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FAVORITE
MEMORIES OF BAYONNE
 I joined the
US Army in 1975 as a Military Policeman and received my orders for
the Military Ocean Terminal, Bayonne (MOTBY). As an 19 year-old young
man, raised in Las Vegas, NV, I thought
I knew everything that there was to know about the world.
The MOTBY, and the wonderful people of Bayonne, taught me I had a
lot to learn. Until I became a
regular at the Bayonne Diner, I had never had a corn muffin, heated
on the grill with butter, or even heard
of ordering a coffee with cream and sugar called a "regular"
coffee. The (Army) soldiers at MOTBY were accepted and truly felt
part of the local community.
Driving out to the end of the dock and looking at the World Trade
Center across the harbor was
something that we took for granted. I certainly wish I would have
taken time to enjoy that view many
more times and taken a lot more pictures. The US Bicentennial in NYC
and the harbor in 1976 were
nothing less than spectacular - the tall ships from around the world,
including the Amergo Vespucci
(which was docked alongside at MOTBY), provided a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to see history live
and with such grandeur.
The view from the end of the dock also included the USS Forrester,
with President Gerald Ford reviewing the tall ships in the harbor
and the Verrazano Bridge in the background. The Queen Elizabeth
also spent time in Bayonne. Her royal yacht docked at MOTBY (I believe
in 1976) and those of us stationed during that time had an opportunity
to take her crew on a tour of Manhattan. It was quite an experience
and privilege to get meet the sailors that had been chosen to be responsible
for the comfort and safety of the Queen of England. I would also add
that they were almost able to drink as much as we did.
I fondly remember Bayonne, MOTBY, and friends, such as Joe Caparino
and his girlfriend BJ. I was both sad and pleased to hear the news
about the MOTBY facility becoming a new site for cruise ships. I wish
the community the best.
Eric Nelson, Newport Beach, CA
( Stationed in Bayonne in 1976 - 78)
I grew up in
Bayonne and have a very fond spot in my heart for the old town. I
recall back in the early 60's there was a paperback celebrating the
Bayonne Tri-Centennial going back to the Dutch.
Arthur S. Gentile, Indian Trail, NC
Falling to
sleep to the sound of St. Vincent's Drum & Bugle Corps practice
in the summer (I lived on west 46 Street)...the Dream Competitions
at Roosevelt Stadium...Judicke's fresh sprinkle donuts & watching
them being made in the bakery window...two big white stone dog statues
on a house lawn on Ave. C. around 33rd Street...hanging out at Jooches'
Candy Store on 47th & Avenue B. in the 60's...cruising Broadway
with my friends...Roosevelt Drive-In...Parking in Veterans Park...chocolate
soda's with my grandfather at Murdock's on Broadway & 43rd Street....later
hanging out at the Dairy Queen on Broadway & 42nd Street....A
red corvette, Donny, Bill, Larry, Michie, Mimi & me....Bouton's
Candy Store, Broadway & 5th Street (my uncle's store)...I still
make the best potato salad thanks to my friend Pat's father's Deli
on Broadway & 35th Street....can't get deli meats, salads or seed
rolls anywhere like the ones in Bayonne...the Goodwill Deli....Boulevard
Pool & summer nights on 46th Street, Friday night dances (Knights
of Columbus, St. Mary's or St. Vincent's)....Funny how this all sounds
so much better than I thought it was when I was growing up.
M.E. (Carbin) Johnson
One of my best
memories of Bayonne is the movies--the DeWitt (on Saturday, 25 cartoons
for 25 cents), the Lyceum, the Strand and the Victory (the old Opera
House). And, of course, Petridis hot dogs, which are still the best!
Shopping on Broadway for school clothes, Friday night CYO dances at
the Assumption hall--only if you went to Monday night religion classes.
Crystal Palace on Broadway after school for sodas, ice skating in
the Park, sleigh rides down double hill--and all the wonderful people
in the entire city who were either related to you or related to someone
you knew.
Camille Di Donato
My family and
I moved from Bayonne in late 1954 when I was thirteen years of age.
I was born and raised there and lived in three different neighborhoods
during my childhood. My father was also born in Bayonne. A number
of extended family members, including aunts, uncles and cousins were
part of the landscape of my early years.
