd and Highland, and the other half in Laurel Canyon….Having grown up on the movies, and my Mom’s fascination with movie stars, I spent a lot of time driving around Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and the near valley….If you looked hard enough you could still see the last vestiges of the Hollywood golden era of the 1920’s to 1940’s….Think of Polanski’s CHINATOWN….it was run down but still there….
Last time I was out there, 1996, it was mostly gone….
The difference, of course, is that West LA was overrun by unrestricted urban sprawl and Far Rockaway was murdered by urban planners…
Thanks again,
Ben Budick

Stevie S. Stevens Reply, Dated April 25, 2010

Hello, Ben --

Good to hear from you again! So glad that you enjoyed my "Some Historical Buildings" essay. The articles you read on the website were not written recently -- so when they appear, it is like I myself am reading them for the very first time.

Like I wrote in the article, that section of Mott Avenue was not an area I would have visited on a daily basis -- I lived closer to the oceanfront. My first introduction to downtown commercial Far Rockaway was back in the very early 1950s and I did take the Long Island Rail Road on a few occasions, from the Mott Avenue "raised-platform" station -- which at that time was located in that overpass crossing Mott Avenue at the second level. I remember the area being rather "dark" -- overshadowed by the concrete and steel structure -- and I remember the station itself being rather ornate. I really don't remember when the overpass was dismantled; I just knew that it eventually was removed. Most of the commercial buildings in the area were at least 50 years old by that time and the entire place had a rather musty and stale appearance.

I have never been to California -- so I will take your word for what you say about the areas with which you were familiar. It certainly seems that you have had a full and exciting lifetime of a wide variety of unusual events. As to the demise of the Rockaways, certainly the "urban planners" shoulder a great part of the responsibility -- but there were many many other factors. In fact, from my last visit to the Rockaways, I feel confident that the place has not yet "hit rock bottom" but it certainly is working in that direction!

Please DO keep in touch!

Stevie S. Stevens