I just received a wonderful letter from Shelly Fogel, Class of 1956. In his letter, he reminisced about the names and places he remember which were located near P.S. 106 on Beach 35th Street. As I too attended P.S. 106 and have wonderful memories of the stores and merchants I visited on a daily basis, I thought it would be fun to try to recreate the names of the stores and the names of the owners.

 Below is a rough graphic of Edgemere Avenue and the names of the stores which Shelly was able to recreate. I have numbered them so if you can assist, please send me the names of the stores as you remember them along with the number so I can easily reference the one you are supplying information about.

 I am not sure of the locations of the stores already listed so feel free to correct them. Also, I'm not sure about the number of stores on each side of the street either; there may have been more or fewer.

 I have always believed that the memories which I have of my childhood and growing up in Rockaway were filled with a lot of happiness. With just the mere mention of the name of these stores and the merchants who worked in them, I was truly transported back in time, as they lived for me once again.

 I hope you will take the time to share anything you can remember about this 1 block location. In the coming days, we can take a shot at Central Avenue, Beach 116th Street, Arverne, or any other location you would like to recreate.

 I realize that during different decades, the names of the stores would have changed. Don't worry about that......just send the name and the time period you remember it coming from.

Thanks as always for your support. Please send anything you can remember about this location to rockaway@astound.net

September 9, 2012

Hi Skip,

 In my note to you last week, I made reference to Henry Morse's Drugstore, # 17 on your 'Edgemere' map where I summer interned in 1952. The store belonged to Henry MOSS, not MORSE. My error! Your map also incorrectly mis-spells his name as MORSE. I discovered this when a prescription label from his drugstore turned up as I was handling an old pharmacy textbook.   According to the label, Henry Moss, Ph. G. was the Proprietor,.the Ph.G.designating a degree in Pharmacy. The name of the drugstore was 'Ocean Drug Co.' and the address was 3406 Edgemere Ave. Edgemere L.I. N.Y. and the phone was FAr Rockaway 7-4290.
Since the address of Moss's drugstore was 3406, then it was correctly the third store off the corner of Beach 34th St. as is shown on your map with Dotmar's Luncheonette 3402 on the corner and Traiger's Real Estate 3404 in between.

In my notes to you in reference to the retail pharmacist that worked at Baron's drugstore, #5 on the Edgemere Ave. map in the 1940's and who operated his own pharmacy located across the street at the # 17 location years later, his correct name was Henry MOSS and not MORSE. This mis-spelling of mine also occurs on the map as well as on other postings.  I picked up this error when I discovered a blank printed prescription label that I had saved when I interned for my pharmacy license with Henry Moss during the summer of 1952 at his store located at # 17.

According to the label, Henry Moss, Ph. G. was the Proprietor, the Ph. G. designating a degree in Pharmacy. The name of the drugstore was 'OCEAN DRUG CO' and the address on the label was 3406 Edgemere Ave, Edgemere L.I. N.Y. and the phone was FAr Rockaway 7-4290.   Since the address of Moss's 'Ocean Drug Co.' drugstore was 3406 Edgemere Ave., then it was correctly the third store off the northwest corner of Beach 34th Street as is shown on your map with Dotmar's Luncheonette 3402 on the corner and Traiger's Real Estate 3404 in between.

Cheers, Ed Vlahov

September 6, 2012

Hi Skip,

I grew up on Beach 45th Street in Edgemere, graduated P.S. 106 on Beach 35th St. in 1942 and FRHS in 1946.  In your historical reconstruction of Edgemere Ave between Bch. 34th & 35th St, I have a number of vivid recollections.   During lunch hours at P.S. 106 when we ate our brown paper bag lunches in the gym on the first floor, Sammy Weissman, the cantor's son, and I often sneaked out to go to the deli-grocery store on Edgemere Ave. I believe it probably was Budney's which is # 3 on your map. They had a large wooden barrel in which kosher dill pickles floated around and sold for a nickel.  We always poked around in the barrel for at least a good minute before we located the biggest one. Often, we shared, the richer guy putting up the 3 cents that day.

A couple doors down was Baron's Drugstore, # 5. Another classmate of mine was Sidney Leass whose older brother was a doctor and had his small medical office upstairs over the drugstore. Although a very young man, he was our family physician. As a kid, I remember accompanying my father once to his office. My Dad was an asthmatic and, having an attack, could hardly climb up the stairs, but after Dr. Leass gave him an adrenaline injection, he recovered miraculously. That, I believe, was the first time I ever became fascinated with medicine. Sometime during my public school days there was a fire and Baron's drugstore burned down, but was quickly rebuilt. Round-shouldered Henry Morse, always dressed in a white jacket, was the employee pharmacist. At the time, I didn't associate his scoliosis with his bending over the counter making medicine all day long. As a consequence, having chosen Pharmacy as my profession, I too developed a rounded back.