I loved my boyhood in Bayonne, and having the perspective of time,
I can say I wouldn't trade it for any other. For me it was a period
filled with friendship, excitement, constant discovery and self-learning.
I had a great deal of freedom to explore the rich fabric that only
a large, diverse community can offer. At that time there were over
90,000 residents. Many were immigrants who had suffered hardships
in their lands of birth.
Today I can still remember many sights, sounds, events, and colorful
personalities as though time had never intervened. It is difficult
to convey the atmosphere of a time and create a shared understanding
of the sentiments involved--"You had to be there." But,
having said that, I can verify the memories others have recorded on
this page. They all strike familiar cords in me.
Here is a potpourri of flashbacks for those of you old enough to
remember. They are not systematically arranged: I remember ethnic
garb, and gestures, and recall that many women wore scarves and shawls,
I even recall some folks balancing baskets and jugs on their heads,
and old folks who gathered cork bark and other debris from the edges
of the bay, the whining of a few electric powered delivery trucks,
church bells chiming, the calls to prayer from a minaret, the sound
of coal deliveries sliding down chutes into the storage areas of basements,
the corner candy stores, the milk shakes and the racks of comic books,
homemade skateboards clacking along slate sidewalks, boys playing
stick ball in the streets, girls playing hopscotch, and "lucky"
pink balls being bounced high off the leading edges of stairs in front
of homes, gypsy fortune tellers, playing on the half-sunken barges
at the edge of Newark Bay, turning over rocks at low tide to find
fiddler crabs, open house days at the Naval Base when we boarded aircraft
carriers and battleships and watched demonstrations by deep sea divers,
playing "Robin Hood" high up in the trees of Hudson County
Park, my first girlfriend, my first date, the notable summer of 1952
when UFO sightings were abundant, jumping among ice drifts on the
bay when one winter the surface far out from the shore had frozen
over, gleeful people cheering and waving flags as Army tanks rumbled
down the streets at the conclusion of World War 11, the deeply furrowed
wood and wrought iron school desks of the public school I attended,
some still bearing carved inscriptions left by an earlier generation's
boys, weekend and summer visits to the library, reading the names
of the far flung merchant ships that trafficked the city's surrounding
waters, a reckless climb with friends part way up the arch of the
Bayonne Bridge, standing trackside counting railroad freight cars
drawn by steam and later diesel locomotives (sometimes over 120,)
block parties, street vendors- men at megaphones hawking watermelons,
street corner vendors selling roasted peanuts, popcorn, hot dogs,
(one even had a trained monkey on a leash,) religious processions,
huge blimps passing overhead, kids flipping collector cards (in games
we called "flipsy and wallsy",) Duncan yo-yo pro demonstrations
and contests, occasional grudge fights in the boxing ring of the PAL,
Saturdays at the DeWitt Theater where for 35 cents we got to see coming
attractions, two full-length feature films, newsreels, cartoons, AND
10 live vaudeville acts! (I know, much of this may sound unreal.)
I could go on, but I won't. Every block offered a new world to explore,
new people and goings on. I found there was something to learn every
day. Above all, I will always remember my "gang," the companionship
of a special group of close friends and the good times we shared together
growing up in Bayonne.
Charles Albano
I have a few
memories:
Uncle Milty's, especially those little boats that went round and
round in a cement pool of stagnant water, the Spook House, and the
rickety roller coaster. Those trampolines on First Street near the
ferry. The penny arcade on First Street.
Mussels marinara on summer nights from Feeny's on Broadway and Dodge,
Elbaum's Superette next door to Feeny's where we got those soft Italian
rolls that were SO good with butter, and the Joyva Jelly-Joys. The
Deli-Ette on Broadway and 5th Street had the BEST rice pudding ever.
Summers: Playing B-ball in Cottage street park, whiffle ball on the
streets all over, stoop ball, one summer of "skoalsies"
which never came back, and maybe, just maybe, inventing bicycle motocross
one summer down in the wilderness on Ingham Avenue.
More summers (youth is always either summer or winter snows): 16th
Street pool, fireworks at Roosevelt stadium and the distant sound
of the drums at "Bugles By The Bay"; bicycles with cards
in their spokes in the Memorial Day parade; dragonflies over swampy
puddles down by the oil tanks at the end of 5th Street, and fireflies
at night; the smoky yellow smudge pots at street repair sites; tossing
firecrackers from our bikes; pizza from the Venice; and root beer
with Pop Pop at Ostreko's Tavern.
