Welcome to the blog dedicated to everyone who grew up in the Windsor Terrace section of Brooklyn. Growing up on the corner of Prospect Park West and Windsor Place gave me a ringside seat to almost everything that went on in the neighborhood. Farrell’s was to my right, located on 16th street. One block over from the greatest Bar & Grill in the country is Prospect Park; Holy Name grammar school was across the street and of course the good old ‘F’ train was 100 yards away.
Attending Holy Name, playing basketball in the boys schoolyard. Stickball in the girls schoolyard. The ever-present Holy Name Summer basketball league where some of the best basketball of all-time was on display. Sanders movie theater, Ray and Otto’s, Bonalli’s, Henry’s deli for the Iced Teas, Regina bakery, Red’s Shoe Store, Joe’s Pizza, Sabella’s Pizza, Bob’s Hardware, Bishop Ford high school, hanging out on the Parkside, P.S. 154 schoolyard, the Lot on Windsor and 16th street where we played hardball and who could forget Officer Doyle of the 7-2.
Windsor Terrace is a middle class neighborhood that has produced firemen, policemen, teachers, writers, ironworkers, postal workers, and many other noble professionals. Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Gina Davis, Bruce Willis and Al Pacino have filmed movies here and Alanis Morissette filmed a music video on Prospect Park West.
Please feel free to leave any comments you may have about growing up in Windsor Terrace. Maybe you had relatives there and you would visit. You might’ve stopped in Farrell’s and left with a ‘container’ or you were of the lucky ones that played in the Holy Name summer league. Spread the word, share your memories and reminisce about the greatest neighborhood in the country.
hey what about the days we had a football team from farrells and had ourer meeting downstairs in the basment and on sundays was game day we drew a big crowd
they took the wind in the second half that hurt usthey could of taken the ball smart move
I LOOK N I GOT THE TAPE OF THAT GAME NO EXCUESWE LOST THE WIND HELP
That was a classic. Really helped them burst on the scene. Those games were wars. Guys came out of those contests with blood all over them.
Throw out some names of guys on those Farrell’s teams. Kevin Maloney threw off for you, you kept the ball in the air for serious hang-time giving your kick off coverage enough time to get down field.
ARLENE KELLY IM BETTY TRAPP KELLY, THANKS FOR SHARING WETTERS WAS A GREAT HANG OUT FOR US KIDS, BUT I NEVER CONCIDEREND US POOR KIDS, WE WERE QUITE RICH WITH ALL THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT DID START IN THAT HANG OUT. TONY AND ROSE PANZA OWNED WETTERS, BUT BEFORE WETTERS THEY HAD THE FISH STORE UP ACROSS FROM THE BROTHERS HOUSE, THEN AFTER WETTERS IT BECAME A CLOSE TREE CLOTHING STORE I BELIVE. WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE SUCH A HANG OUT, I WAS IN THERE SO MUCH THEY THOUGHT I TS ABOUT TIME I STARTED WORKING THERE, AND I DID. ROSE PANZA JUST PASSED AWAY THIS YEAR 2007 THEY WERE A VERY CARING AND LOVING COUPLE.
OMG – every word you wrote brought back a flood of memories. I grew up on 16th between 9th & 10th. Slapball, kick the can, hide the belt in front of the lot and I remember every store on the avenue back then. The candy store off 16th street for a handful of bottle tops to fill with melted wax to play skelzies. Bonalli’s cherry slushes, my boots from Red’s shoes, Ray’s & Otto’s for the egg creams and malteds, buttered rolls in the deli off 16th after mass on sundays, walking down the dusty aisles of Bob’s hardware (I remember his gray haired mother). I used to help out with the Rosary Society (my mom belonged – ugh!) – midnight mass at Holy Name. It was THE place for growing up! Thanks for the memories!
Hide the belt…that was a good one.
Joann, wonder if I know you????
HIDE THE GARRISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Belt)
MR ZOLI,,,,,,,,,,,
THE POLICE ARE GONNA GET YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Joann, I am so glad to hear someone else talk about playing skelzies. I am sure my mother loved finding bottle caps with melted crayons sitting on the stove over the pilot light. I would put them down and then forget them. AHHHH! Surprised I did not start a fire!
Wetters was incredible.. when you were 9 that was a cool ahngout… I felt the neighborhood was my world. ya did your xmas shopping in Germains .. grab a slice at Lenny’s.. Rays and Otto’s was Raznottos for me.. Marion and Millie were great with the shakes and the egg creams..the delib next to Farrells was the delibyFarrells.. I remember Ebinger’s bakery.. Mr. Volastro who many of us had in Holy Name is an attorney living in Staten Island.I run into him now and then. I rmember playing stickball, coco leabeo, buck-buck, spin the bottle and knuckle with the same girls. the older guys might knock ya around a little but they looked out for you.