After the fire, Dr. Leass opened his office on the northwest corner of Beach 35th St. and Beach Channel Drive. A Dr. Richman had his office in the house on the southeast corner of 34th Street and Edgemere Ave. His niece, Barbara Richman, was also a classmate of mine in PS 106 and FRHS.   On the same south side of Edgemere Ave. between 34 & 35th St. you have 'Kay's Hardware' listed as # 9. During the summer of 1942, I worked at that hardware store location for a Mr. Brody, but I can not recall if it was called 'Kay's'. I do recall that Brody's big store was located on the south side of Rockaway Beach Blvd between Beach 42nd and 43rd St. and he had two daughters who worked there, one of whom may have been named 'Kay'.   One of my jobs in the hardware store was to restore order in the little screw, nail and bolt boxes on display. Customers would invariably scramble up the different sizes. When I first started to work there, I noticed a penny in one of the boxes. Later I discovered a second one and still later a nickel. Each time, I automatically placed the coin on top of the cash register ledge. It never occurred to me at the time, but Mr. Brody, who always sat in the back of the store watching the action, was actually testing my honesty. Another one of my jobs was to display the canvas beach chairs and sun umbrellas that we had for sale on the sidewalk outside on Edgemere Ave. Every morning I would cart them to the store from the small storage room located behind #17 which would later become Morse's Drugstore. I remember I purchased a $ 25 War Bond for $ 18.75 for my mother with my first weekly pay.

During the summer of 1945, I worked on the south west corner of Beach 35th St and Edgemere Ave. It was an open air fruit and vegetable market operated by a couple of high energy cousins. They were infectious. They even got me barking out sales pitches like: 'Bing Cherries ! Get ya Bing Cherries, sweet Mama. Get ya Sweet Bing Cherries'. That is until my throat would go raw around 10 AM. That was the summer of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it was also the summer when the Jewish high holy days arrived late and Rockaway's summer season extended an extra two weeks before all the bungalow renters returned to the city.

Sometime before I graduated P.S. 106 in 1942, there was a great deal of excitement one day when school let out at 3 P.M. along the south side of Edgemere Ave between 34th and 35th Streets. A huge crowd had gathered outside of what I believe was store # 4 on your map, listed as Jaeger's Butcher Shop.  The crowd was all listening to a jazz jam session being played inside the store by band leader Paul Whiteman and a couple of his cronies. Apparently, Paul Whiteman was related to the owners of the store and was there paying a family visit.  As a ten or eleven year old kid, jazz music and the name Paul Whiteman didn't mean anything to me at that time. It was only later that I learned that Paul Whiteman was known as the 'King of Jazz', introduced George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' and had it as his signature tune besides giving Bing Crosby his start singing in a trio. 

My very last contact with Edgemere Ave occurred in the summer of 1952. It was the summer when I worked with Henry Morse in his drugstore at # 17. He precepted my last Pharmacy internship summer.   Whenever I think back, all my young days on Edgemere Avenue were golden.

Ed Vlahov     Email Address:  vlaloedi@gmail.com 

October 26, 2010

Hi. Was looking at your diagram of Edgemere Ave. I don't know how old you are and maybe that's the difference, but Croce's shoe repair was Mr. Rubins shoe repair shop when I was a child(1950's). I lived in 3202 Sprayview Avenue and went to 106 from1952-1958. Thanks for the memories.

Micki (Miriam Roseman) Coughlin

October 26, 2010

I love reading these posts. My grandfather was Sam Jaeger, the butcher.   I grew up in Bayswater, went to Far Rock (Class of 1988). Sam's grandsons also went to Far Rock and we grew up with Old Rockaway" as a second language. The May 10, 2003 post by my cousin, Steve Sobel, brought tears to my  eyes - someone asked me what the best thing about 3202 Sprayview Avenue was, and he, as well, answered the "saltwater taps". I knew this from childhood. I have a brick from 3202 in my living room. When my father saw that the building had been demolished (in 1971) he took several bricks and put gold numbers (3202) on them and gave them to his friends. I owe bricks to two friends now.

Phil - seeing my Aunt Linda's name - wow.  

Michelle I. Jaeger   Email Address:  IvyHunter@aol.com

October 5, 2010

My husband Howard Jerry Cooperman lived on Beach 36th st. and the bay, his parents and grandparents had the Strand market at # 3 Edgemere Ave. As I remember on the corner of 35th st #11 was a dry goods store, Macys. My mother worked for Sam Traiger and his office was around the corner on 35th st going toward the P.S. 106 school yard.  His parents also owned the bath house up on the boardwalk on 34th called Howe's Baths until the city condemned the strip of property they owned in 64 or 65.

On 116th Street my uncle Joe Vogel had a pharmacy and soda shop Vogel's drugs. Don't remember the location.

I grew up in Far Rock, Rose street, all the kids I grew up with are still my friends today although its long distance. Growing up in this town was the best. No locked doors No fear of anything.

Priscilla & jerry Cooperman      Email Address: cillac@optonline.net

June 8, 2010

My mother Betty"the Boss" Goldman ran the rooming house on the corner of 33rd street and Sprayview Ave right off the boardwalk from around 1950-1969. ( The Sprayview Hotel)

I remember her going to the butcher shop and Harold's and as such she probably knew you young kids as well as your parents.

I myself attended PS 106 in the 3-4 grades and lived on 32th street on sprayview ave for a number of years..

I remember working as Moonshine Slurp at the carvel stands on 32 and 34th streets.on the boardwalk- it was my first job which paid me $1.10/hour and found out at an earlier age that someone took out money from my pay check and that someone is still taking out too much from my salary too this day!

Those lemon ices were great as were Jerry's kinish and Sally's pizzas and what a great time at the penny arcade on 33th ..

At night many from the rooming house would walk down to Dotmars and she remembered me as the young son of Betty who would always order my usual franks and beans with the banana split sundae for dessert.

My haircut was at Sal the barber - a simple crew-cut in those days.

A great place and time to grow up and I still remember well those many years.