And winters, when it used to snow enough to make snow forts and dig
snow tunnels and we waited in bed, rapt with anticipation, to hear
the snow-day sirens.
The produce vendor who stopped his truck and cried "Heeeere
peaches tomatoes potatoes heeeeeere!" and the knife-sharpener
guy who walked around with his foot-powered grinding wheel, ringing
his hand-bell. Snowflakes glowing in the lights from the decorations
on Broadway, and warming my hands on a hot chocolate at the BHS-Marist
game every Thanksgiving.
New Years Eves when everyone on the block was in the street with
noisemakers, or pots and pans and spoons, screaming Happy New Year
to everyone else. Last I heard, no one does this anymore.
Cory Dallas
Bayonne was
always a special place and trip. I remember doing our Christmas shopping
in those small, great stores all along Broadway every Christmas and
then walking down to see the new Lionel Trains in the window of the
TV store on Broadway and thinking someday, almost to this very day,
that I just might be able to buy one of those beautiful homes on both
sides of the big turn on the Boulevard.
And I remember, Pizza at Dido's on Friday nights after roller skating
at the Boulevard Rink and at least in the early-to mid fifties, how
the guys would cruise up and down Broadway on Saturday night and see
all the pretty girls from Bayonne High, I swear they were all 10's
but before you started you had to Gas Up at Harrington's Esso stations
and that cost all of two bucks.
And Bayonne has some really special memories because I proposed to
my wife on a bench in Bayonne Park while home on leave and we had
our reception at the Hi-Hat.
Bayonne was a very special city in the fifties and sixties, and I
thought we'd really arrived when we moved there from Jersey City but
sadly I haven't been there in all too many years.
Dennis
I'm 72 years
old and have lived in Bayonne all my life. I can remember the trolley
cars that I rode on with my father to go to his boathouse somewhere
way uptown on Newark Bay. I can't remember names anymore, but there
was a beach there where we swam. The streets had very little traffic
and we could roller skate along chalk lines made on the street. You'd
have about eight or ten kids holding onto each others waist and the
kids near the end would whip around when the line turned.
As a youngster I lived on Lord Avenue between First and Second Streets
and there were three lots there where kids played. I can remember
not going into the lot on the corner of First and Lord because I thought
I'd never find my way out. We all learned how to ice skate on Brady's
dock. The kiddy pool would be frozen in the winter and you could skate
on it. I can remember getting 26 cents to take the ferry back and
forth to Staten Island to the pool and have 6 cents left for a frozen
Milky Way.
This didn't really have anything to really do with Bayonne but on
weekends we would go and park across the highway from the Newark Airport
and watch the planes land and take off. There was an ice cream truck
there too.
There were six movie houses in Bayonne at that time, the Plaza, Strand,
DeWitt, Lyceum, Embassy and the Opera House. The Opera House had live
stage entertainment and they also had yo-yo contests. There were Christmas
programs and gifts every year given by the larger business for the
children of employees. In the summer there was always a boat ride
excursion given by one of the political clubs. During the World War
II there were trains of soldiers that would sidetrack on 7th Street
and everyone would go down and talk to them. I think that there were
Italian prisoners of war held down by First Street at one time.
Bayonne High School had a campus before houses were built on the
south side of the school. As an adult I took the train to the ferry
to Manhattan and had a ball going and coming home from work every
day with the same friends. I guess I could go on and on, I loved growing
up and living in Bergen Point in Bayonne. My children have gone to
the same schools and the same church that I attended and up to this
point my grand children are doing the same.
Mike Donovan
I was born
in 1951 and left the area in 1969.
Nobody I knew called it Uncle Miltie's Amusement Park - everybody
called it Bergen Point. I loved Bergen Point because it was, to my
child sensibilities, much more aptly scaled than the overwhelming
Palisades Amusement Park. And my parents and maternal grandparents
were addicted to one of Bergen Point's wheel stands - plunked down
a small fortune in dimes. Charlie's, as the stand was called, and
Charlie was a character with eyes like a hawk - not one dime plunked
down ever escaped his surveillance! At Charlie's one warm Sunday night
- I was twelve - I won my first transistor radio: a 2-transistor,
red & white Sony that stayed glued to my ear all that summer (Cousin
Brucie!); I can still hear that radio in my Dad's old 8mm films (now
transferred to DVD).
