FULLER PLACE
May 9, 2008 by hoopscoach
As I continue my memorable journey through the neighborhood, looking back on all the wonderful families and the streets they lived on, an intriguing thought crossed my mind:
Do teens still hang out on the corner anymore?
A few days ago I wrote about Howard Place; today I will give you my thoughts on the block which was right around the corner from Howard, Fuller Place.
I spent a lot of time on Fuller Place, mainly because I had loving cousins who happened to live there, the Sabbagh’s.
Brian, Lori, Nu-Nu (RIP), Liz, Susan, Joe (RIP), Mark and Chris. Their parents, Sheila and Joe are both deceased.
I use to love going over to their house. My uncle Joe was a hard-working, funny dude and my aunt Sheila was warm, kind and very caring. I always felt at home at 29 Fuller.
One day I was on Fuller Place and it must of been close to ninety-degrees outside. We were all just sitting on someone’s stoop hanging out with the kids on the block and nature began to call. For some reason, (actually I had respect for their residence and the notion of ringing the doorbell before entering always crossed my mind) I always rang my cousins doorbell before entering their house and this time I was greeted at the door by my Aunt Sheila. I calmly asked her if I could use their bathroom. ‘Why of course, come in’, she answered.
I quickly sprinted past her and raced up the stairs to their restroom which was located on the second floor.
After I’m sure what seemed like forever, as I made my way back down the wooden, creaky staircase, my Uncle Joe was sitting at the dining room table with a huge plate of hot food in front of him. As I past him he blurted out with a mouth full of food mind you, ‘All you ever do is come in here to take a dump!’
I flashed an embarrassing smile at him for a quick second and without replying exited the house.
It was there at the Sabbagh’s where I was first introduced to ‘Syrian Bread‘, a middle eastern style flat bread that you can serve with lunch or dinner. I recall putting everything from ham and cheese with mustard to peanut butter and jelly on it. (Uncle Joe being of Syrian decent)
(Thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/redxdressfor photo)
I remember playing stickball with the Rooney’s (Jamie and Timmy), Caputo’s and Dilgen’s. Next door to my cousins was Kenny and Jimmy Rallis who were great people. I recall Jimmy going for ‘runs’ all the time. He would walk out of his house, lace up his running shoes, check his wristwatch and take off.
The dude would be gone for what seemed like hours.
While playing stickball, if you hit the ball all the way to Prospect avenue, you were a stud! Not sure if I ever got it that far?
Someone once said on the Container Diaries message board about Fuller Place:
Fuller Place was like living in a country club. It was a side street so there was hardly any traffic and the street and sidewalk were immaculate because we all kept it that way. We even at one point painted in a tennis court on the street. What a beautiful place to grow up.
It had to be Mr. O’Boyle, the father of Joe O’Boyle (who was a pretty good basketball player) that painted the tennis court on the street? (I think his older brother was a stud tennis player?)
We played football, whiffle ball, kick-the-can, red-light/green light, had relay races in the street and played slap-ball from dawn to dusk; and sometimes later.
Tom Cuite, a city councilman lived on the block and I always recall seeing a black Lincoln Town Car coming to pick him up and drop him off.
Thomas J. Cuite (1913-1987), a Windsor Terrace resident, was vice-chairman and majority leader of the New York City Council–a position similar to the current role of Speaker–for 16 years, until his retirement in 1985. A democrat, Cuite had previously served in the New York State Senate. He was a co-founder and first Grand Marshal of the Irish-American Parade, and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was a tireless worker for his community and greatly appreciated by his constituents–many of whom can thank Cuite for their first summer jobs. (http://www.windsorterracebrooklyn.com/WTwhowaswho.html)
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention playing ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven‘ when I was like 13 years old. Fuller Place was the street where I first kissed a female.
Like Howard Place, the homes on Fuller Place had those couple of steps that led down to the basement and they were perfect for us youngsters to hang out on - especially at the homes where we knew the folks were gone for the weekend.
The actress Geena Davis filmed the opening of her movie Angie on Fuller Place.
Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn, sent out a message last year asking residents of Fuller Place if they wanted to appear in a documentary on Fuller Place being one of the ‘Greenest Blocks in Brooklyn”
Respectfully,
SF
hoops135@hotmail.com
I spent alot of time on Fuller Place growing up right down the street on Windsor Place. We used to take over the steps to the big house on the corner of Windsor & Fuller like we owned the place. We always got chased but were back again the next day. Whenever I catch that Gina Davis movie or As Good as it gets it’s brings me back to the good dog days of summer. Now there are alot of strange people living on that street. My mother used to get so made everytime they filmed a movie or commercial on the block. She said “I’m not even allowed to park on my one street, who do these people think they are?” Now, when I get lonely for the old neighborhood, I just have to rent a few movies to get a glimpse of it.
