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Earlier blog entries, 2006-2008 |
 December 31- Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! I haven't had time to post so I thought I would share a gem of an old photo. The view is across Jamaica Avenue down Force Tube Avenue in 1923. Check out the old cars lined up in front of a car service company. A smokestack from the pumping station is visible in the distance.
There was also an article in yesterday's Times about the efforts to save Our Lady of Loreto. December 9 - This early photo of Our Lady of Loreto is a reminder note that they have a reunion scheduled for March 22, 2009. Use this link to find contact details. Updates are spread out. Some Fulton Street locations are highlighted courtesy of Richard Adazzio (Jerome St. page), my father (Linwood, Zone 3), Peter Stango (Euclid Ave.) An old friend Mike Ranieri sends in a snowstorm shot (Ashford) and Tony Pomila sends in some classic car shots taken on New Jersey Ave. (Zone 5). November 25- Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I had one of those great moments I hoped for when I built the site when I heard from an old
P.S. 108 classmate I hadn't heard from in 40 years, Glenn Youngelman. Not only that, but he sent over a
picture from his 1965 birthday party and yours truly is sitting there on the far left! Glenn also sent over some shots from the early 1970s of his apartment (Elton Street), the playground at
Highland Park, and P.S. 108. Meanwhile, Richard Adazzio sent over shots of the house his
uncle built on Jerome and Arlington in 1958 along with the history behind it (Jerome St. page).
Finally, Dorca Roman responds to our Maxwell Vocational page by sending over some shots
including images from her 1964 yearbook. Nov 18- Ed Farrell inquired in the Guestbook if any of his 1953 classmates from St. Rita's was still around- and Ed provided the class picture which I posted today. Marge Bivona sent over shots of St. Gabriel's school (Essex, Zone 6) and her class picture from 1964. We're looking for more information on the school if anyone knows the history. Marge also send over several shots from Montauk Avenue (Zone 6). Sunday's real estate section in the Times covered two new real estate projects, Glenmore Grove and Cypress Plaza Mews. Nov 11- I've been sidetracked a bit but Joanne Montgomery sent in some class pictures from St. Malachy's, and when I heard the church was closing its doors next year and merging with St. Michael's I set up a St. Malachy's page. Their alumnae website has some details but if anyone has more information, send it over. I also built a Maxwell Vocational page after finding a 1960 yearbook. Joanne also sent in a Norwood Avenue pic with a side view of the old Norwood Palace, and Dennis Hehl sent in a 1966 St. Michael's class picture. Augusto Torres sent in some more reunion shots from the Bella Vita Reunion. Sep 25- Kurt Eger dropped me a line and blew me away when he told me his family used to live in Mount Hope Cemetery where his father was a caretaker. Head over to Zone 4 to see some shots from the 1960s and Kurt's band days. Kurt also supplied some 1967 class photos from 171 which I posted as well. Sep 15- We very quickly realized that the picture below is in fact the Maimonides building still standing today on Jamaica Avenue. Have a look (in Zone 4). Check the fancy decoration along the roofline. The cemetery opened in 1879, we believe the picture dates close to that period.   Sep 14- Peter Stango sent over this great mystery photo,
taken in one of the cemeteries but we haven't been able to ID the building. The image hangs
on the wall of Joe and Sons, an auto shop on Jamaica and Autumn that has been around since the 1960s. Peter supplied photos of that (Zone 4) some new changes in Cypress Hill Cemetery, and I.S. 798 (Richmond Street). Tony Della Croce sent another early shot of St. Rita's and one
of Shepherd Avenue (Zone 3). Finally, East New York reading. "An Orphan Has Many Parents" tells the story of the Pride of Judea Orphan Home on Dumont Ave. I added pictures of the Home to the
Elton/Linwood page in Zone 6. August 31- Judy Zimmer has sent in some great shots, and this darling photo features her and a neighbor friend Larry Heintz, circa 1950.
