Comments from PKoch

Showing 151 - 175 of 1,678 comments

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 16, 2007 at 11:55 am

Thanks, Joe G. Good comment. So you were a senior at the Prep when I was a freshman. We overlapped in the 1969-70 academic year. Cool. Small world.

Yes, Bway, all the Polish stores on Forest Avenue, Polish rap can be heard at night near Forest and Grove.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Embassy Theatre on Oct 15, 2007 at 10:34 am

Good to connect with you, MichaelP. Yes, eight fish tanks : way cool ! Did you and your parents finish the woodwork after Joe had moved out ?

It’s good you were able to go sledding in the Forest Park golf course. I’ve never been inside there, and have only passed by. Yes, perhaps you were lucky, or smart, to avoid injuries there.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Embassy Theatre on Oct 12, 2007 at 10:30 am

Good to hear from you, MichaelP. Small world.

As I recall, Joe B. had the back three rooms and bathroom of the second floor of 195 Lincoln Avenue as an apartment. The front three rooms were off limits to Joe via a middle door that stayed locked, and were occupied by the landlord’s son’s electric train layouts. Perhaps yours, MichaelP ?

I visited Joe twice at 195 Lincoln Avenue. First in July 1976. Then, he was stripping and finishing the woodwork in his apartment. Second time was late January 1978 after a blizzard. We went sledding in Forest Park, on the slope near where Forest Park Drive comes down to Park Lane South and crosses it to become Forest Parkway. Unfortunately, Joe broke his arm sledding and, when I and his other guests, including Laura Messina, and Joe’s younger sister and her boyfriend, had left, Joe was faced with getting himself to a hospital emergency room, post-blizzard, to get his arm treated.

When I came back to 195 Lincoln Avenue in August 1979 looking for Joe, I was told he had moved away, to Saugerties, in upstate NY as his sister’s boyfriend subsequently told me. I next saw Joe B. at the Redemptorist monastery in Suffield, Ct. on the Mass. border in May 1980, where he was studying for the priesthood. I next saw him in Ridgewood in August 1982 when he was in NYC visiting family and friends and the clergy of Blessed Sacrament parish. I think he’d been ordained in Wisconsin the year before.

Joe B. also mentioned he’d seen the Shroud Of Turin material at the Redemptorist monastery in Esopus, New York, and had enjoyed seeing it.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Embassy Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 2:05 pm

You’re welcome, Mopella. My pleasure. I am always for quality posting that brings people together, rather than driving them apart.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:59 am

http://www.tapeshare.com

is a good site dedicated to ENY and Cypress Hills.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Embassy Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:56 am

Yes, it is fun, Mopella. Have you checked out

www.tapeshare.com

yet ? Lots of great stuff on it about ENY and Cypress Hills.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:53 am

Lisa, Joe G, Peter L, hope to see you all on Bushwick Buddies. I think you’d like it there :

http://www.bushwickbuddies.com/

Joe G., that’s good to know about the Franciscan friary on Aberdeen Street. I had Franciscan brothers as teachers, first at St. Brigid’s in Ridgewood, 1965-69, then at Saint Francis Prep in Williamsburg, Bklyn, 1969-73.

Yes, Lisa, the robbery and burning of Our Lady Of Lourdes was very sad. Your Key Food story is scary. I hope you and your Mom weren’t shot that day. I’m glad you and your family got out of Bushwick alive.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Embassy Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:40 am

Laura Messina did have a sister. I don’t know her name. I am 51 years of age, and will be 52 next month. I also know a Joe Bettinger of 16 Grant Avenue (parents) and 195 Lincoln Avenue (his own place) who would now be about 55 years of age.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Embassy Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 10:28 am

I remember a Laura Messina from Autumn Avenue, 1975-78. Small world.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 10, 2007 at 4:25 pm

What did the Colonial Theater do for the health of its patrons ? Smoking permitted in the balcony was obviously not healthy. Those movies shown on the outdoor wall during the summer probably did much for the mental, emotional and social health of the adjoining neighborhood. My dad remembers people watching the films on summer nights from fire escapes of tenements on Rockaway Avenue and Chauncey Street.

How about economic health ? Dish nights ? Price of admission, one can of Heinz beans ?

How about Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, where I was born, across Broadway from the Colonial Theater ?

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 10, 2007 at 4:13 pm

Thanks, Peter L.

My dad remembers “loosie” cigarettes, from his days of not being able to afford a full pack.

You said you had a lot to learn. Could you please elaborate ?

When my dad started smoking at age 16 in 1935-36, the warning from parental authority was :

“Don’t smoke ! It’ll stunt your growth !”

My dad grew to an adult height of 6 ft. 2 inches anyway.

Now (2007), it says on the cigarette pack :

Cigarette smoking causes heart disease, lung cancer, and emphysema.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 10, 2007 at 3:23 pm

No, Lisa, I don’t remember it. My dad might. I could ask him.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 10, 2007 at 2:29 pm

Thanks for your answer, Lisa. I’m glad you got to visit your old neighborhood yesterday afternoon.

To become a member of Bushwick Buddies, you need to enter your e-mail address, and select a user name and password. It’s been three years since I did it, so I’m not sure what exactly you have to do, but if you need help, you can contact Eleanor, the owner of the site, at :

PKoch
PKoch commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 9, 2007 at 11:01 am

Welcome, Lisa (remember when). I cordially welcome you to Cinema Treasures, and also invite you to join Bushwick Buddies. I think you’ll like us there. Here’s the link :

View link

There are pictures there of the new Our Lady of Lourdes northeast of Bushwick Avenue, not far from where you lived.

