My Brooklyn - Marine Parkway Bridge From Plum Beach, Brooklyn, NY

Bonnie Jo, on June 5, 2008, said:

I love this photo, as I lived on Coyle St. near Ave. U in the 40's & 50's. As a teenager, we used to go to Plum Beach to hang out, and in the evening, we'd park and watch the submarine races! What great memories you have brought forth by your photos. I'm writing my memoirs and now live in Maine, so am unable to revisit my childhood places. Do you have any of Good Shepherd Church & school? Thanks for sharing your photos.

Hank Waxman, on June 5, 2008, said:

Hi Bonnie Jo. Welcome back to Brooklyn. From what you said ,we were pretty much contemporaries. Did you go to Madison?

I haven't taken a picture of Good Shepherd yet (Batchelder bet S & T?), but I'd be willing to hit it for you on my next trip in. Let me know.

From our small world department, please check out this photo of my walk to the Neck Road Train Station, and expecially the comments from "Yank in Dixie." It seems his wife's grandparents lived on your street. you may have even been neighbors.

I'm having a ball wandering around the old streets, and I'm delighted to find people for whom my excursions bring a smile of familiarity to their faces too. Thank you very much.

Best regards, neighbor.

Hank

©Toodleberry, on September 8, 2008, said:

Hi Hank,

Did you know that this beach used to be an island, called of course Plum Island? When boxing was illegal, boxers would go to the island to fight, since it was an island, the police had a hard time stopping the matches. Also a few years ago, a group of artists, who moved out of the city to outer Brooklyn, made a wine/martini bar out of found objects, wood, and garbage here under the Belt Parkway. They were going to give away the drinks, but then thought since they've already trespassed on federal property, they may as well break the state liquor laws. It was a statement of how this could never be done in Manhattan where NY moments are seldom today, but they aren't in Brooklyn which are more Brooklyn moments. :) Also last year was the first time I rode my bike over the Marine Parkway Bridge to Riis Park. It's a beautiful view.

Cheers,

Chris

Hank Waxman, on September 8, 2008, said:

Hi Chris. There's a Plum Island out on Long Island, but if Plum Beach was ever an island it's news to me. I also didn't know about its boxing heritage.

Plum Beach was polluted when I was young, so the place was used for beach parties, romance and stuff that teemagers of the day could do in crowds. When I was older and could drive I found the parking lot was a destiantion of choice for watching the submarine races.

My first and only bicycle ride over the Marine Parkway Bridge occurred around 1962. I rode with my friend Neil, a fellow lifeguard at a club in Canarsie, and we got as far as Fort Tilden - right on the Rockaway side and came back.

As you remember you couldn't drive in Brooklyn until you were 18, so being 17 that summer we traveled every day from Sheepshead Bay to East 82nd and Avenue L to our lifeguarding jobs. It was either a two-bus journey or a long bicycle ride, and weather permitting, the bike ride was usually the method of choice.

Tell me more about the boxing.

Best regards, Hank

©Toodleberry, on September 8, 2008, said:

Hi Hank,

I'll have to look it up. I either read about it in Gotham: History of NY up to 1898, or I read it in an article. There was actually a pretty famous early-on boxer, an Irish guy, but his name slips me right now. My neighbor across the hall rides his bike out to Tilden Fort, and swims. When he told me I was shocked. I asked if he felt he needed to go get a tetnus (sp?) shot. He told me that in water up to his chest he can see his feet. I said, "Get the fuh...?" I still won't swim anywhere close to the city; the closest being Jones Beach. I remember swimming in Great Kills Beach in SI and my cousin Joe stepped on a rusty tricycle wheel...we had to go to the hospital for him to get a tetnus shot. In the 70s a few summers down-the-shaw, my father gave us rags with turpentine to rub off the tar from oil spills in the Arthur Kill. You know that the other day Astroland had its last day. The Wonder Wheel (landmarked, thank God!) will remain as well as the Cyclone, but Astroland is done. Sad. They will be putting in new rides though, so maybe it won't be as bad as I cynically anticipate. I'll get back to you on the boxing. Plum was an island and then over years of shifting sands made it a peninsula, just Sandy Hook, NJ used to be an island.

Now I am going to rewatch "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" by Pedro Almodóvar. I need a good laugh.

Cheers,

Chris

Hank Waxman, on September 9, 2008, said:

Everything you say makes sense about Plum Beach. One only has to look at the map (aerial photo) to see how Shellbank Creek winds around behind the spit of land the beach sits on.

One time my friends and I adopted a boat owner who has his small boat docked in Shellbank Creek. We worked all summer one year helping him fix it up in exchange for his promise of taking all of us out for a spin. We were gonig to start our own chapter of the Sea Scouts. I think the boat was called the Alors.

It sank leaving the creek on a test run. We were'nt on it at the time, fortunately.

I look forward to the details about the boxing too.

Hank

yearsago, on July 1, said:

Hi, I have been trying to do some ancestry research on Plum Beach. In the late 20's & 30's Plum Beach was a 'community' - to the best of my knowledge it was not called Plum Island. My family & many relatives LIVED in Plum Beach. This area was inhabited by SUMMER PEOPLE who had simple 'cottages' which were built on stilts. It was a place where families all knew each other. My Aunt (83 yrs. old) said that they did have to get there by rowboat (from Brooklyn) plus other transportation, I'm sure - but it was known as Plum Beach. When Robert Moses made plans for the Belt Parkway, the houses were taken over & destroyed (burned down I believe my dad said) because although the families had been summer people for many years they did not own the property & were known as 'squatters. I have a few photos of the beach but it's hard to tell houses, etc. Most of my family has passed away so there is no one to get information from. However, as a young child (the late 30's & 40's) after the parkway was built - on a Sunday, my dad would take the whole family to Plum Beach - it was fun & sad at the same time. On our first trip there, my dad picked something up in the sand & said 'this was ours' - a metal item from either an icebox, stove??My mom told me that she would sweep the sand into a hole in the floor. We spent many happy days at Plum Beach - the stone circular building was once a Howard Johnson's where we would buy ice cream cones. Not too long after this, my family spent ALL our weekends at Gerritsen Beach (hard to believe today) but the water was sparkling clean, the beach was wonderful & I learned to swim -even with the drop-off - which we were all aware of. Early morning hours found ripples in the ocean floor as the water was so clear - no garbage, no sewage, nothing but wonderful sunny days & cherished memories! No wonder I love the water so much. If anyone has any memories from Plum Beach/Gerritsen Beach dating back to the 20's/30's/40's - I sure would like to read them. Thanks for listening. Dot

Hank Waxman, on July 3, said:

Greetings yearsago. Welcome back to Plum Beach. My uncle is the last, remaining member of the "elders" of my family. He was born in Bensonhurst in 1920, but I'm afraid he spent those early years of his youth traveling to Manhattan Beach with his mother (my grand mother).

I've e-mailed him to ask if he has any memories of Plum Beach, and I'll let you know if he has any.

I grew up in Sheepshead Bay, just a short walk from Gerritsen Beach, but honestly, the neighborhood didn't welcome strangers during my growing up years. There was only one road in and the story was that your way out would be blocked if you tried. We were the generation of the Jets and Sharks (a la West Side Story)so we didn't try.

Thanks for visiting and adding your wonderful memories to my photo.

Hank