They are pictured in front of her grandparents house on 275 New Jersey Avenue. That's some
contraption Judy is riding. She reconnected with Larry after all these years through the
website making for a nice story. We also received more great early photos from Joe Perrone
(Essex Street, Zone 3) and a fantastic interior shot of Blessed Sacrament from Peter Stango.
More reunion pictures have streamed in, though we are still looking for some IDs.August 18 - Judy Zimmer sent in a great pic of Pennsylvania Avenue in 1953 and the old YMCA can be seen in the background- that prompted me to work on a few things long gone. I added the Empire Title building to the Pennsylvania Avenue page and on Barbey Street I added the Barbey Street Republican Club, with pictures dating to 1918. Tom Hammond sent in a shot of the recently built Imperial Hotel on the site of the old Gotham Theater, and I added a 1911 shot to that as well. Joe Perrone sent in a shot of his Cleveland Street buddies along the wall of the old Moe's, and Kathleen Remsen sent in her 1974 class picture from St. Michael's. Of course Reunion pictures keep streaming in so updates were added there as well.  August 7- We're in the second half of summer so it must be time for a block party! I raided my cousin's photo albums for this shot
of a block party on Essex Street in 1972. I have been slipping in updates all over the site
but a special one comes from Tony Della Croce, one of our great contributors, who sent
an interior shot of the original St. Rita's. Peter Stango sent in a great early shot for Zone 4
and I have updates in the Highland Park pages as well. July 27- Fran (Mantopoulos) Volz caught an error when we posted several pictures circa 1950 as the corner of Elton and Fulton; Fran lived there and realized the shots were Linwood and Fulton and we have moved those images to the Linwood page. Meanwhile, Richard Woitowitz sent in some shots for FK Lane, Lincoln (Zone 4) and some for Nichols that prompted me to create a Nichols page to help lighten Zone 4. July 23- Back to some older pictures. Larry Rickert, a former ENY resident who has moved back to the neighborhood, hosts a St. Peter's Website which has additional material for that church. Larry has graciously allowed me to borrow some images of early houses on Norwood and Shepherd which were used by the church for services. Since I was working on Hale Avenue, I added pictures received from Denise Milo from the 1970s. Denise also sent over a 1970 St. Rita's class picture. To provide updates to a number of these photos, I used Google Maps "street view" service. July 21 - Angela Crescimanno sends over shots from the June 2008 reunion held over at La Bella Vita Restaurant. July 19 - Reunion shots from the June 21st P.S. 108/I.S. 302 reunion organized by Stella Mostacciuolo and Chris Liccardo are now up; thanks to Mario Zambrano for sending those over. July 15- I've been laying low, waiting for those reunion pictures, and a few have trickled in from the Liberty Park reunion. Thanks to our Amazin' Cin, Mary Jane Prizzi and Joey Perrone for the first shots seen on our Reunions Page. For those that need their fix of old ENY shots, I have been slipping in shots on the Lower and Upper Highland Park pages while waiting. July 3- Some class pictures have been streaming in, from some newcomers as well. Steve Adragna sends in 2 pix from P.S. 65 and one from 171, and Angela Stein provides a 1956 class pic from P.S. 158. Lenore Licata provides her 1963 graduating class picture from Blessed Sacrament, and Marilyn (Rosen) Cantor sends a 1955 picture from the auditorium at Franklin K. Lane. Marilyn also surprises me with a "Baby Day" photo for P.S. 64, I never knew they also had that tradition. Tony Della Croce, who always sends great material, sent two 1964 color shots of Essex Street by St. Rita's. June 28- Leonora Licata has sent in another wealth of material including our oldest class picture from St. Rita's, an early society at St. Rita's, and early material from P.S. 108. Lee also sent more early shots of Logan Street, enough for me to create a new page in Zone 6.  June 20- It took awhile, but we finally have a picture of Bill's, the purveyor of wax lips, jawbreakers, dots, and all the other candy that
those of us who attended P.S. 108 managed to consume as kids. The picture came courtesy of
Richard Moore, and was taken during a Memorial Day period in 1968. Ironically the school made the news the other day when a gunman tried to flee the police by hiding in the school.