Thank you such much for sharing the many stories I have just recently been aware of from your website

Dr. Steven Goldman     Email Address:  scdjgold@aol.com

April 28, 2010

 What memories! I graduated from P.S. 106 in 1953 and from what I can remember all the store names seem right. I don't remember which one but one of the butcher shop grocery stores sold big crinkle cut french fries. They would put them in a paper cup in a cone shape put on salt stick in a couple of toothpicks boy were they good. It's not covered on your map, but in the row of stores between 35th & 36th streets there was another butcher shop called Kahn's. I road one of those old bikes with the small front wheel and large basket delivering meat for Mr. Kahn in 1954-1955. He was open year round.

At P.S. 106 I remember the principal Mr. Percy, and teachers Miss Gordon, Mrs. Wolf, Mr. Spata and the teacher everyone feared Miss Greenrose. A previous poster wrote about the summer garden club which I also did. When my mother passed many years ago I was amazed to find in her things a certificate I received for being in that garden club.

Al Lloyd   Email Address:  mel4139@comcast.net 

April 14, 2010

Henry Moss' drug store in 13...Arnold Friedman was a dentist above Moss' drug store.  The candy store was on the same side as Moss' drug store . I know because Dr. Friedman would catch me in there once & a while.  I also worked for Henry Moss during my 9th grade at 198. Hals barber shop had TINY sitting out front.   He was about 400 lbs. and a bookie. I used to go with Henry the Chinese guy down to the beach to fish off the getty on 35th street.  Linda Jaeger's father was the butcher.  I worked at Lenny's on the boardwalk from around 59-64.  My parents owned the miniature golf on the boardwalk @36-37 st. etc. etc.

Phil    No Last Name (Sorry)
 

January 17, 2010

I stumbled onto your web site several moments ago and, frankly, I enjoyed the "trip" immensely. Talk about Memory Lane, Edgemere Avenue was my turf all through elementary school (P.S. 106) until my graduation in 1950.

Your re-creation of Edgemere Avenue was, I think, largely accurate, but I saw no mention of Brodsky's, a small grocery store that also made sandwiches. When it was raining too hard for me to walk home for lunch (Collier Avenue and then Beach 28th Street), at least one of my parents, sometimes both, came to escort me to Brodsky's for a bagel with cream or Swiss cheese. Mr. and Mrs. Brodsky were old, so perhaps they either sold the store or passed away in the mid- to late-forties; I can't recall.

I do remember Schatz, the butcher, and Barron's, the pharmacy, as well as their owners. Mr. Schatz, I thought, looked like a butcher should: short, heavy and bald. As for Mr. Barron, he reminded me of Heinrich Himmler.

Other stores: I know there was a luncheonette on the corner of 34th Street (same side as the school yard) and another one diagonally across the avenue. One or two doors away from the latter, between 33rd and 34th, was a laundry, but that might not have opened until I was in high school. As for Rosenthal's, I remember it only as a fruit store; in fact, my sister (Shirley Brophy) worked there one summer and later taught at P.S. 106 in 1949 and 1950 (in the "little building," not the big brick one).

Stangely, I have absolutely no recollection of the kosher deli, although I frequently ate at the Central Deli on Central Avenue in Far Rockaway (The Village) and very occasionally at the pricey Berger's on Mott Avenue.

A few years ago, I wrote a memoir of my father and, while doing so, made a field trip to the old neighborhoods. After checking out P.S. 106, I was stunned to discover that Sprayview Avenue, a nearby short street that bordered on the boardwalk, no longer existed. It was simply GONE. It had been home to an apartment building and a day camp, Hillcrest, which had a baseball field we used in non-summer months.

For me, no recollection of Edgemere Avenue would be complete without mention of the house set back from the corner of 32nd Street, the office and residence of J.A. Weissberg, Dentist. Candidly, I viewed it as my childhood's main torture chamber.

Thanks for the memories your site evoked.

Ira Ellenthal     Email Address:  iellenthat@gmail.com

January 2, 2009

Hi,

Little Macy’s was my grandfather’s store – Louis Dicker. I believe it was on the corner of 36th Street and Edgemere Avenue (on the beach side). Across 36th street may have been the synagogue. But it could have been on 37th street. I worked there in the summers from about the age of 12 – 16 (1957 – 1961).  I graduated from Far Rockaway High in 1962.

For lunch, my grandfather would take us to Wolfman's for pastrami sandwiches. We would have sundaes but I’m not sure if it was the luncheonette or the candy store.

That’s all for now.

Carole Dicker
 

November 16, 2007

Hi...

I lived on the corner of Beach 34th Street right across from the boardwalk from 1958 - 1970. My parents, Jovan and Martha Kasticher, had converted the large brick mansion at 101 Beach 34th Street into a catering hall and a shul. The business did not take off, but if anyone has any memories of the place, please let me know. Although the building was massive, we lived in a small area in the back part of the second floor. From that vantage point we had front row seats to the terrible boardwalk fire that burned down Lenny's Amusements, the bumper cars, and CoffeeRama. We moved in 1970 as our home was bulldozed in the Urban Renewal project. That site is still empty, almost 40 years later.

Both my sister Sandi and I went to PS 106 for a while, we eventually went to the Hebrew Institute of Long Island (HILI), which was a yeshiva located in the governor's four summer mansions on Seagirt and Beach 19th Street. I now moderate the HILI Group, an online alumni list, which is very large and active. If you are interested, contact me at ruthkw@aol.com and I will be happy to help you join.

My family went to Rabbi Shavel's shul, located on Edgemere Avenue and Beach 36th, that was really two shuls. There was a small heated one for the winter, and the large one with big screen less windows for the summer. I spent most of my time outside.

