We always called it Archer Street

[Parkchester Guy]

This site is terrific. I've been reading it for a few days and decided to sign up even tho I'm not from the neighborhood. I grew up in Parkchester and had a girlfriend one summer from Taylor Avenue. God forgive me, I forgot her name. It was the summer/fall of 1958 I think.

The maps are also terrific. Especially liked the one showing the Catholic Protectory where Parkchester would be built. That "sister's house" must have been around present day Macy's. They were the Sisters of Charity who still teach in St. Raymond's.

I never knew it was called Stratton Park - we always called the area Archer Street. We even had some confrontations with the Archer Street Boys. Just some friendly stuff - a bruise or two, nothing too serious. Yeah, right.

Every so often, we'd play basketball at PS 102, looking for a good game.

I remember Eddie Stack who was a rec teacher in the "little playground" in Parkchester. I think he became a fireman. Bobby "Brako" (not sure if that was his name, or a nickname) - we had a fight over a girl Arlene (I won) and I saw Bobby a few years later in the 102 gym and he had sprouted to about 6 feet 6 inches. I didn't say hello.

I don't know what they fed you people in those days, but you sure turned out some mighty fine writers in John Patrick Shanley and Mary Higgins Clark.

The reminiscences here are just like mine from P. I guess we all pretty much had similar experiences. The Bronx was a great time and place to grow up. Today's kids will probably have great memories 50 years from now growing up in the same areas.

Terry Rath is another name I remember. Not sure if she was from Parkchester or Archer Street. Kevin Reilly? Ballplayer who went to Boston College?

That Carvel's on White Plains Road was my first, what we called, frozen custard. I think they call it something else now. Playdrome - got my first drunk there drinking 7 and 7's New Year's Eve underage. Haven't had a 7 and 7 since. The very thought turns my stomach.

[regina buckley emilio]

welcome to the site, always nice to hear from a fellow Bronxite. I agree Archer Street was a great place to grow up. My kids tease me that J Lo refers to it as the Boogie Down. But we do have some funny stories to share so once again welcome.

[Les Sherwood]

Parkchester Guy,
It is good to hear from someone from Parkchester.
We had a lot of friends from there. In fact I am putting together a post on “The Cliff Dwellers” which we called them. Good people but that is another story.
I am assuming that you are younger than I (68) but then again at this point most people who go on this site are.
You said you knew Ed Stack. I assume you played ball with him or on one of his teams or against them.

I remember an interesting experience with the “Purdy street boys”. I guess we were 16-17. Somehow we were around Purdy St in the evening and we had a disagreement which was a common at this age. Anyway it turned we had to fight 3 of their boys. Vince “BB” Sullivan against one of them, then Steve “Murphy” Ressler against another, and I was pitted against Patty Joe Quinn. We won and got to get away from the rest of the “boys” without harm. In fact I became a friend of Patty and I would run into Patty in Manhattan when he was a bartender and later an owner.
I hope you share with us some of your memories of experiences with Archer St.
Les

[Parkchester Guy]

Hey Les, (and thanks for the welcome Regina),

My first post was pretty much the extent of my experiences with Archer St. I have a vague memory of being in that neighborhood visiting the Aunt of a kid I knew in maybe 1951 or so, but not much else.

However, I do remember Patty Jo - one of the great characters from the old days. I ran into him in Manhattan in the 70's when he worked behind the stick at Gleason's on First Avenue and 67th St (?). The place was always mobbed on Friday night and one night he grabbed a shilelleagh, jumped over the bar, and chastized some lads who were behaving badly. He also had the gift of gab and was a guest on the David Susskind show when Susskind was doing a thing on NY bartenders.

Soon he had his own place in bright lights, Paddy Quinn's, somewhere on the East Side - I forget exactly where. The place was always packed and we wound up there after work on Friday nights. Last time I saw him, he was with a beautiful girl (his fiancee) who looked like she had just stepped off a Broadway stage.

Sadly, he suffered a heart attack relatively young and departed this vale of tears.

The "Cliff Dwellers" sure says it all. Yeah, those buildings were high-rise in those days. I didn't play on one of Eddie Stack's teams - I just remember him as working in Parkchester as a parkie. I could be wrong.

You got me by about 2 years - I'm 66. I'm sure I know some of those Purdy Street Boys you confronted way back when. They hung around just outside Parkchester across from St. Raymond's Church. My crowd was mainly into sports (and chasing the girls) so we didn't have much to do with them.

Looking forward to your post on the Cliff Dwellers.

[briarcliff]

We never called it Archer St. We never went closer than the Palace theatre or White Plains rd. Parkchester had 4 quadrants, east, west, south, north. Basketball was the main activity going on. Some great players came from there. We went to Loew's American, Macy's, Metropolitan Oval (All dressed for the Easter Sunday Parade). We hung out at Rota's across the street from St. Raymonds church on Tremont. Tony Rota with all his money lived on a walk up on Taylor Ave. His girl friend Madeline lived there with him. Speaking of Eddie Stack he passed away 2 or 3 years ago. I still talk on e mail with John Walsh from that area. He had a big family. If anyone is interested there is a great book called. "A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation" It is about boys from the neighborhood who went to St. ;Helena's H>S> Does anyone recall the name of the Beer Joint in the neighborhood. I live on Archer road near the Playdrome. I could go on and on but will spare the details. John Meade Poughquag New York

[Parkchester Guy]

Briarcliff -- I never knew Tony lived on Taylor Avenue, always thought he lived above the restaurant. Also surprised to learn Madeline lived there, too. Madeline would take our order, then Tony would show up after we ate and pour the Sambucca which he would mark with a pencil on the bottle to figure out the bill. No charge for the ashes from his cigar.