(He was caught). I posted shots from Richard on the Linwood Street page, P.S. 108, and
St. Rita's. June 18- Reading Alert! Tony Danza's new book, Don't Fill Up on the Antipasto, is not only full of recipes but includes some stories and pics of his days on Euclid Avenue. Speaking of Italian food, our old pal Dom "Most" and his sisters visited from Italy and we have reunion photos on the Reunions Page. Thanks to our hosts Gigi and Rita Corso and also to the Amazin' Cin for sending the pix. June 17- Whew! A few road trips have left me far behind. I received a great set of shots from Leonora (Lee) Licata, but since they are spread out all over the site I also created an Update Page to consolidate them and make them easier to find. May 20- I've had some cool photos sent in for Zone 6. Tony Della Croce sends in shots in front of the famous Willies (Atlantic Avenue Page), and our Amazin' Cin sent in a shot of Blanda's Funeral home back in 1960. That appears on the Liberty Avenue Page along with a great photo from new contributor Mary Ann (LaNeve) Massey. Mary Ann also sent in photos of 317 Arlington, which appears on the Essex Street page in Zone 3. Finally, Tom Cooper sent in a 1973 class pic shot from St. Rita's. May 13- Longtime Cypress Hills resident Roy Tanner sent in a series of class shots and local shots featuring P.S. 65 and J.H.S. 171. Roy also sends over an early Chestnut Street photo. Joe Perrone sends over a 1966 class picture from St. Rita's. 
May 6- It's springtime, and this picture is not so much about location as it is about activity. Who remembers building Go-Karts? That's my cousins Richie and Johnny Cornell along with Linda
Visone and Mary Jane Prizzi in front of 24 Essex Street in 1967. For P.S. 149 alumni, I
finally scanned my mother's yearbooks from 1948 and 1949 and added material to the
P.S. 149 page.April 26- Finishing up the material sent in by Elise (Avella) Feiner, I updated the Arlington Avenue Page to feature her uncle's home at 135 Arlington and the Schenck Avenue Page where she lived at 81 Schenck. While capturing update shots I was dismayed to discover the historic Lang Casino structure (along with the house) has been demolished on the northwest corner.  April 19- Elise (Avella) Feiner sent in a slew of pictures and I liked this one so much I wanted to feature it on the home page as well- a shot of the kiddie swings at Highland Park in 1943. I have added photos from Elise to the Lower Park, P.S. 76 (Wyona Street), P.S. 108, P.S. 171 and Franklin
K. Lane High School pages. I also received some submissions from Nancy Mitchell, whose father was in the FK Lane Class of 1940. April 13- Bob Reddington sent me a detailed history of St. Michael's along with some images from the 1950s so I have rebuilt the St. Michael's page to include all the details including the history of St. Michael's Commercial High School. April 7- Everyone knows about the Ridgewood Reservoir, but only historians would know another reservoir existed up there as well. Anthony Messina helped me solve that mystery, which is on the reservoir and Upper Highland Park pages. Jamie Rubino sent over a 1967 Confirmation picture at St. Michael's and a picture of the 'gang' over her house at 231 Arlington on the Arlington Avenue page under Zone 2. Bob Reddington supplied a series of pictures of the Capuchin Fathers of St. Michaels and the Nuns which are all loaded up on the St. Michaels page Mar 28- As I said, the St. Rita's crowd keeps it coming; Robert Iannotta sent in some nice shots from the 1960s and a 1970 class picture. I'm also chipping away at some of the churches I am missing. I added Goodsell Memorial Methodist and St. Slyvester's to Zone 6, I can use more history on St. Sylvester's if any site fans know the background. Mar 21- Happy Easter to all. We always get good response from the St. Rita's gang, and Frank Lombardo recently sent over a 1969 play program for "Julius Caeser" while David Picascia sent over the 1970 class graduation photo. You can find those on the St. Rita's pages. Meanwhile I've been doing a lot of research on buildings that have long histories and have made additions in Zone 5 for Williams Methodist Episcopal, Riverdale Hospital, St. Paul's