Stevie,

Nice piece on Edgemere. The picture #23B is interesting to me. Using Google Earth I visited the area and noticed something. From above you can still make out the foundations of the Synagogue and the stores.

I am not sure why I find this interesting. Perhaps because as a boy we played constantly in the ruins of the houses, beach clubs and hotels. The traces of foundations is a sad reminder these properties have basically been abandoned since demolition. Just like 40 years ago I bet there are still treasures and other relics hidden in the foliage on Beach 36th street. Growth we called “the weeds” was already a common feature on the landscape by the time I began my explorations in the sixties.

I need to make a return visit soon – just to breathe in the salty air and peek into the weeds one more time.

Matt Carlson

Matthew,

Thanks for the response. I had not realized that the foundations were still there; almost impossible to determine that at ground level. I actually visited the place a few years ago. Really nothing to see. I spent about an hour just walking around -- mostly on Beach 34th and 35th Streets. The only person I actually encountered was a uniformed NY City fireman who had parked nearby the boardwalk in his official vehicle. He was sitting in the driver's seat and drinking from a bottle concealed within a brown paper bag. As I passed by, he looked at me, smiled and waved.

Of course I remember the area as an active place -- with busy stores and much human activity. During the summer vacations, Edgemere was really the place to be. Looking at all that empty wasteland I really cannot imagine what the city will eventually do with all of it. Perhaps in another few decades, some private builders will buy up all this unused land and will construct the same type of private housing that is now going up in the Seaside and Arverne areas -- more "gated" communities. Certainly nothing of commercial value would be advisable in the Edgemere area today. To me, Urban Development has always been sort of an mystery.

I only wish I were young again -- I would love to "romp" through those weeds with you, searching for interesting discoveries. I really did enjoy doing just that kind of stuff so many years ago.

Thanks again for your wonderful "find" -- I will pass that link on to Martin Nislick and his rockawaymemories website. Please do keep in touch!

Stevie