I remember riding on the Bergen Point Ferris wheel and feeling my
breath taken away by the twinkling spectacle of the rides and stands
and concessions below, and by the glimmer of lights on the dark waters
of the Kill Van Kull. After that ride Grandpa bought me cotton candy
that I ate while we sat together on a bench above the Kill's ebony
wavelets. And Grandpa spent a pocketful of dimes trying to win for
me a stuffed animal by tipping over, with his best baseball pitches,
fur-trimmed dummies Knock-Em-Down stands.
There was also a grand park along Newark Bay, with a broad, seawall,
bordered with greens onto which, every March, my Dad took me and my
younger brother to fly kites in the bracing breeze. Much later, when
I was in high school, I played, as a member of my high school team,
a varsity soccer game there against Bayonne High - we won (2-1, if
I recall correctly)! (I won't say which was my school!) I think Bayonne
High's uniforms were red & white, but I remember clearly that
the contest was a tough match, but that all the players exhibited
clean sportsmanship.
In 1950s there was a terrible railway disaster when a passenger train
plunged into Newark Bay from the Newark side of a bridge whose cantilever
center section had remained upraised. I was very little when this
happened, but it was the first time I became aware of "news"
- and of tragedy beyond my self. I remember imagining, as vividly
as a child might imagine, how the people aboard the train might have
felt.
My first date ever was from Bayonne. I'll keep that a secret but
I remember riding the bus together with the pair of us all dressed
up for a high school dance and thus feeling rather conspicuous and
jejune compared to the more prosaically attired other passengers.
I had two fine friends from Bayonne: Danny "Tippy" Kinahan
who gave me the lyrics to "The Wearing Of The Green" (and
I still have them as he inscribed them in his hand), and John "Jack"
Lipinksi whose father was a Bayonne Fire Department Captain; and Jack's
daughter is the world-renowned ice skater Tara Lipinski, but I haven't
seen Tippy or Jack in more decades than I care to think about.
An acquaintance from high school - I didn't hang out with him or
his crowd back then - much later became Bayonne's mayor: Leonard Kiczek.
I also remember my World War II-veteran Dad taking me, year after
year, to what was then the Bayonne Naval Base for Armed Forces' Day
exhibitions. There I toured with Dad the mothballed battleship USS
New Jersey, the legendary aircraft carrier USS Franklin, the then-new
aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, and many other ships and craft that
I enjoyed learning about. All the sailors, looking smart and handsome
and squared-away in their summer whites, treated me grandly - they
seemed to be always grinning and winking; and I remember one of them
gave me a piece of hard candy and when I try hard enough I can remember
exactly how good it tasted and how special I felt on
those lovely days.
Of course, when I was a child, the Bayonne Bridge (thank goodness
it wasn't named the Staten Island Bridge!) impressed me profoundly
with its graceful, arching girders - especially on days when sunbeams
made the bridge gleam like a silver fantasy creation; and I thrilled
to gawk up at
its soaring steelwork whenever Dad or Grandpa drove our family across
it in Dad's '56 Chevy Bel-Air or in Grandpa's majestic 1952 Buick
Eight.
I hope these recollections help you recapture for your site a bit
of the flavor of what Bayonne was like, and that they might manage
to tell that I still feel fondly about Bayonne
Jordynne Olivia Lobo
(since 1989 in St. Louis, Missouri)
Even though
it has been almost 40 years since I lived in Bayonne, I have many,
many fond memories. One of the best is being able to look across the
street from our house and see St. Henry's Church every day! I thought
it was the most beautiful church in the world (and still do) and even
seeing it now just makes me feel happy. I remember spending Saturday
afternoons at
the DeWitt Theater and like so many other people, having a Yoo Hoo
and a hot dog from Petridis--the truck---it was best when sitting
on the wooden crates next to the building!!! Like others, many of
my memories are linked to the great food you could find on just about
every corner---we just don't have food like that in California!!!
My family, on both sides, goes back more than a few years in Bayonne---maybe
that's why I still have that "special" feeling for it. We're
coming back for a visit in late spring (the first time that I'll have
been back in about 15 years!) and I can't wait!!!
