I was was dinner at the mid 1980 & # 39; s Restaurant at 93 Baxter Street in downtown Manhattan with my good friend Rudy Riska, who was the Athletic Director of the Downtown Athletic Club, and was I have grown up across the street from Forlini & # 39; s, in a tenement at 134 White Street, the corner of Baxter Street in the Sixth Ward, across the street from the city prison called the Tombs. Rudy had grown up on Madison Street, in the adjourning Fourth Ward, just a 10 - minute walk away.
My first memory of the Fourth Ward was in 1958 when I went to play Little League Baseball at Coleman Oval, under the Manhattan Bridge. By then the neighborhood had been completely transformed and This same done of the cruel law of Eminent Domain. This same done of the cruel law of Eminent Domain. This same done in the Small Low-income projects and the Chatham Green middle-income co-ops. The same thing had happened in the Sixth Ward, albeit on a smaller basis, to make way for the construction of Chatham Towers middle-income co-ops.
During dinner at Forlini & # 39; s, and early 1950 & # 39; s stated that no longer exhausted; like Roosevelt Street and Oak Street, and parts of Williams Street. And he said a Catholic church I never heard of named St. Louis. Joachim & # 39; s, which was on Roosevelt Street. Then Rudy started talking about the guys he grew up with.
"Do you remember Victor Star?" Rudy asked me.
No, I did not but after reading the wonderful book "Between Two Bridges" by Victor Colaio (Victor Star), even though I never met the man, I know Victor Star very well (we even went to the same high school - Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx).
Both Victor and Rudy are about 10-12 years older than me. Sure, we played stickball, stoopball, softball, hardball, basketball and football In Victor & # 39; s era, they bought pink Spaldeens, and the occasional clincher (Spiegels?), like they were bought at a sporting goods store on Nassau Street, the name of which escapes me Talk about roughing it. (I & # 39; m assuming they used real basketballs, because of the ball was not quite round, how could they bounce it properly ?)
Basically only bars had basically only bars had them to show sporting events like baseball and boxing., I do not remember not having a TV set in my apartment, nor do I When this mother to late 1950 & # 39; s, when Rudy and Victor grow up.
In "Between Two Bridges," Victor talks about spending many wondrous afternoon at the Venice Theater, which was owned by a wonderful woman named Mazie, who let kids into the theater for free if they did not have the money. Mazie also save money to I do not remember the Venice Theater, but I do remember Mazie, but from the Chatham Theater on Chatham Square, under the Third Avenue El , which was knocked down when I was about 9 or 10 years old., the Chatham Theater remained there for many years.
In "Between Two Bridges," Victor regales the reader with stories of how kids played ball in "The Lots," a filthy strip of land under Manhattan Bridge. I do not remember "The Lots," but I do remember remember Coleman Oval, In fact in 1960, my Transfiguration Little League team beat Victor & # 39; s St. Louis. James Little League team for the Two Bridges Championship.
And then there were the nicknames, which almost everyone had.
Victor was Victor Star. My nickname in the Sixth Ward was Mooney. Victor mentions childhood friends like Pete the Lash, who was built like a safe and was not afraid to throw his weight around. After I moved to the Fourth Ward & # 39; s Knickerbocker Village in 1964, I met Pete the Lash, who was definitely an impressive physical specimen; only by the mid 70 's his brick-like body did have a bit of a beer belly. Even though Pete was basically a friendly, jovial guy, woe to those who got on the wrong side of Pete the Lash.
But I do not recall Goo-Goo, Bobo the Hippo, Hammerhead, Paulie Batman, Georgie (Victor mentions other nicknames names like richie Igor, Nonnie, Paulie Knock Knock, Junior, Bunny, and Butch, Egg, Bopo, or Bimbo. But I wish I did.
Growing up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 30 's through 60' s was a unique experience; an experience that no longer exist for the youngsters of New York City. St Johns was mostly Irish with a few Italians. St. Joseph was mostly Italians with a few Irish. Mariners Temple & # # The two Bridges Little Baseball League had teams from Transfiguration Church - almost exclusively Italianans and Chinese. 39; s team was Puerto Rican. Educational Alliance and LMRC were Jewish. And Sea and Land, sponsored by neighborhood people, were African-Americans. And there were Polish, Spanish kids from Spain, and Czechoslovakian kids sprinkled through the teams.
We got racist or prejudiced. We all grow up together and we all respected other. It was the only way to survive.
You got beat up almost now. You got beat up nearly every day, and you did not fight. every day. Bullies invariably picked on the weaker kids, or the ones who did not fight back. even if you were a aating or two, the bullies moved on to easier prayer.
It was just the law of the jungle.
The Lower East Side did produce mobsters of all nationalities. But it also produced doctors (Joe Fiorito), lawyers (Mathew J. Mari from the Fourth Ward is a criminal criminal attorney), politicians (Al Smith from James Street became governor of New York Rudy Riska was one professional athlete from the Lower East Side (he played for the Triple A Yankees) and several judgments (Judge Picciarelo), professional singers (Johnny Maestro, Luther Vandross), and professional athletes. There was also a guy named Vinnie Head (I never knew his real name) from the Sixth Ward (NY Giants Farm system), and Charlie Vellotta, also from the Sixth Ward (Dodgers farm system). Charlie lived on the same floor with me at 134 White Street.
My next door neighbor at 134 White Street was Mikey Black; real name Michael Corriero (we shared a firescape, and Mikey used to frequently knock on my door so he forgot the key to his apartment and had to use my bedroom window to get onto the He is now the Executive Director and Founder of the New (Mikey, after being on the periphery of juvenile gangs when he was a teenager, became a lawyer, then a judge in New York State Juvenile Court System. York Center for Juvenile Justice.
So there.
Growing up on the Lower East Side in the mid Twentieth Century can not be described any better than Victor Colaio does in "Between Two Bridges." I highly recommend this book to to New Yorkers - no matter what age group. Other people of the country, you can not help but enjoy it too. I'm not sure about this New York City can flock to watch a ridiculous program like "Mob Wives," they should read a book that is true to life, not a stereotype of the worst possible people in the New York City area.
One more thing - if you do not buy "Between Two Bridges," I might have to send Pete the Lash to visit you.
And that can never be a very good thing.