I graduated St. Brigid’s Parochial School in Ridgewood in June 1969. I lived in Ridgewood until late May 1999. In 1955, my parents almost bought a home on Vanderveer St, the dead end continuation of Eastern Pkwy, but bought a two-family home on Cornelia St. between Cypress and Wyckoff Avenues in Ridgewood instead.

Yes, Our Lady Of Lourdes was a beautiful church. Sadly, it was robbed several times before being burned by arsonists in 1975.

My father grew up in Bushwick near where you did. He lived at 1454 Bushwick Avenue, between Chauncey and Pilling Sts. when he married my mom in October 1945. Even though his mom was not Catholic, she liked to stop into Our Lady Of Lourdes, and light a candle inside, on the way home from shopping, because it was so quiet and peaceful inside.

I remember Bargain Town at Bway and DeKalb. I was last inside there Nov or Dec 1965 and got an LP record there of the story of King Kong.

Who were the F & R’s ? I remember the Chaplains and the Halsey Bops in that area.

I remember Bungalow Bar and Good Humor ice cream trucks in Ridgewood.

I know what you mean about Evergreen Cemetery. I last walked through there Saturday August 5 2005. I came down from the el at Bway and Cooper, at 3 p.m. that day, walked north on Cooper to Bushwick, past 1454 Bushwick Avenue, thence to the Bushwick Avenue gate of Evergreen Cemetery at Conway Street. I walked through on the main drive, past the gazebo and admin offices, and exited at the Cooper Avenue gate near Wyckoff Avenue.

I don’t remember “Chickie”. My dad and his friend Vinny Ferro once took a shortcut through Evergreen Cemetery at night, from Highland Park, to the Central Avenue gate, one moonlit night, and got scared.

My dad went to Cypress Hills pool as a kid, and took me there the summer of 1964 when I was 8 going on 9. There is a photo of, and thread for, this pool, on Bushwick Buddies.

If you log into and join Bushwick Buddies, it would be like visiting your old neighborhood. There are so many pictures and stories there that I think you would enjoy.

Yes, I remember skelly and ring-a-levio.

I’m mildly surprised you had a neighborhood cop named Murphy as recently as 1963 to 1971.

What was your neighborhood like when you moved away ?

PKoch
PKoch commented about Kew Gardens Cinemas on Oct 9, 2007 at 10:29 am

Thank you, VincentPrice, and welcome to Cinema Treasures !

I’m glad you had a good experience at the Kew Gardens Cinemas.

What were the cheesy on-screen ads for ? I enjoyed the pre-movie ads at the BAM Rose Cinema when I saw “Psycho” there Saturday July 15 2006. Most of the addresses of the vendors advertised there were on nearby Brooklyn streets I am familiar with, like Hancock Street.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Parthenon Theatre on Oct 5, 2007 at 11:43 am

Yes, I know : ET phone home !

“We gotta get him back to his ship !”

“Can’t he just beam up ?”

“Come on, this is reality !”

PKoch
PKoch commented about Parthenon Theatre on Oct 5, 2007 at 11:23 am

I remember “Ghandi” (both the man and the 1982 film) and would like to forget about “ET”, but find myself unable to.

That’s good to know about Maltin’s “Little Rascals” book.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Madison Theater on Oct 5, 2007 at 10:40 am

At the risk of beating a dead joke, does that mean that anything else that happens on stage, like vaudeville or burlesque, is “illegitimate” ?

PKoch
PKoch commented about Trylon Theater on Oct 5, 2007 at 10:37 am

“Life’s too short” to spend half an hour reading this page, for the Trylon’s sake ? I think you’re in too much of a hurry.

Hope you got your answer.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Parthenon Theatre on Oct 5, 2007 at 10:32 am

I am mostly aware of Leonard Maltin as a good film critic on ABC’s “Entertainment Tonight” circa 1985, when it was a decent show biz newsmagazine show, before it descended into T & A and trashy celebrity gossip.

Friday August 2 1985 I saw Leonard Maltin on ET give “Fright Night” an 8, then went and enjoyed it at the Ridgewood Theater. Maltin was right about it.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Parthenon Theatre on Oct 4, 2007 at 5:23 pm

I found glaring errors on the IMDb page for the live TV play “Requiem For A Heavyweight” and submitted corrections, which I don’t think were ever made there.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Trylon Theater on Oct 4, 2007 at 2:43 pm

Mikeoaklandpark, rather than confuse you further, I suggest you read all of this theater’s page and, if that does not answer your question, I leave it to “NativeForestHiller” to do so.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Monroe Theatre on Oct 4, 2007 at 12:27 pm

Yes, Bway. The Gates and Empire were closer to Bway-Howard-Monroe than were the Casino and Colonial : it depends how far out you want to go.

There was also the small Pictureland Theatre at Bway and Lafayette Avenue.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Madison Theater on Oct 4, 2007 at 12:23 pm

Live shows could either be vaudeville or stage plays.

PKoch
PKoch commented about Trylon Theater on Oct 4, 2007 at 12:17 pm

All too true !