Letters from Our Readers:

In a message dated April 3, 2010, Peter Berlin writes to Matt Bashie

Hi Matt,

I am compelled to read what you write. It is a window into what was a "seemingly parallel universe” that was more pleasant than reality. All this really couldn’t have happened. These memories were just placed in our minds by some alien being.

In 1955 my parents arrived back to their winter house at 1087 Gipson St. in Bayswater, from a trip to Florida (I was left behind with a nanny/house keeper). They returned in a two tone brand new '53 Packard Patrician which replaced our former Studebaker. My father, Louis Berlin, also came back with a cast on his foot. It appears that he somehow totaled the old Studebaker in Georgia on the journey. My dad kept the Packard for about two years and replaced it with my stepmother’s choice, a ’56 Pink and Black Caddy in Coupe Deville configuration. It also came with a new vanity license plate (LB-56). This plate proved to be good for me, because the 101st Precinct knew his plate well (not sure why). When I drove his car a few years later, that plate kept me out of trouble. For “some reason” it got as much respect as a plate that had the “MD” designation….like never getting a parking ticket and always getting a warning instead of a traffic ticket.

Dad had a stroke in ’68. He moved to Florida (I was in Vietnam at the time). He had decided that the summer real estate business was not for him anymore. The city bought the Manor Hotel which he had owned. He gave the city a ten year mortgage on that hotel which later became the Phoenix House. That was the last of Far Rockaway for me. My last summer was around 1966. I remained in South Florida studying at the University of Miami pursuing a career in broadcasting. My older sister married 77 WABC's, Bruce Morrow. They still live in NYC.

I am closing my window for now…but keep your "wormhole" open and a bottle of Windex handy!

Peter Berlin

Matt Bashie's Reply, Dated April 4, 2010

Hi Peter,

Of course I remember you and we have "spoken" on several prior occasions. I remember very well your dad's summer hotel -- "The Manor." As a child, I lived close by that large hotel and I passed it so many times in my youth -- on the way to the small shopping center on Beach 27th Street and I also went by it on my way to the high school and then again on that long walk from Wavecrest apartments to the train station on 25th Street.

As I told you in my prior correspondence, I remember the caretaker getting the hotel ready for summer occupancy -- his 1956 Studebaker coupe parked nearby the understructure of the wooden hostelry. I even stopped a few times and exchanged words with him -- that had to be back in 1963 or 64.

I also remember when the hotel was transferred to the city to be revamped into the Phoenix House -- a drug rehabilitation center -- and the neighborhood was "up in arms" about that. I am aware that the place burned out sometime shortly thereafter -- but not to the ground. I can still see (in my mind) what remained of the former hotel after the fire. Talk about a fall from grace! It served as a showcase to illustrate what happened to the Rockaways -- it reflected a pictorial summary of unfortunate changes that had taken place over a period of 150 years. The Manor Hotel had actually been built at the western end (same street and same approximate address) of what had once been the grand Far Rockaway Marine Pavilion Hotel -- the largest and first really important summer residence in Far Rockaway.

Although I probably never met you, probably never even saw you, I DO remember hearing some of your summer DJ work when you made announcements over the hotel public address system -- your voice certainly did carry for blocks. I can still remember seeing all those cars parked in the parking lot (a lot which still remains to this very day) -- and I can recall seeing shadows of happy summer guests as they relaxed out on the large veranda on pleasant August evenings back in the early sixties. I never had the privilege of actually stepping foot into your father's hotel but I once dated a girl who was a resident -- probably the summer of 1962.

Thanks for sharing some of your memories. It is always such a pleasure to hear from you. Please DO keep in touch!

Matthew