Oh, Ebingers Boston Cream Pie!!!!! Yes, Raisinottos. That’s the ticket
JIMMY VACNER,,,,,,HOW YOU DOING?
IM JOHNNY FIN FINAMORE,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH YA,,,,,,,,,,HOLY NAME,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,MR VOLASTRO WAS MY TEACHER IN THE 5 TH GR,,,,,,,AND I USE TO BOWL WITH HIM AND MR SHAKIEPOO JENNINGS,,,,,,,,,DOWN NEAR CATON AVE BOWLING LANES,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,TELL HIM I SAID HELLO,,,,,,,,,,PEACE
JOHNNY FIN
Jim concerning Wetters, yes I agree with you. I was in there so much that they offered me a job. They said Betty you are here so much that you can kill two birds with one stone and get paid for it!!! So I did!! I think it was in 1969 or so my two sisters were getting married, one in dec and one in april and i was sharing this with the owner and I didnt know how financially I was gonna be ablt to do it. Well to my surprise she offereed an advance to me (not your usual bank loans of today) and every pay check i was to pay her back. Wow I will never forget that!!! As a teenager that was big stuffffffffff!!!!!!!!!!
Does anyone recall the Pink Elephant Sales in Holy Name Basement? It was one the greatest joys of my youth!
Back in the day… Who remembers the Lakers practicing at BFHS priot to the N.Y. Champshionship in the early 70’s. I lived on 20th of Terrace and we would play basketball in BFHS school yard every Saturday from 10 to 1 go home for some lunch and go back again from 2-5.
Stickball on 20th. street. (2 sewar homeruns…. car door first base…) My friends Horse, Joe V, Willy etc..we use to spend ummer afternoos playing strat-o-matic…hey we were geeks. So what baseball was everything. THe McGees (jimmy, Danny, Joey, ptsey, ann etc.) lived on the corner (12 kids) the Giovannis moved in later and they had 14 kids….. you were never without enough people to play some derivative of baseball. I try to go back to Farrell’s once a year….
Worked on the avenue as a kid..Joes vegetable stand…then he opened the egg store and worked there…his wife owned the card store.
I miss the old neighborhood…my family has all moved…I moved…
God Bless Windsor/Terrace!
Liz yes I remenber the Pink Elephant Sales, they were great!! Liz when did u graduate??
Hi Liz, Yes, I also remember the sales. How are you?
Somehow I came accross this website and read the remarks by Johnny Fin & Jim Vackner…….. Phil Volastro is my father. He passed away in August 2000. I know he taught at Holy Name. Can anybody tell me more about him and his old teaching days??? He met my mom there, the former Madelyn Kondek……….
Thx.
Betty Trapp…do you know my Aunt Catherine? Did you, I should say…
I bought my favorite school bag from Ray and Otto’s one morning. My mom took me to seven o’clock mass at Holy Name and I got to leave early, with the money in my pocket, ALONE (in second grade) and buy my school bag. I was SO excited. Green, flat, army-looking thing with a shoulder strap. I bought candy EVERY DAY from Ray and Otto’s….remember the shelves of it all on the left, near the ground? And you had to reach up high to pay right next to it……I loved dip sticks and OMG I ate so much candy….bits o honey……
Cocoa lebio?? LOL I loved that game, don’t know how to spell, or what it means but loved it. Loved stoop ball, skelzies (yes we melted crayons all over the kitchen to get the right cap weight), kick the can was huge for us….Woody, what was Woody’s last name…used to do the craziest things on our block…..he streaked once, I think on his bicycle……we lived IN the street. We played in the street all day long, all night long. I think we’d have to move like twice a day for a car…..otherwise, we were just IN the street. Sidewalks were just for getting from the street to your front door.
AND OMG we’d ring the bell and shout to my mother, “GOOD HUMOR’S HERE!!” and she’d wad a bunch of change up into a handkerchief (we lived on the second floor) and HURL it down at us as we scattered for our very lives…we’d be like, “Mom, you can just TOSS it.” But she was convinced she had to THROW it at us. It was sooo dangerous.
The rides? THE WHIP?? I loved the whip!! I was afraid of the swinging ride…King Kong??
and yes, I remember the Pink Elephant Sales……my mother LOVED those!!
Annemarie you mentioned your aunt Catherine, whats her last name. I do remenber couching a McGrath many years ago, from windsor, thanks for sharing!!!!!!!
My aunt’ s last name was Carney..she was my grandmother’s sister….Marie Fox…..You know my mom, Marie McGrath.