Lutheran, and Tabor Lutheran. Of course if anyone has additional information send it on over. Mar 14- I've returned from a nice trip and want to make sure people know that St. Malachy's is attempting a reunion so you should visit their "alumni" website here if you are interested. I've updated the directory, so if you sent in a request while I was away you should be in there now. My attempt at a quick update was to post a number of contributions from Bob Reddington, which can be found here Feb 29- Joann Montgomery sent some cool pictures circa 1950 of the area around Bradford Street so I spent some time tweaking the 5 individual streets under Zone 1 while adding her shots. Feb 25- We have a reunion alert, albeit for a small group (see above). Stella sent over the 1972 class picture for that reunion which is on the P.S. 108 page. Over to Franklin K. Lane, where we managed to span 26 years when Joann Montgomery sent over a 1953 prom picture and Felix Orengo sent over some shots from the 1979 yearbook.   Feb 20- They're predicting snow today, so a sledding picture would be appropriate. Felix Orengo sent in this 1965 family pic, along with another 1942 picture that purports to be in Highland Park. I can't quite identify the location, I think perhaps in the upper park behind where the monastery is today. Felix also sent over a Lane picture which I added today.Laurel Facey's great grandfather built the house at 112 Linwood, so when she sent me a picture from about 1890, I made a point to visit the house and capture an update shot as well as a few others over there- visit the Linwood Street page. Monica keeps pouring on the St. John Cantius updates so that gets some additions as well. Feb 16-Once in a awhile I receive a submission that is worth a page in itself. Ted Maciag sent over a nice batch of material on St. John Cantius Church and school, so I've added a new St. John Cantius Page under Zone 5. Feb 10- I have reworked Zone 6, breaking out Elton, Linwood and Essex Streets to help organize and lighten pages. Of course more pictures have been added as well. In addition, Joann Montgomery sent in her mother's 1945 confirmation class picture at St. Peter's (Hale Avenue) and her 1946 class graduation picture from P.S. 171. New contributor Vinnie Sanzillo sent over some 1972 shots near his Lincoln Avenue stomping ground which can be found in Zone 4. Feb 3- GO GIANTS!!! Sweet New York revenge. I got back from my road trip just in time to enjoy it; I also created a new Update Page to share a number of terrific recent contributions. Jan 23- I'm on the road, but I managed to sneak in some contributions to Shepherd Avenue in Zone 3 and 1 from Joe Perrone On Essex Street in Zone 3 as well. Jan 16- I'm hitting the road for a bit, but with news circulating around the Ridgewood reservoir I tuned up the reservoir page, adding some more images, improving a few others and adding more history. Jan 4 2008- The Highland Park pages need an update, so I did some work on the Lower Park page to start. Mike Pettersson sent in some shots of Pine Street and a few contributions to the St. Rita's page were also added. Dec 29- Wishing everybody a very Happy New Year! I have been reworking Zone 5, setting up new pages for P.S. 149 and Liberty Avenue as well as moving images to Atlantic Avenue to lighten the load on that page. Dec 24- A very Merry Christmas to Everyone! Dec 19- I'm hard at work updating Zone 5, and have made updates to the Atlantic Avenue page and the St. Michael's page. I also discovered a great site dedicated to saving the Ridgewood Reservoir. It contains a few historic pictures of the park I have not seen elsewhere so it's worth a visit. Save the Ridgewood Reservoir  Dec 13- It's time for a holiday picture! Who remembers when they used to set up a Christmas tree at the entrance to Highland Park and there was even
an evening where people could gather there and sing Christmas carols? This shot is from 1966
and features myself, my brothers Bruce and Lou, along with cousins Richie, Tommy and Johnny Cornell, right by the tree at the park. Dec. 8- Alice (Poggi) Bogart sent in this great
shot circa 1945 of her first grade class at P.S. 65 and it was too good to wait any longer.
