Stratton Park Message Board

4/22/09 The Rockaway’s

What were your fondest memories of theRrockawy's: beach, play land, Irish town..?

One fond memory of mine was playing softball with the older guys. I was 15 or 16 and taking some BB shot s on the playground court on a hot Sunday afternoon. A few of guys (18 or 19 years old) pulled up in Bunny K car and said they had a softball game in Rockaway Beach and they need some ballplayers. I told them I would like to go. Man, this was not an opportunity to miss: playing with the older guys and going to the beach. They squeezed me into with Steve C, Bill F, Ed K, etc and we were off. As I recall we were playing for a keg of beer but I didn’t have any money so was I was a mercenary. I don’t recall if we won or lost but we had a fun game. Afterwards we all went to Allen’s Bar in Irish Town. I was too young to be served but they slipped me some beers out of sight of the owners, since I really looked young but I could play any ball. There were a lot of older and attractive girls who thought I was “cute”, which meant I had no chance of even getting up to bat. However, I loved it: being with the older guys; drinking beer; eyeballing the good looking girls, etc. This was high cotton. One of my great memories of Rockaway.
As I got older we would go to Irish town as now we could legitimately go in the bars. There were about 10 streets of Irish Town loaded bars like the Lithem(?) Castle Bar, etc. We would travel in packs because only a few of our friends had cars and more importantly, since most of us were only 18 so there was protection in numbers, especially if we got into a difference with some older guys. This was a great adventure and we had a ball. But of course many times we got looped and didn’t have enough money to get a room. So we ended sleeping in our cars and some of us sleeping on beach. What a great feeling waking up on a hot beach at 11 AM, sand all over and having a terrible hang over? The only solution was to get something to get and get more beer. Like was simple at our age and at this time. By the time we got back to Cotters we were ready to party again.

Hello to all.
i can't believe that all you did not have a memory about the Rockaway's. I know that Eddie A. talked about about in another post.
All the best.
Les

Our family spent all our summers on the Irish Riviera - in my Aunt Caddie's rented Bungalow. We first stayed in Sullivans - yes - the same fella that owned the bar on Beach - Con Sullivan - owned a hotel on B116 St. Bathroom down the hall of course. So when Aunt Catty started renting the bungalow (ON B99th St) we thought we were living in the country - although we had our own bathroom, we still had to shower outside! My kids would scream if we tried that today.

Some interesting Rockaway photos can be found at:

http://www.farrockaway.com/carol/morpPlayland1.html

Marion
great response and photo.
I had many interesting runs on the Rockaway roller coaster.
All the best.
les

Les...I have memories of "Rockapoco" but most of them are a seen through a bit of a haze...<:~)

JohnT

Well, I heard from a reliable source (my mother) that I may have been conceived in Rockaway, so you could say it's a very important part of my life.

To my husband Mike's post above - you had better believe our little darlings would scream bloody murder if they were forced to shower outside!

My memories of Rockaway are going out there a few times in 1966-67. The memorable experiences were the long subway ride from the Bronx leaving right after the 6:45 a.m. mass - Mary White was the only one who knew the way she was our subway navigator - changing trains in Brooklyn and then after a long while smelling the ocean as the A train came to the last stop, the rip tide that almost drowned Patty Clark,Joanie McMearty and I; the terrible sunburns; Mrs. Savage taking us down for the weekend when we were 15, renting a room for us and then us sneaking out when we thought she was asleep (we later found out she knew exactly what we were up to);the numbers of kids on the boardwalk at night the fun and drama. I also recall getting a ride home once with one of the boys from the neighborhood with a car maybe my future brother in law Alan Cohen. There were about 10 other people in the car. We were packed in the front and the back. I was offered this ride after I fainted dead away on the boardwalk from the sun and sipping a beer at 10 a.m. I also remember never telling my mother or father about my fainting, near drowning or sneaking out at night episodes.

Recently, I was out there visiting a client. It is a very changed place but the boardwalk and ocean were lovely even in the winter.

Mary,
If you ever see Mary White, please give her my reguards. I graduated St. Anthony's with her in 1966. Also say hello to your brother-in-law Alan Cohen for me. If I remember correctly, he lived on Taylor right across from the park. I lived at 1576 Taylor, which was the last building before Tremont.
Eddie Acunzo