Steve V,
Just found this website yesterday! Your mother
was my 4th grade teacher at Holy Name. I remember how beautiful she was. We all thought she looked like Marlo Thomas who was on the TV show “That Girl”
wetters…practically lived there every day….when we were
going out friday night would leave bag w/pajamas in there and
the owners always let us leave them behind the counter…we
told our parents we were sleeping at barbara cantwells house..always used her name….and stayed out all night..went
back in the morning and got our bag of pjs and then went
home….one time were sitting in there hanging out w/
dennis babstock and we were smoking….dennis looked
like alex carrese from behind…same blond hair…well, alex’s
father carmine was looking for alex (as usual) and came in
and saw dennis with a cigarette in his mouth and thought it
was alex and came up behind him and started chocking him…
poor dennis….we had a great laugh about that….
Prospect Park had the sheep meadow to play in – no ball fields – you made up your own fields. There was the old cemetery which we thought was haunted. Dead man’s hill for sledding.
Dances in the Band Shell. Live performances on Friday evenings and dancing in the middle. Ice skating on the “Big Lake” (no rink) – waiting for the ball to be put out each year to let us know the ice was frozen over and we could skate.
ALL U GUYS & GALS ENJOYED READING YOUR COMMENTS…BEING FROM MY LARGE FAMILY YOU KNOW THE ALL THE NEIGHBORHOOD…AGE IS NO MATTER…YOU ARE BETTY’S SIS, KATE’S SIS, RICHIE, MIKE, BOBBY & GERARD’SIS…..RED YOU REMINDED ME OF THE EXCITING TIMES OF SUMMER LEAGUE…OUTSIDE MY MOM & DAD’S YOU’D PASS BY DRIBBLIN’ THE BASKETBALL AND I REMEMBER THINKING THERE GOES ANOTHER BOBBY & GERARD….MAYBE EVEN CHRIS MULLIN EVEN THO HE’S FROM?/?/..!I HAD BABIES IN THE CARRIAGE…GLAD TO HEAR YOU COACHING COLLEGE LEVEL…YOUR FAMILY CAN BE PROUD….HAVEN’T MET ANYBODY WHO FEELS THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD IS THE GREATEST LIKE OURS WAS DURING HNS DAYS AND TODAY…FAMILY IS STILL THERE CONTRIBUTING TO KEEPING IT GOING…
Mary,
Great to hear from you. The Trapp’s are the best!
Mullin is from Flatbush. He is the best!
As a young kid I remember playing tee ball on the field right near Farell’s. I would try and be the best and at the time my brother Charlie is one who I looked up to. He gave me his glove and I was the luckiest kid in the world. After the games My dad (cha cha) would take me to get pizza and then ice’s with some pretzel’s. Anyone remember that?There was no better time, no better place.
Park slope Truly awesome!
Of course there was Ray & Otto’s — but do you remember that on 16th off 10th Avenue was a little candy store run by Mr. Schwarz (where one could get comic books and Spaldings — or “Spal-deens” — with which we played stoop ball for hours)?
And do you remember the Maypole dancing in Prospect Park? Was it the older kids at P.S. 154 who put that on every spring?
A teacher myself now, I think about the teachers at 154: Mrs. Colletti for kindergarten, Mrs. Friedland for first grade, Mrs. Cochran for second, and then in third grade there was a long-term substitute teacher named Miss Loeb. After that, I was off to a parochial school. At 154 there was a song: “In a garden clear and cool, in a lovely silver pool, little fishes swim about, but they never, ever shout.” We sang it in assembly to quiet down, I guess. It worked, too.
The halls were festooned with reproductions of Grand Master art work: the Blue Boy, the famous George Washington portrait, tempest-tossed schooners . . . . Funny the things we remember from when we’re young.
Hey Mark
I would like to say that I remember you, but with the name Murphy, in a predominantly Irish neighborhood, it would be pretty hard. I have a brother named Robert. Him, and I, both went to Holy Name. Ring a bell?
I guess one can find ANYTHING on the Internet. How surprised I was to find this site! I grew up in Windsor Terrace, moved from L.I. to 300 Windsor Place in 1965, moved out in 1990. It was a great place to live, and I miss it a lot. Of course, it’s not nearly the same place it used to be. I went back a few times and thought, “What has happened to all the kids?” Nobody walks the streets any more; nobody sits out on the stoop staring at nothing in particular; and does anybody know how to play Off the Wall any more?
I went to Holy Name. My teachers were:
1st grade: Miss McInerny.
2nd: Sister Helen Dolores.
3rd: Miss Lynch.
4th: Miss Moro.