The shot is unusual in that the photographer did not frame the students; you can not only
see the entire classroom, giving a sense of the high ceilings in those early schools, but
you can see the teacher's desk as well. I thought it was odd to see a telephone on the desk, I
don't recall that in school. December 7- THE URL OF THE GUESTBOOK HAS BEEN CHANGED. Use the menu under the Home button to reach the Guestbook. As anyone who has visited the Guestbook knows we are being hit with robot spammers and although I successfully block 90% of the spam I'm working on blocking all of it. I have updated Zone 4, creating a new page for Elderts Lane and adding new tax photos thanks to the generosity of Tim O'Reilly. The carraige shed pictured below sits on Elderts Lane and I added an aerial view for those who might have been intrigued by it.  Nov 28- Here's an example of why I get sidetracked in my research. This very quaint structure popped up on the 1941 tax photo microfilm; it looks like some type of carraige barn pre-dating automobiles. The kicker is I discovered it is still standing.
I'm not revealing where it is at the moment. Meanwhile, I updated the Hale Avenue page and raised another mystery. The Richmond Street page received updates as well and I moved Andrews Methodist to its own page.Nov 21- A Happy Thanksgiving to everyone- Melinda (Mendez) Garcia sent over shots from her 1976 I.S. 171 yearbook so I did a quick update. Nov 17- Sal Cartagine sent over the 1966 75th Anniversary program for Blessed Sacrament that contained a detailed history as well as some 1976 graduation day pictures, so I have incorporated that detail in an updated Blessed Sacrament page. Nov 14- OK, I've been bogged down updating Zone 3 so if you are looking for an ENY diversion I recommend a trip to the always great Forgotten-New Yorkwebsite. They did a walk down Jamaica Avenue, and it doesn't hurt that they gave yours truly a few props as well. I was also inspired by some great class pix I received so I took a break and added the following: P.S. 171 class picture, 1952 from Elsie Anzalone P.S. 158 class picture, 1956 from Angela Affisco St. Rita's grades 7 and 8, 1966 from Danny Blanda St. Rita's class pictures, 1970 and 1973 from Nilda Ruiz Blessed Sacrament class picture, 1969 from Rose Ann Hogan  Nov, 4- We have confirmed that there is a new school going up on the site of the old Roberts Numbering Machine Factory at Jamaica and Richmond. Peter Stango had tipped me off and I grabbed some photos while touring with great site fan contributor Tim O'Reilly. I haven't reached Richmond Street yet on the Zone 3 update but
I have completed Linwood, P.S. 108, Essex, Shepherd and Highland Place so I have posted those. We also received more Blessed Sacrament reunion pix from Phil Santella that has been updated as well. The Amazin' Cin also identified Rob Jefferson's parade photo below
(hint: visit Shepherd Avenue).   Oct 31- Happy Halloween! I skipped the Halloween picture when I received these two great shots with sports scenes. On the left, Andrew Santoriello sent this 1941 shot of his brother Franks's team, the ENY Buccaneers. This shot is down by Linden Blvd. near Linwood St. On the right, recording artist Robbie Dupree sent over this shot of Spartan teammates circa 1963. Pictured on the cemetery grounds with
the Interboro in the background are #5 Dwayne Minerva, #13 Tony Allocca, #88 Kevin O'Neill, and #80 Robbie Dupree. I've also added some shots to the Reunions page.