As for Edgemere Avenue, I have vivid memories... I was once locked into Hal's Candy Store when I was about 9, as I was reading comics in the back, and he locked up and left. It must have been in the fall, because it was midday, and the store was otherwise empty. I went shopping at Harold's often, and Harold's son (who is a doctor now) lives down my block in Kew Gardens Hills. It was okay to go into Morse's Drug Store, which was child friendly and sold Golden Books and candy. It was NOT okay to go into Baron's Drug store, with all the fancy cosmetics, and a black and white marble floor, unless you were with an adult.

There appears to be some mistakes around building number 13. One of those stores was a hardware store. The real deal. They sold nails out of a burlap sack, cut wood for you while you waited, and had all shapes and sizes of pipes. Also the store number 11, converted into another grocery store by the mid '60's.

It was an amazing place to grow up. I am still in touch with some of the people from those days, and our reminiscences about running around as if we were street urchins seem baffling to others. We had such freedom! When the summer people were gone, and there was not much on those 7 channels of TV, we were outside without rules or limitations. Bungalows were frequently unlocked, there were litters of kittens and puppies in basements and alleyways, and endless amounts of things to find.

If anyone wants to chat about the Edgemere Avenue/Beach 34th Street area, please feel free to contact me at my email address.

Ruth Kasticher Wenig   HILI Class of '74 Email Address: ruthkw@aol.com

February 4, 2007

Hi,

I am the son of Artie Wolfman, one of the three brothers who owned the deli on Edgemere Avenue from the 1940s till about 1964. It is indicated as number 8 on this page.

The name of the Hebrew National deli was Wolfman's, not Wolf's as you have written here. The three owners were Artie, Hymie, and Heshie Wolfman, who kept their store open from around Memorial Day through September. We have some photos of the store, where I ate many hot dogs while supposedly helping my father at the counter. The two-room store would be extremely busy during lunch and dinner time during the summer months -- the entryway with customers lined up for takeout, the dining room (closer to 34 Street) with families eating at one of about 15 tables. The menu was full of Jewish deli delights -- knishes, corned beef, turkey, pastrami and salami sandwiches, stuffed derma, kasha varnishkas, stuffed cabbage, etc. My dad, who died last summer, was a charming, funny man who loved to kibitz with the customers (One classic line of his: "I'd like my pastrami lean." "Yes, sir. To which side?").

I got haircuts from Sal the Barber (not the Giants' pitcher but the deli's next-door neighbor), bought the New York Mirror or Daily News from Rosenthal's luncheonette, and visited my grandmother who would spend summers in a bungalow down 34th towards the beach. I remember being up late at night and hearing the pounding of the surf, not so far away.

As you say, the 50's and 60s were in many ways an idyllic time in that area.

Hope this was of interest.

Best,

Ira Wolfman Email Address: iwolfman@poecom.com

Thanks so much Ira for your letter and wonderful memories of Edgemere.  I have corrected the graphic above to read 'Wolfman's Deli.  I too spent many wonderful hours at the Deli.  As a year-round resident of Rockaway, I only wished that it had been open all year.  In the winter, we had to settle for the Central Deli on Central Avenue or Berger's on Mott Avenue.

Sincerely,

Skip Weinstock

February 1, 2007

Hi Skip,

It's been a while. I am not a graduate of FHS. I spent my summers there and meet many of my life long friends, who lived in Rockaway all year, during those summers. I worked in the area from when I was 14 years old to 23. My mom and I moved to Rockaway Beach in 1969. When I came out of the Army in 1972 I headed home and the first thing I noticed was the State Diner was missing.   As it was August, I headed out to Edgmere Avenue to stop at my old place of work and say hello. When I drove up, I noticed the block and bungalows were missing. Then I kept driving and saw what looked like an atomic bomb had hit. My stomach sunk. No one had told me what had been done. Even today when we get together, we still talk about the fun we had and how the city stole our childhood memories. I noticed that Artie Schecter sent in some info. Is there a current address for him?

Shelly Friedman

November 14, 2006

Hi, my name is Linda Schumer.  I lived in Far Rockaway from 1966 thru 1971 I believe.  We lived over Henry's Chineese Laundry (#15). I attended B. Cardozo JHS, then Far rockaway HS. My name in school was Linda Coplan.  I had lots of friends there, all of us and our families lived in the row of apts. over on that side. I remember Harold's grocery store. Sometimes he would let us get stuff on credit. I loved living there on B.34th and Edgemere Ave. Thanks for the memories. Linda Schumer e-mail address is: lindalu336472002@yahoo.com

September 1, 2006

Hi Skip,

Remembering, the fruit store on Edgemere and 36th Street. That was my father. Willie. He had a couple of stores in the summer. Actually, it was opened only in the summer months. We had another store on Beach 56 Street as well. Or was it 54th. It was so long ago I don't remember. I will have to ask my brother, Mark Dyckoff, he worked one of the stores. Pop got up around 4:00 A.M. to go and buy fresh produce to bring it to the stores in time to open. Rockaway was great. We moved there when I was around 13. I meet Janice Rothenberg and Renee Argule. We have been in touch with each other ever since.

I was married to Marty Fein, divorced since 1973. I have two daughters, and three grandchildren. They are GREAT.

Thanks for the memories,

Gail Dyckof Fein   Email Address:  Lookyourverybest@aol.com

August 15, 2006

I am very excited to have found your site. I am one of the Porcellas who used to dish out the lemon Ices on the boardwalk. It would be nice if you could email me your phone number. I would like to speak with you about Edgemere. I remember stores number 14 and 5.