Beer joints in the neighborhood?

Park House - on Unionport Road just up from Starling Avenue that served underage kids. In Parkchester.

Chester House - down by Macy's. Mostly a bowling alley but a beautiful long U-shaped bar. Nobody went there.

Daly's/Manor House/Kenny's - a true neighborhood bar where the old folks came, occasional priest from St. Raymond's, everybody's mother and father, little kids with parents in the 1940's, Irish bartenders, beer to go in containers (50 cents), sawdust on the floor, a spectacular bar from the 1939 World's Fair, and a buyback every 3 beers. It was on Tremont a block down from the Church.

Daly's/Westwood - originally owned by the same Daly. Another spectacular bar that was shaped like a double S, tables by the windows with couples who looked like they were right out of the latest noir movie (at least, that was my impression as a 17-year-old), you had to be on your best behavior in this place. It was on Wood Road behind Macy's in the West Q.

All these places served food in the early days. I remember going to the Park House for Sunday dinner with my parents. Big kitchen in the back and booths in the front. By 1953 or so, it was a den of iniquity. Lotta complaints from the locals and St. Helena's Church.

Kenny's Manor House was popular until he finally sold out as Parkchester changed. It's a laundromat today. Rota's is a storefront church of some kind. No idea what happened to the Park House or Chester House.

[Les Sherwood]

If you were talking about the beer joint around Archer st. It was called
Cotter's. It had the best beer-Schafffers , a Chezk(?) pilser- served in 8 once goblets cooled to perfection on clean pipes. I can still taste it.
We were spoiled.

That were Interesting facts about the bars in Parkchester. We spent a few leisure hours at Rota's, Kenny's , Park Housse and Chester House. They served a great gin and tonic in a very cold environment. Great to be there on a hot summer day in NY.

I just returned my 50th anniverary of the class of 1959 from C Hayes.
Great time. i met a few guys from Parkchester: Gerald Ward-a great BB player from Parkchester, Hayes, Boston College, and the NBA for fours with th 76's and the Bullets-and Ed Tieney. "Those were the days, by friends...we thought they would never end"
All the best.

Les

[Parkchester Guy]

Les - I probably knew a bunch of guys from the Hayes '59 reunion. Good you had a chance to attend. Gerry W, as you say, was a great athlete. Great softball player, too. Although I played with and against him many times in the Parkchester playgrounds, I was never in his league. Not too many were. I'm told his brother Donald, much younger, was even better but I never knew the younger brother - well after my time.

I've read more about Stratton Park (Archer Street) here and I get a huge kick how our experiences were so similar. That culture is long gone from the Bronx, spread all over the country now, but I like to think the kids growing up now in our old neighborhoods will be reminiscing as we are now in another 50 years. "As things change, they always stay the same".

I've enjoyed your many posts here.

[briarcliff]

I am the Briarcliff guy , my name is John Meade. Read all the posts regarding Rotas and all the bars in and around Parkchester. I played for Villanova and knew Gerry
Watd very well. Played against him several times. I still drive thru Parkchester once in a while. I take my grandkids to the Zoo and leave them there with their parents.
Still looks the same. Macys is still there,Loews American is still there although it has a new name. The north quadrant (where I played every day i could) is not the same. Our old softball field is now used to store equiptment.
Stones ice cream and restaurant on Metropolitan Ave is gone. I worked there for several months. Parkchester is now a coop and this has helped keep the buildings in good shape. Of course the inhabitants are different. I remember when I was about 17 or so ,several of us drove to the Zoo and stole a small penquin and took him back to the pool at Metropolitan Oval. We left it there. The next day the NY Daily News had a picture of the penquin in the paper. I confess. Is the statute of limitations still protecting me? I live in a town near the Hudson called Poughquag. The people up here never talk about their adventures growing up. That is because it is boring growing up here. Kids in the pool with all the equiptment, with their helicopter mothers standing nearby. Both the mothers and the kids are scared to death. I learned to swim at Castle HIll Pool, where my uncle pushed me into the 8 ft pool and waived goodby. Maybe we can get several old Archer st and Parkchester guys together for a reunion. Just had lunch with John Magee, Joe Dorrian and Dave Lenahan and Perry Flynn. It was a great afternoon of tellling old stories, especially comparing today to the old days in Parkchester where a 10 year old could walk around day or nite and not be concerned. My phone number if 845 223 8197 if anyone is interested in starting a reunion.

[briarcliff]

By the way Add Vincent Patrick to that list of famous authors. He wrote the Pope Of Greenwich Village and directed several movies. He went to
St Helenas grammar school with me and lived on the corner of Wood Ave and Taylor ave. Now lives in Washington New York. Briarcliff Guy

[Les Sherwood]

briarcliff
we have a reunion of Archer Boys 2X a year in May & October at Fiddle bow on tremont.
Why not come with a few friends.
I am now running it and I could include your e-mail address on notices, etc.
Les