  Oct 26- Parades!First let me say in my defense they swore to me that astronauts get all the chicks. That's me in a parade float on Barbey Street for the 1962 Anniversary Parade. On the right, also from 1962, Rob Jefferson sent over this shot of his scout troop; we need a sharp eye to identify the location. I've been promised parade pictures from other folks and got tired of waiting, so I've built a new Parades page and we can use a few sharp eyes to identify locations for us. Oct 23- We were contacted by the Cypress Hills Development Corp. recently with the exciting news that they are creating a new facility for the Cypress Hills Community School, P.S. 89. Founded in 1997, it was the first school in the city co-run by the parents and teachers. With the aid of a $20 million grant, they are renovating an old industrial facilty at 2911 Atlantic Avenue. This was the former site of Novocol Chemical (thanks Rod Maggio) between Warwick and Ashford. I'm hunting for some pix. We also heard from Susan Mahl, a teacher over at I.S. 171. She is working on the yearbook and is hoping we can help with a bit of trivia. On our 171 page we have shots of the "Lincoln Log", as the yearbook was known in the 1930s. At some point it became "The Clarion". Does anyone know the origin of the change and the significance of the title? Finally, we had 3 reunions this month and some pictures are beginning to trickle in. Check out the reunion page but we are hoping for some more!. Oct 18- Zone 2 gets a refresher, I have added pix to most of the pages and moved the Elton Street page into that zone to rebalance things a little bit. Next up; a new set of anniversary parade pictures. Oct 3- I'm receiving a lot of inquiries about my current projects, so I created a "Teaser Page" to not only post some updates but to let everyone know what is in the pipeline. Sep 15- I am back! A long journey and a lot of catching up to do; I figured the quickest way to post an update was to create a temporary Update Page to post some of the items sent in while I was away.  Aug 26-Greetings from the road! I managed to catch the Texas Rangers at their beautiful ballpark last night. Liz Sanford sent over this 1957 shot of the El being dismantled over Pitkin Ave. by Cleveland Street in 1957. Aug 21- Judy Close tipped me off that the NYC Department of Parks is taking a survey for suggestions on what to do with the Ridgewood Reservoir area now that Mayor Bloomberg had put aside money for improvements. Here is a link to that survey. Let's have everyone add their two cents! I'm hitting the road shortly but a few contributions came in under the wire- Liz (Cerverizzo)Sanford sends in her 1964 class graduation pic and program from St. Michael's, along with a beautiful 1970s interior shot. Daniel Brown sends over his 1975 St. Rita's class graduation pic and Rod Maggio includes his JHS 149 graduation pic (Zone 5).  Aug 14-Charles Passantino sent over some gems via Michael Biscuiti including this shot of a St. Michael's dance the night
Johnny Mathis appeared. There are more picture on the St. Michael's page. He also sent over some great St. Rita's pix including class
photos so both those pages are updated as well. Aug 9-Here's a cool artifact; a 1928 telegraph addressed to
the newly built YMCA from a director who was aboard a Zeppelin. From my cousin's collection, it reminded me to release an update of the YMCA page.Aug 3- Rod Maggio has been dazzling me with his memory of people, places, and stories and I have been working in some older shots he sent me along with those stories into Zones 5 and 6.  July 29- I think the Cypress Pool generates the #1
response on this site, so I was thrilled when Laura Orem sent in some pix from 1937
of her dad at the pool with friends in rented swimsuits. There are 2 more shots on the pool
page and I'm looking to confirm the orientation of those early photos.July 25- There's an article in today's Times about our (beloved?) J train line, though for some odd reason they focus on Richmond Hill- suffering from not only the noise but dripping creosote from treated track ties! Gerard "Rod" Maggio sent me a series of photos he took in 1982 around the time of a reunion. They cover a lot of sections but fill the gap between some older photos and update photos. Check Zones 5, 6, P.S. 64, the library, and Logan Street for samples. July 21-Some timely news as I updated the ENY Vocational High School page to include shots from a 1963 yearbook that had some neighborhood views. The city announced that they would renovate City Line Park, a small 3.5 acre lot near ENY Vocational into a nice playground. Thanks to my brother Lou who tipped me off to the July 10 Times article. July 19-I swung by the old neighborhood for some specific update shots and came up with some interesting updates, trivia and history so I put them together on a temporary Update Page. Drop me a line if you have any recollections that will help. July 13-HOME MOVIE ALERT -I have been contacted by researchers for PBS who are working on a Walt Whitman documentary. They are seeking home movie footage of East New York. If you have material you would wish to share, contact me at tapeshare@yahoo.com. I swung by 87 Barbey to grab a photo for Janice who sent in some great pix and added some update shots on Barbey, including the fate of the large house on the southeast corner.  