Tom Pordella   Email Address:   Thomasmlb@aol.com

September 22, 2005

November 6, 2004

Hi

Shelly Friedman

March 19, 2004

Hi

I  used to work at Dotmars when it moved to what you have as  the number 10 spot.  The # 10 was called Charlie's just before Dotmars moved in.  The deli was Wolfmans #8, owned by one of three brothers. Kays was across the street on Henry's Laundry side. The years I worked there were between 1959 and 1964. I also remember that Sal the barber had moved his store diagonally across the street from Dotmars. I used to go to him for haircuts.

Shelly Freidman     Email Address:  sheldon.friedman@comcast.net

March 19, 2004

The shul was between 36th and 37th but, were there any stores past those streets in 1965 and later? I don’t remember any. We went to Hebrew school Monday through Thursday and Sunday morning. My kids should only know what I went through. Playing Russian bulldog in the back of the Hebrew school, always causing mischief, and hiding from Rabbi Chavel and Rabbi Mandel. They were great times. I remember coming back from there during the big blackout, 66?   Was there a junk yard on 35th Street, just south of Edgemere Avenue across the street from PS 106?

Larry Shulman     Email Address:  larrysh1@optonline.net

August 13, 2003

Hi, My name is Chris Homan and I lived in an apartment above the stores on  Edgemere Ave.  It was in the middle of the block, I think above #15 on your map "Henry Long Laundry," but I was young and memory fails me.  I lived there from about 1960-1965 (age 5-10). I have 5 brothers, 4 of them older that some of you will remember. John, Arthur, James, Gary, Me and younger brother Steven.  I went to P.S. 106 through 4th or 5th grade.  I remember Mrs. Jenkins a teacher that that was very kind. I also remember Marty Rubin who I see has written you, he was a friend of my brother Gary.  I was also wondering if Larry Shulman has a younger brother named Michael?  I went to school with him later at JHS 180. I remember day after day at the beach, the boardwalk, the concessions.  Playing on the roof of the stores out of the back window of the apartment.  Exploring around the hugh houses that were closed up in the winter.  The whole area was my playground.  Flooded streets when the bay and ocean seemed to meet on Edgemere Ave. Walking along the sidewalk on wooden milk crates and wooden planks.  Three of my brothers married girls from the neighborhood, John married Fran Grassi, James-Liz Patrick, and Art-Evelyn May.  Would love to hear from anyone that cares to contact me.  Thanks for the site and reminding me that we all have common memories of Edgemere.

Chris Homan      Email Address:  crhoman@comcast.net

July 12, 2003

Just read the postings. Wow.

I went to P.S. 106 from around 1950 to 1957, give or take a year. I haven’t done the math. I recall we were in many of the same classes together.

I lived on Rockaway Beach Boulevard and 38th street, only three blocks away. There were three houses there then: ours, at 3721, was on the corner. Actually, it became a corner when they punched 38th street through to Edgemere Avenue. Before that, we had a big side yard, which was eminent domained for the street. Our houses were sandwiched between the elevated and Rockaway Beach Boulevard. On the other side of the elevated was Edgemere Avenue. Next door to us was the home of Soffer the glazier. The third house was owned by the Wanagitis family. Today, the other two houses are gone, but old 3721 still stands. Over the years it has been a bodega and a “storefront church.” Down the block from us, at the corner of 38th and Beach Channel Drive, was St. Gertrude’s Catholic Church, which is still there.

We (the Marascos) lived upstairs, and my grandparents, the Rosenthals, lived downstairs. In the summers, they ran a rooming house called Paradise Cottage on Sprayview and 37th. Back then the population grew tremendously between Memorial Day and Labor Day. There were the “summer people” and the “winter people.”

On Edgemere Avenue there were rows of stores fronting the south side from 38th street all the way to 34th street, with the elevated across the street. The stores from 35th to 36th and 37th to 38th streets were only opened in the summer months, to serve the bungalows and rooming houses that were between them and the boardwalk, one very long block. The shul was on Edgemere between 36th and 37th, if I remember correctly. Many of my friends went to Hebrew School there one or more afternoons a week. I remember the trauma of bar mitzvah lessons for many of them.

I remember Becker’s fish store. My grandparents were good friends of the Beckers. My mother would go in there and buy a fish, give them a dollar, and they would give her back a dollar’s worth of change. Nobody was ever the wiser.

I remember buying The Forward, a Yiddish newspaper, for my grandparents.

There were also stores that wrapped around 35th street down to the P.S. 106 school yard. One of them was a real estate office with a big dollhouse in the window. I remember the two crossing guards at 35th street – Judy Gold’s mother Sonja at 35th and Edgemere Avenue, and Jane Feldman’s mother under the el.

P.S. 106 memories include Mr. McDonald, the principal, and several teachers: Mrs. Dubin, Miss Hendrickson, and Ms. Arbor. There were several others whose names escape me now. I also remember the barracks adjunct building (no longer there) where the first and second grades were for a few years in the fifties. I also remember the garden club in the summer, with vegetables planted in some dirt adjacent to the barracks “temporary” building. I also remember punch ball games before school and at lunch in the yard. I remember lining up and marching up to our class rooms. I also remember the AAA “guards” who were used by the teachers to keep order (?). It was a big deal to have one of those badges.

When you finished the 6th grade, you got to go to JHS 198 (Benjamin Cardozo) on Beach Channel Drive and around 56th street. This involved taking a bus. JHS 180 came later. My guess is that but a few years earlier P.S. 106 must have gone up to the eighth grade, feeding directly into FRHS. Cardozo was relatively new when I started there.