5th: Mr. Volastro homeroom; Mr. Gillen for Reading.
6th: Mr. Jennings, homeroom; Mr. — oh God, his name eludes me now, but he was killed in training at some Army training site in New Jersey. He was replaced by Mr. Ryan, who was not the sadist that Mr. — was.
7th: Brother Vincent, homeroom. Mr. Gillen, English.
8th: Mr. Volastro, homeroom. Mr. Gillen, English.
God did I hate Gillen. He loved to whack the crap out of one kid in particular, who never seemed to learn his lesson (either that or he liked getting paddled so hard that his head hit the wall. I can still see him writhing back to his seat.)
Somebody asked about Mr. Volastro in an earlier message. I’d be happy to relate what I remember, and I remember a lot. But I see the comment was made last year sometime, so I’m not sure the writer is still following this blog.
This is so cool. Thanks to the person who started this.
I’ll be back!
Emmett, good to have you. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to your postings on growing up in Windsor Terrace.
Random thoughts this morning:
Raisin Otto’s. Which one was Raisin, I used to wonder?
The old Italian barber on Prospect just abover 10th who played violin in his shop when nobody was in the store.
Croak’s store on Windsor Place above 10th, where I learned not to litter one fine spring day as Charlie Hofmeister and I bought a bunch of baseball cards and let the wrappers drop on the sidewalk. Mr. Croak came out and looked at them drifting lazily in the sunlit doorway and said nothing. We picked them all up and wondered what the hell.
Watching “teenagers” go furtively into the Lots to sniff glue. My mother warning me to never go into the Lots.
The little red light/green light traffic stantion at the 16th street circle, made for an earlier day.
Hating the Sanitation Dept. because they designated the 16th street circle as a dumping ground for abandoned cars. Every now and then a “teenager” would set one ablaze.
Doc’s Pharmacy on Sherman and PPW, where candy was always a penny more than anywhere else, and the site of my only shoplifting experience: there was a little rubber thingy like a thimble that I put on my thumb and walked out with, for no reason at all. It probably cost a nickel — oh, scratch that, six cents: that was Doc’s.
Seeley Street Deli, with Nat and Reenie. They both had tatoos from a concentration camp on their forearms.
Playing tag on The Rocks over by the 16th street entrance to the park. Sometime in the early 1980’s the Park Department removed some of the rocks because they had just become a place for kids to smash bottles.
The Huns. The Saxons.
The smell from somewhere — was it the Pilgrim Laundry? Hamilton Avenue dump? The ritzy apartment building over on Prospect Park Southwest burning garbage? Black flakes falling like snow. Newspaper remnants.
That neighborhood, between 9th Ave, PPW, Prospect Ave, Seeley Street, and the Park, was my world.
Emmett,
Good stuff…but, the candy store on 9th was Ray and Otto’s, not Raisin Otto’s. Probably the way everyone said it made it sound like Raisin. Ray was the woman, Otto the man. She might’ve spelled it ‘Rae’.
Jeez, I know it was Ray and Otto’s! But nobody, NOBODY, pronounced it that way. Just as Prospect Park West is 9th Avenue, and you could always tell someone from out of town by that…
Good stuff…Didn’t mean to insult your intelligence. Just from your posting it sounded like you didn’t know the name of the store. Have a good day!
Hello Betty,
I just went on again after 1 yr, Eileen said to go on again.
Well, do you remember women were not allowed through the front door of Farrell’s. I remember I would go up to the side door when my father got paid, I was about 10 yrs old. I would call him because he stayed at the end of the bar talking to Danny from the side door. I knew I could maybe get a quater from him as it was payday & he was in a “jovial mood.”
Great memories!!!!
Hi Arlene how are you doing, who ever knew you and I would ever have the same last name, Kelly!!!!!!!! I didnt know that was you until Eileen told u you were Arlene Kelly. Hows the girls, and your family doing?? We are great there enjoying my 4 gran children and enjoying life. Take care and nice chatting, althought its been a long time and today march 21 2009 just going back and rereading some of the good memories and came across you saying hello. Take care and be safe, great chatting.
steve volastro, i had your father as my teacher, i also had pete gillen,mcnally, brother vinny, they were all great teachersand well respected by our parents, but let me tell u they all hit pretty hard when we were out of order,1in thick wooden paddle, holy name was the best school,best people,true friends,you do not find that in many areas…Tommy Ryan
I just ran across this by accident (surfing for the past) and what wonderful memories. Joe’s Pizzaria (still there) Henry’s deli (best potato salad), the knishes, the soda shops, the park, Sanders Movie theatre and of course HNS.
CB 1968 (Brother John’s)