Susan (Solan) Copeland
Long Beach, CA
I was born
and bred in Bayonne, until I moved to Virginia in 1989.
One of all the fond memories I have is studying at the Bayonne Public
Library; when I was in grammar school and high school. The library
looked so formidable with all the gray and white stone. The books
smelled so good! It was so-o-o quite. The floors, on which the majority
of the books rested, were made of heavy glass. You could sit outside
in the library courtyard amongst the trees and discuss the events
of the day. When the library burned we were all so afraid that the
city would rebuild with something really modern. Fortunately the facade
was left intact and only the inside was modernized, but not too much!
After that I would walk home with my friends, along the tree lined
streets of Avenue C. We strolled along to 26th Street passing all
the landmarks, the Knights of Columbus building, Shop Rite, St. Henry's
Church, the little park that used to be where City Hall now is, police
headquarters that once stood on the corner of 26th street and Avenue
C. Oh those were the days!
Richard T. Dayton
Hampton, Virginia
One
of my fondest memories of growing up in Bayonne
is the Benmore Estate on Avenue A, between 34th and 35th Streets.
It is where I went to school from kindergarten through 3A. We
were transferred to Horace Mann when the city declined to renew its
lease for using it as a school and the owners ordered the mansion
house torn down. It was our neighborhood play area until the
property was sold in 1939 and subdivided into building plots on what
are now Roosevelt and Benmore Terraces. We had Easter egg hunts
on the grounds and were able to buy ice cream from the Good Humor
man who would come on the porch and knock on our classroom window.
Each class had its own garden in the spring.
Bernie Rosenberg
Watching
the football and baseball players in the old City Park Stadium.
From history I understand the stadium was built in the early 1930’s
when James J. Donovan was commissioner of parks. The ball fields
were the scene of great competition featuring the Bob McCusker Twilight
League and the James J. Donovan Football league. This was before
television and the car was not as plentiful in that era. It
was great entertainment.
BD
Mozzarella
sandwiches from Hill’s Tavern. Hanging out at the 16th
Street Park during the summer, the handball courts. The Bayonne
Times. I now live
in Texas but receive the Community News to keep in touch with
what is going on in Bayonne.
William A. Goodhart
Fond
Memories: I remember when we went ice skating at the County
Park pond and sledding down Double Hill (a real bounce when we doubled
up on the sled), the “Armistice Day” parades when the few “Civil War
Veterans” rode in a car, the Exempt Fireman in their dress uniforms
pulled the carriage, the summer Republican and Democrat excursions—the
endless trains and the white boats from 1st street, the
high school bonfires at the city line, the ice-cream parlors at 34th
and 52nd streets and Broadway, and the Boulevard roller
skating arena. As Ray Bolger put to song: “If you can remember
this, you’re much older than I.” Pleasant Memories
Harry
(Red) Irwin
I
can remember the Staten Island Ferry from First
St. and the lights strung across the poles during the Christmas Holidays
and Santa Claus in the basement of Grant’s Department Store.
Also, State Pants, Flagg Brothers Shoe Store, and Whelan’s Drug Store.
So many good times.
Harry
J. Bolger in Indiana
I
remember summer block dances, cherry Cokes in Model Drugs, DeWitt
Theater, taking the ferry to Staten Island on a summer night, “mello
rolls” at our local candy store, Boulevard Pool, taking pictures on
Easter Sunday in Hudson County Park, Christmas Eve Mass at St. Mary’s
Star of the Sea, and when I was older every Saturday night at Brothers’
Tavern to dance the polka. It was a nicer time then.
Lorraine Collins
Although
I left Bayonne in 1948, the
city remains in my heart and my heart in the city: Double Hill, First
Street and the Penny Arcade, Boulevard Pool, Botwinick’s, Yankee Clipper,
Rosie and Harry’s Candy Store at 559 Avenue C, and Vroom School.
I could list on and on. This and so much more is etched indelibly
in my mind and heart
Judy
(Cantor) Ronci
Florida
There
are many residents who can still recall the excursion boats that sailed
to Rye Beach and Rockaway. Also,
I remember when Holy Family Academy was coed and the
main school was on the Boulevard at 8th Street and the
Annex was at Avenue C and 8th St. If you remember
those days you have been around a while.