I remember the game where someone’s winter hat was grabbed and thrown around from person to person as the victim strove to get it back. I think the game was called “saluji,” or something like that.

I remember pitching pennies and flipping baseball cards. I remember egg creams and cherry cokes at the soda fountain at the corner of Edgemere Avenue and 35th street.

I also remember “take cover” drills in the early fifties, where we would duck under our desks and face away from the windows in case we were nuclear bombed. I also remember being issued dog tags so they could identify us afterwards.

I also remember the floods, usually in hurricane season, when the ocean and the bay would join and swamp parts of the peninsula. I remember wading in (for me) waist deep water one time. Flooded basements were no fun; some of us had sump pumps to pump the water out. Usually this was fruitless, as there was no place for the water to go.

I’m sure I could remember some more things, but this is a good place to stop.

Thanks.

Joe Marasco, Class of 1962    Email Address:  joe@redshift.com

June 18, 2003

I am really reaching and hope others can add, their was some type of restaurant, my sister had a party, a very boring clothing store that I remember my mother taking me into, and the next block over was Shara Zedek, our temple.

I would love to hear what the other stores were on this street, I have almost no memory. Was there a junk yard on the block going up to ps 106? Or was that a dream?

Larry Shulman   Email Address:   larrysh1@optonline.net

May 15, 2003

I think store numbers 3 & 4 between 34th & 35th should be reversed in location. The "strand grocery" was owned by my father Seymour Budney & his cousin Danny Jacobs..eventually the partnership ended and Danny owned it until he died suddenly of a heart attack, and that location was taken over by "Harold" until he moved a few  stores down to a larger store....My father also had a store for the summers only, between 37th and 38th..called "Budneys"..there were also other stores on that strip, a fruit store that my uncle owned called  Friedmans fruit,..as well as a drug store, butcher, and laundrymat............

Howard Budney   Email Address:  Hrb1947@aol.com

May 10, 2003

The store #4 on you map, "Yaeger's" Butcher Shop should be "Jaeger's".  Sam Jaeger was my uncle.  I lived in Bensonhurst from birth in 1948 until I moved to Far Rockaway in 1956.  Each summer from about age 6 to 8 I would spend a month staying with my older cousins Linda, Eddie and Rhea Jaeger (all FRHS graduates) at their apartment in 3202 Sprayview Avenue. Eddie was my hero (along with his friends Howie Rose, Bobby Rasmus and Lenny ??) - a budding combination of "mad scientist" and Mr. Wizard.  I still remember learning to body surf.

3202 Sprayview was an unusual apartment building.  When originally constructed, it must have been very luxurious - each bathtub in the building had hot and cold running salt water (in addition to the ordinary fresh water) pumped in from the ocean!  I nostalgically remember seeing the feed pipe exposed and rusting on the eroded beach many years after the building was demolished.

3202 was right on the corner of 32nd. and Sprayview - across the street from the entrance to the public parking lot and from a few stores on the beach side of Sprayview.  Right down the street from Cinderella Park (one of your other correspondents called it Fairyland Park - not sure if it changed names or one of our memories is faulty.)  It was a favorite spot of mine.

An older relative of mine lived in one of the huge (in my memory, at least) old hotels on the other side of the parking lot - probably around 28th. Street.

Funny how I remember more about Edgemere, where I spent a few weeks a year, than I do about Bensonhurst, where I lived for 8 years.

My wife, Diane Chait (FRHS 1968), and I now live in Princeville, Kauai. We grew up four blocks from the Atlantic and now live 4 blocks from the Pacific.  We could never leave the ocean.

Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories.

Steve Sobel       Email Address: dianeandsteve2001@yahoo.com

April 24, 2003

Gosh what a fabulous sight and such wonderful memories.  In Schatz's butcher, which was divided up into three areas, Joe Savitsky was the fruit and vegetable man and Mr. Moseson owned the grocery store in the back before Harold Singer.  He had a son Ivan and a daughter Elaine and they had I believe a younger brother (I'm not sure).

Does anybody remember Willie the "Town Drunk"? He was the nicest man with gray hair who used to deliver groceries for the Strand Market (Seymour Budney and Danny Jacobs) in a shopping cart and when the cart was empty, he used to give kids a ride in it.  Does anyone remember Slim who hung out in the bungalows between 33rd and 34th Street (my brother Joe was petrified to death of him) and then there was Robert, he was a white haired handyman who worked for Mrs. Nagel who had a big rooming house on 33rd Street.  I remember as a kid being so scared of him, he chased me up 33rd Street and I was sure he was going to kill me!!!

Do you remember Fairyland, the rides off the boardwalk between 32nd and 33rd Street.
 

Does anybody remember in the summer, there used to be bat alerts.  The used the call the police and everybody used to have their heads covered because they said if a bat flew into your head (and they were blind so they didn't
know where they were going) you would have to have all your hair cut off!!!!

Can you forget the smell of the lemon ices from the Porcella Brothers on te corner of 33rd St and the boardwalk?

On 33rd Street and Edgemere Avenue, the first store after the entrance to the apartments upstairs (where the Soblers, Terry and Harvey lived and also Joey Tiger) was Atom Cleaners that was owned by Milton Hirsch.  I went to school with his daughter Linda.  Between 34th and 35th Street and the same side as Wolfman's Deli was the drug store that was owned by Doc Rabinowitz.

