FULLER PLACE

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