My
most treasured memory of Bayonne
is being in the park with my Dad. Sleigh riding, sailing boats
(I fell in once) in the pond and sitting on a bench feeding peanuts
to the pigeons. That was back in the 1950’s. We moved
from Bayonne in 1960 when I was nine years old, but the memories are
still vivid and I come back at least several times a year. I
was thrilled to see that the ponds in the park were restored.
Another great memory was going to Bennett Ford on Broadway with a
neighbor who was a salesman there and being able to sit in all of
the new cars.
Tom Gilbertson
Jumping
over the fence of the old City Park Stadium on Avenue A, between 16th
and 19th Streets to see the football teams that played
in the James J. Donovan football League. We jumped the fence
so we could get in free. The games were great. Sadowski, Burke,
Tomski, DeAsio, and Sloan were top players.
I
lived in Bayonne from 1969 to
1982. I was born and raised there. I have some wonderful
memories: Birthday parties at McDonalds on Broadway; Shopping
with my mom and sister at Dee & Dee; Having a hotdog and a YooHoo
at Petridis; Playing baseball at Veterans Park; and Mrs. Cooney and Ms. Ruane, my two favorite
teachers at Theodore Roosevelt school on 24th
Street
As a lifelong resident of Bayonne
for 55 years, some of my favorite memories are taking the Staten Island
Ferry from Uncle Miltie's and going to South Beach in Staten Island,
and walking the Bayonne Bridge to Staten Island while throwing pennies
in the bay. Also, I can still smell the aroma of pizza coming from
a bag (instead of a box) from theVenice.
Does anyone remember that? As a graduate of Bayonne
High School, one of my fondest memories was crossing the bridge that
connected the Annex Building to the Main Building, which was then
made of half glass and half brick before they encased it all in brick.
My first actual drive-up for food was
at Petridis' truck; you were able to drive up to the truck on the
side of the DeWitt Theatre and get hot dogs from your car.
TONY K.
My family, having lived inLodi,
has recently relocated to your wonderful city. We have found
Bayonne people to be friendly, helpful and pleasant, making our transition
easier. We miss our old neighbors, but we feel welcome and find
our new neighbors a delight. Thank you to all, and we hope to
have a long and rewarding experience living in Bayonne.
NORMA
It has been over 30 years since
I called Bayonne
my home, but I think Bayonne will always be “home.” I still remember
the hot dog stands around the city, especially outside the DeWitt
Theater, Uncle MIltie’s, the ferry across to Staten Island, the Memorial
Day parade and many wonderful times. I still get back occasionally
for visits. The memories of growing up in Bayonne will always
be with me.
Tom Sokolowski
My favorite Bayonne memory
is without a doubt of May 2001, when the New Jersey Department of
Transportation designated Route 169 as Route 440, finally eliminating
one of the last route gaps in New Jersey, an action that was long,
long overdue.
Jonathan Sachs
I was born in Bayonne
and raised at 19 west 18th street next to the Empire Movers.
I played in the trenches on Broadway while the electrical wires were
being laid under the street. I remember going to Bayonne Technical
High School, competing with Bayonne High during junior year, processing
militaryvehicles for overseas during World War II, working at the
Naval Base, then drafted into the military at the draft board by the
DeWitt Theater. BAYONNE WAS A GOOD CITY AND I HOPE IT STILL
IS! I wish everyone well,
Emilio Martinez
I am a third generation Bayonnian
(or is it Bayonne-ite)? My maternal grandparents, father and
mother, my brother and I were all born in the city. Although
I live in Philadelphia
now, the best times of my life were spent in Bayonne. My grandmother and grandfather (last
name Kuligowski) owned a two-family home on Lord
Avenue. They lived on the first floor, and rented out the second.
When I was a child (up until age 17) I would spend several weeks in
the summer with my grandparents. Since my parents had moved
to the suburbs, I thought that riding the Broadway buses was just
tremendous, as well as walking to First Street
to Uncle Miltie’s and later to the park which replaced it. Also,
my grandmother would take me to Newman's Toy Store on Broadway as
a treat. She used to own a knitting store on Broadway in the
1960's called "Knitter's World," and I loved staying in
the store with her. My grandfather worked for J. Stanley Company,
a trucking firm, for more than 30 years. I don't get to the city as much as I
should (usually just for funerals!) but I will always have the best
memories of summers there.