I could sit and remember all day about this most wonderful place to grow up, but I do have to get back to work.  I look forward to hearing from more people who lived in the what I think was the most incredible place to grow up.

Barbara Fox Zacharia (Class of 62)    Email Address: bzacharia@eichbergs.com

April 21, 2003

I believe that #3 was a summer bakery and Budney's grocery  store was between 36th and 37th after the shul. I also remember the corner of 35th st where you have the Mayflower restaurant listed I remember Tradewell's grocery  store. It  was a tall man with a "gimp".  I can remember going there for milk during Passover and him giving me a bag of circle cardboard that fit into the waxed quarts of milk that said it was kosher for passover and I would put them into all the containers.
Nancy Fox

March 19th, 2003

I used to live on Edgemere Ave. My name is Maryann Giunta. (Marraige name is Asprea).  My father was Sal the barber.  I received an e mail from a lost classmate, Maxine Rubin and she was saying how she remember my father 's shop. Her brother used to go there for his haircuts. I remember the floods we used to get when we had bad storms. The water used to come up to at least the 4th or th5 steps in our building. I used to live above the stores on the avenue. There are a lot of memories of Edgemere ave.

Sincerely,
Maryann Giunta (Asprea)
Class of 1964
Email Address:  mare5270@msn.com

March 2, 2003

I was thinking about the snowstorm here last week and it brought back memories of mountains of snow piled up on 35th st. by the train trestle. Was there a cab/car service on that street? What stores ran up the street from Edgemere up to the station? I know there was two gas stations just north of the El. I remember a repair shop on that street but little else.

Also if you expand the drawings to the streets between 34th and 33rd I remember Dr. Friedman my dentist, he had a great fish tank in the office and kept NRA/ American Rifleman magazines in the waiting room. That was a fascinating magazine for a 8 year old to look at, I still remember being fascinated by “bullets” being advertised in it.  I think there was a Laundromat below him? Not sure what else was on that street.

I would love to see the rest of the area filled in, I think about the area all the time.

Larry Shulman   Email Address:  larrysh1@optonline.net

August 26, 2002

Dear Skip,

#6 was Jacobs grocery owned  by Danny Jacobs father #4 was Schatz the butcher, Yaeger took over when Schatz retired #19 was originally Kashers restaurant in the 1930's then sold to Sol Weisel and his brother Rip. It was a hangout for the bookmakers Bennie Richman, Harry Sobel and Hymie Gourland.  It also became our hangout a little later on and more so when Carl Rosenthal's father took it over.  Herb Bellings class of 41 lived in Edgemere on Beach 34th Street.  Does anyone know the wherabouts of Natie Levine class of 41.  He lived in Cedarhurst up to a couple of years ago.  Perry if you're the same Perry Mahler I knew who took out Howie Hirschkorn's boat  with me one day  and almost wrecked it on the rocks Email me.

Herb Bellings     Email Address   HBNMI@aol.com

Dear Skip;

 I remember 34th to 35th pretty good. I worked at Hals candy store as a soda jerk; when is the last time you heard that reference. Next to Hal's was the liquor store; then you had Coopermans grocery store which became Budney's. Then there was Yaeger's butcher shop and also Barons drug store and luncheonette which became Pinchuk. Then came Harold's grocery store with Schatz the butcher. Then came Sal Tullo's barber shop, Wolfs deli, and Kay's hardware.

On the other corner was a candy store {luncheonette ]. Over the years it was Wendells, Rosenthals, and last Ditmars. There was always card games going on and there was always a couple of bookmakers.

 On the other side there was a fancy restaurant; around the corner was a radio and television shop. Edgemere Avenue there was over the years Platt's fruit and vegetables; there was also a bakery, a candy manufacturing, Croces shoe repair, a clothing store, Henry D. Long the Chinese laundry, and Becker's Fish Store which was owned by my grandparents and passed down to some of my other family.

There was also Morse's Drug store at one time and also a candy store. Between 34th and 33rd where I lived part of the time was Behren's Candy store {Ried's ice cream}, another barbershop with Phil the Jewish barber , a laundromat, Aldo Hirsh's dry cleaner who at one time was between 34th and 35th.

I hope I refreshed your memory a little and hoping to hear from you soon. I just remembered the name of the restaurant was Diamonds!

 Shelly Fogel, Class of 1956

Perry Mahler writes to contribute the following:

 # 11 & #19 were Resturants - #6 was also Rosenthal's Fruits & Vegetables before and during ownership of #10, Wendell's at one time had #1 also. My name is Perry Mahler, my stepfather was Murry Cooperman from the Strand Market #3. Our Hangout used to be Rosenthal's and Wendell's Luncheonettes, when Wendell's was #1 and Rosenthal's was #10. Before I opened this site I just finished an e-mail to Myra Wendel who's father was Sam Wendell.

Myra Wendel Roney writes with more of the pieces to our Edgemere puzzle.

 Sure wish I knew who I was writing to---I'm Myra Wendel Roney - You have #10 listed with my family name --please correct the spelling it's one L. In the 1940's #1 was called the Noshery and was my Dad's (Sam Wendel) store (with a pharmacy in the rear). #10 was run by the Sobel/Weese family--Harriet Weese '53 and Ditmar was #11 in the late 40's early 50's. Becker's fish store was at #13---part of that family were the Fogels -- last I knew Larry Fogel (married to Sue Shure-not real sure of spelling of her last name- FRHS '53) had a fish store in Florida and I believe his sister Enid was also in Florida..