Helen, I think you mean Helen Hunt not Geena Davis. As Good As It Gets, now that was a great movie. Also, wasn’t there a scene in it filmed near the corner of 9th & Windsor in which you could see Ballards?
Dogday Afternoon was shot here as was part of Brighton Beach memoirs (I think). Ok, people what wlse was shot in the neighborhood?
Betty used to get nuts when they’d close down the street. I remember coming over one spring after Stephanie was born. I was dropping her off so that mom & dad could watch her while I played softball for Farrells. I get to the corner of 10th & Windsor and some little chick with a walkie talkie says you can’t drive up this street we’re filming a movie. I told her, I grew up here and I am taking my daughter to see her grandparents. I also said that if you think I am parking several blocks away and then hauling all this crap back over here that she’d lost her mind.
Hey Glenn T., at this point I’ll bet that you undoubtedly know full well just how much crap you have to carry when you have a baby on board. So, she crackles into her walkie talkie and out of nowhere a cop appears. I guess he was working security for the shoot. He listens to my story and tells me to go ahead up and park my car. That little witch looked like she was gonna spit fire. What’s worse is that during one take I came bouncing out the door with my gear to head over to the park and all I heard was CUT! I am sure that the little witch was about ready to blow. Too bad I didn’t get to smile at her as I headed towards the park.
Steve, am I crazy or didn’t the Big O also film a commercial in HN schoolyard right?
JC,
Yes, the Big O did a Jordache commercial in the boys schoolyard.
Jo-Jo White did a Pro-Keds commercial at Ford.
Harvey Keitel did some work in the Post Office too.
Big O was there in the mid 70s.. I just missed seeing him..
You mentioned Joe O’Boyle. We were in grammar school together and he was one of the funniest guys in school. he and Mike Gallagher did great imitations of GIllen.. Joe also did a mean Columbo.. When I did my Gillen in forn of the class, he walked in behinf me, grabbed me and led me to the 6th row 1st seat where my cousin Drew sat shaking his head.. Gillen proceeded to hit me with three shots with his Board of Ed.. I guess he did’nt like my version…
Hey Jerry-
Your sister is correct. The Geena Davis movie was “Angie” and the opening scene was Davis as a small child on Fuller Place. Gandolfini of Soprano’s fame played her boyfriend. The scene was short, but it was a very good shot of Fuller Place at the Prospect Avenue end. The gardens were full of colorful plants and flowers, unlike anything I had experienced growing up through the ’60’s.
“As Good As It Gets” was more true to the moral fabric and unique class of the neighborhood. Even the interior shots of the home on Howard Place reflected an authentic picture of where we lived.
Like the rest of the neighborhood, some great families and athletes grew up on Fuller way back when. There was rarely any traffic, so playing stickball, football, slapball, kick the stick, running bases and other I’ve forgotten, went on all day. We carried a piece of chalk around to mark bases or boundaries in the dark asphalt for the game of the day. The older kids on the block would teach and include the younger kids in stickball and two hand touch. Phil Persey was a few years older than us and a tremendous athlete. Phil had boundless patience and taught me and a few others on the block how to swing a stickball bat and play football. He must be a teacher getting ready to retire by now. Thanks, Phil, wherever you are.
Thanks, Steve, for remembering my Home Block.
I spent most of my life suffering from Fuller Place Envy. Living so close, but yet so far - my house was directly across the street on Prospect Avenue. Liz Sabbagh, Jeanne Ansbro and Dolores Dilgen were close gal pals. I remember that the Sabbaghs were one of the few families in the neighborhood that had airconditioning in their house. I would ring the bell to call for Liz on hot summer days and stand as close to the doorway as I could to wait for her just to get a few seconds of the fabulous cold air. Fin - I wish I had thought of the “can I use your bathroom?” trick. That would have given me plenty of time to cool off!!!
Hey Jimmy Rallis - you still owe me a pogo stick.
Jane,
I used to love the AC in the Sabbagh’s, you kidding? Thanks for recalling the Ansbro’s, they were good people. Remember their dog? How did they give him his name? Big time trivia here!
GW,
I forgot about ‘running bases’, what a great game!
GW, thanks for reminding about “Angie”, for the life of me I could not recall a Geena Davis movie filmed ib the hood.
Jane,
Remember sitting on Liz’s stoop and putting on Cover Girl eye shadow? We used to follow the lines on the diagram on the back of the package. By the time we were done we looked like drag queens!! How about singing “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” with Mark Sabbagh?
I always felt a certain kinship to the Sabbaghs, being a fellow Syrian and all as well as the Kawas’s and the Nemnom’s, too!! Liz and I thought it was so funny that we both had sisters named Nu Nu.