Linda Dougherty
Philadelphia, PA
I have some wonderful memories
of time spent in Bayonne
with my grandparents. My grandmother and step-grandfather, Margaret
Cooper Ahern and Bill Ahern lived in a really small house on Lexington
Ave. During the war, a camp was built next door for aliens from Italy.
From the upstairs bedroom, you could look down and see the men playing
bocce ball. On Sundays (just before dinner) my Grandpa
Bill would take my brother and me to an amusement park and buy us
a Charlotte Russe. My other grandmother Amelia Honan was a cook at
one of the Catholic churches. I have a picture postcard of my
grandfather, John Honan, standing by a trolley. He was a conductor.
My great-grandfather, Henry Brownbill, had a blacksmith shop at 8th
and Broadway. Wish I could go back and ask the questions that I have
about my family history!
Sally
Otto
It seems when you reach a certain
age all the memories of your youth are wonderful and
magical. It's hard to try to remember anything bad. I loved the water and spent many hours
on the Newark
Bay shoreline. I lived on 16th Street and Ave. C, so a short
walk across town brought me to my playground at16th St. Park. I was
about nine years old when I was allowed to "leave the block,"
but still had to be home before the lights went out or I was in deep
trouble! On the Bay I use to jump and run over all the rocks
and pilings and pretend I was Sabu from the "Thief of Baghdad"
(my favorite movie). One day I went down to Robin's Reef
Yacht Club with some friends to catch some killies, (what the rest
of the world calls minnows). I made ONE mistake. I wore
my brand new Buster Brown school shoes. Well being such a lovely day
I sat down on the edge of the floating boat dock and CAREFULLY took
off my shoes and socks and dangled my feet in the cool water.
All was right with the world, until a boat went by that rocked the
pier and sent one of my Buster Browns into the murky waters of the
Newark
Bay. That was the first time in my young life that I felt true PANIC!
Some of my friends dove in and tried to save it but it was gone. What was I to do? I stalled as
long as I could and then the streetlights came on and PANICattack
number two hits me! I started walking in my socks back home
and to certain destruction at the hands of my parents. About
a block from home a police car pulls to the curb and I see the friendly
face of our downstairs tenant, Mr. Owen Ballweg, one ofBayonne's
finest and the guy who saved my hide from certain death. Coming
home that way was amazing. I could not understand why my mother
was so happy even after she heard about the shoes. Even my usually
stern father was rather calm. That was an experience I'll never forget P.S. I ate Petridis' (a Sabrett hot
dogs and Yoo Hoo from the womb to adulthood), Palermo's and
Roma's Pizza and Chester's Polish bar pies and hot roast beef sandwiches;
mussels & veal parmigiana at the Venice and Balbo's, every bread
and pastry at Pride's and Di Fillipo's bakeries; Italian ices from
the Broadway candy shop, and everything on the Bayonne Diner menu
at least once (especially Taylor ham and egg on a hard roll). Did
we eat in Bayonne
or what!
Joe
Hay in VA
I will always love BAYONNE! In 1952 I lived at 10 Avenue C in the
projects, across the street from Uncle Milite's amusement park when
a slice of pizza was fifteen cents, hot dogs were twenty cents.
The small restaurant next to the ferry was owned by Mr. Friedlander,
the ferry ride was ten cents, and the Broadway bus was seven cents.
The walk from First
Street to Fourth Street (Saint Andrews), Lenney's candy store on the
corner of Fourth and Avenue C made the best vanilla coke in the world.
Now Coca-Cola comes out with a vanilla Coke and they call it a hit!
Mr. & Mrs. Clark owned the restaurant "The Shack" on
First Street and the rock n roll music was played into the parking
lot. Today I'm employed at a VA hospital
inFlorida
and one of my classmates from Saint Andrew’s is a surgeon at this
hospital and we often talk of the old days in BAYONNE.
Patrick Lucey
Chocolate
malts at the lunch counter at Woolworth’s. Swimming at the 16th
Street Pool. Going to PAL on 24th Street. I am 32
years old now…and I can remember my home and those days so well…and
with so much heartfelt fondness. Thank you for your website and for
the opportunity to share and reminisce.
Those
hard rolls at Carl’s corner store on 24th
St. and Avenue A and going to BINGO with my mom at Our Lady
of Assumption.
Warm Regards,
Matthew J. Ash
Wichita, Ks.
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