#19 was in the Margulies family-Bev Margulies graduated '52- Interesting that #11, 1, 19 & 10 were all restaurants and or soda fountain/luncheonettes. I don't remember #1 as Hal's unless that was late 50's and beyond.---somehow I remember Wolf's between 35 & 36 on the way to Congregation Share Zedak. There was a row of stores along the south side of Edgemere Avenue in that block across from the LIRR. Most of them were only open in the summer.

Edgemere sure was a great place to grow up. Just had a thought--there was a Hal's on 25th under the RRstation that was Hal Schein's is there some confusion on that name? By the way on 35th behind #11 there was a TV shop run by Faye Berk's father -I think Fay graduated '52/53 --would really like to know who's receiving this.. I found you after a long lost neighbor Perry Mahler (part of the Cooperman -Howard "Jerry" Cooperman "53- of #3) & I found each other on the FRHS net----There were a bunch of us storekeepers kid who grew up together on the Ave------Hope this all makes sense====-I LOVE IT. Myra

Sure you can list my letter on the Edgemere page-- I'm a '53 grad & I listed myself way back when -- Where in Edgemere did you grow up? My brother Ed Wendel graduated '59. I have some cousins who also graduated after that---last name Goorland. My cousin Marty Goorland is married to Janice Rothenberg ('63 I think) . I grew up on Beach 36 (bay side of course). I don't have any pictures of the Avenue that I can think of---lost a lot of pictures in a fire a few years back. I'll try to see if my brother has any. This web site is great---even for a computer novice like me. Thanks a lot Skip----Myra

Bob Natt, Class of 1965 writes with this "painful" reminder;

 In the 50's my dentist, Arnold C. Friedman was located in a second story office on the odd number side of Edgemere Avenue. Hope that's helpful?

This next contribution comes from Terry Sobler.

 19 was Dotmars restaurant owned by Mary Catano of Bayswater. 10 was The Noshery; 18 was a real estate store owned by Sam Traiger, and 19 was a restaurant owned by the Diamond family

Skip,

 On the Edgemere map, the name of the luncheonette at B34 was Dotmar rather than Ditmar.

 Shaul Ceder

This next contribution comes from Marty Rubin, Class of 1968.

 Great reading all about where I was for my first 11 great years. My parents owed the candy store near Henrys, on the same side as the train. I worked at Dotmars, doing the news papers for Lew (Tiny) Bensen. He worked with Mary. The years were 58 till 61. Near Henrys was Joes hardware store. Also the bakery on the same side was owned by the Star family, with a pretty girl named Rita. I feel like could write a song now.

My friends at that time were, Mike, Ricky, and John Eisman, Joel Stern, Gary Homan, Tim Stancoti, Barry Selick Lois and Gary Shultz, and there was a kid that lived on a house boat. We all lived on 36th and 37th street by the bay. In our store we had the post office. Then there was Max the cop. I started my coin collection at that time. All of the stores would let this little boy look through there change. Do remember there was a dentist up staires above one of the stores. You got me a roll. Take care from my sister MAXINE RUBIN, Class of 1963 and me MARTY RUBIN, Class of 1968. THANKS

Dear Skip,

I'm Bernie Ginsberg.  My dad, Jesse, had a candy store and factory at space 13 in your diagram from about 1957 to 1962 when he sold it to the Star's and Ruben's (I think?) Before that it was a small supermarket that went out of business. We lived on 35th street near the bay with my cousins (Shelly and Howie Kris) near the "kid who lived on the Houseboat."  We all went to PS 106.  Do you remember Mr. McDonald  the tough old principal and the teachers.

All my friends went to hebrew school at Shaare Tzedek with Rabbi Chavel and Mr.Gross and Rabbi Mandel as teachers.  I remember as a young child that nothing in the services there were comprehensible to me as the prayers were in Hebrew and until about 1953 the sermons were in Yiddish!

Around the corner from #11 on your diagram was "Red's" TV repair shop.  I remember the grocer had a big barrel on the sawdust floor where you could take out your own pickle for a snack and there was a fish store across the
street with a tank with live carp where my grandma bought her ingredients for gefilte fish.  The "chicken
flicker" in the butcher shop (?Mr. Yaeger's shop) would kill a live chicken for you and pluck it.  I enjoyed watching this-perhaps that is why I am a doctor today.

Thanks for your site it's great.  I'll be back to check in.

P.S.  After reading the other postings,  I guess I was wrong and my Dad's store was
at #12 after the fruit and vegetable store went out around 1953.

I think #11 was the Mayflower restaruant.

Stan Pohl
PS 106 Class of 1949

November 19, 2014

Hi, I just found this site, and it brings back some different memories for me since my dad grew up in Far Rockaway in the 30's and 40's. His name was Milton Rubin, and lived at 32-02 Sprayview Avenue. It was the apartment house on the corner across from the large parking lot and Amsterdam's Butcher Shop.

On your diagram, you have Croce's Shoe Repair, which was previously Rubin's Shoe Repair, owned by my grandfather Abraham.

My father graduated FRHS around 1942 and went into the Army/Air Force. Several of my aunts and uncles lived in that apartment house. Last name was Zoletovsky. Cousin Eli Elkin lived a short distance away.

I visited my grandparents many times and remember the arcade near 32 St. on the boardwalk, as well as the rides just before the ramp to the boardwalk. My friends in NJ wondered how I was such a wizard at skee-ball. Great
memories.

Steve Rubin srubin@cisco.com

Thanks so much Steve for your Rockaway memories.  Below is a photo I think you will recognize.  It was most likely taken right before the building was knocked down.

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