July 6- It is with great sadness that I have to pass the news that an old childhood friend and neighbor John Boyle passed away last week. John was my next door neighbor and even my classmate for awhile. That's John in the firetruck in a 1961
photo on Ashford Street next to me on the tricycle and Richie Mercardo behind him. Our
condolences go out to his family.July 4- A happy 4th of July to all! Janice Abrams was researching her family history and sent over a shot of 87 Barbey St. circa 1920; her great grandparents were the first to live there! Peter Stango keeps up the Blessed Sacrament "blitz", sending over class pictures from 1974 and shots from a school play. June 29- First, a small plug for Ellen Poulsen, a former Cypress Hills resident and site fan. Ellen has just completed her book, "The Case Against Lucky Luciano", and those interested can visit her site at http://www.lucianotrial1936.com. Daniel Prine sent over a batch of photos he took after a 1977 snowstorm. They prompted me to create a new Pine St. page and update the Crescent Street page as well. June 22-Just some quick notes; Robbie Dupree, recording artist and former East New Yorker, is working on a project and is looking for old film footage of the Italian feasts that were held so often in the neighborhood. You can contact Robbie directly at robbiedupree@earthlink.net. Phil Santella tipped us off that we had the date wrong on the Blessed Sacrament Reunion; it is scheduled for Saturday, October 13th. Thanks Phil! June 19-Just as Peter Stango was sending over a bunch of material to update the Blessed Sacrament page, Daniel Prine forwarded me a reunion alert for Blessed Sacrament as well- see above for the details, and visit the Blessed Sacrament page for Peter's class pictures.  June 12- OK class, let's see who is paying attention! On the
left is a lithograph created by Currier & Ives in 1869. The scene takes place in
East New York. Can you identify it? June 5-Richmond Street is one of our best covered areas thanks to the contributions of our site fans. Peter Stango sent over a mini mystery that will send you over to Etna St., and that prompted me to pull out some of Tim O'Reilly's tax photos and make some additions. June 1- For the history fans, I added the New Lots Road page to Zone 6, covering the road east of where we left off in Zone 5. I found a 1961 yearbook for ENY Vocational and added some shots from the book to that page. May 22- Therese Panariello sent over shots of her parent's wedding at St. Michael's in 1952 and that reminded me that I've neglected St. Michael's Commercial High School for girls on that page. Demetrius Pestun keeps finding the old synagogues and I've added six of them in Zones 5 and 6. Danny Blanda sends over a great Linwood St. shot from 1934 that I added in Zone 6. May 15-Jim DeSapio set some sort of record by promising pictures and sending them the next day-and they were good ones too! On the Cleveland St. page he sends an early 50's photo of Moe's Tavern just after it took over the Cleveland Palace. On the St. Rita's page, a 1952 wedding shot showing the stairs in the old church. Great job Jim! May 11- Old pal Dom Most sent in our 5th grade class pic from P.S. 108, and when my cousin John sent in 2 as well from the late 60s I figured it was time to update the P.S.108 page. May 8- Time for a postcard update. My older brother Bruce dilligently tracks down all the postcards and I hooked up with him recently to obtain good scans. Some are big improvements to the images on the site, some are new, they can all be found here on this temporary Postcards Update Page. May 5- We stay on a roll in Zone 6; Elsie Anzalone sends over a collage of a Sperandeo Bros. American Legion Celebration at Liberty Park, ice skating at the park, and a much needed shot of the famous Bungalow Bar truck all in Zone 6! May 3- Lenore Catapano send in enough images by herself for an update; she provided some early shots of Essex St. we put up in Zone 6, 2 St. Rita's pix up on the Class Pix page, and even some reunion photos from 1999 we put up on the Reunions page. Thanks Lenore! April 30- RoseAnn (Guddemi) Hogan sent in some nice shots of Norwood Ave, so that prompted me to gather up some other Zone 3 images people have sent in and add those in. Judy Close (Linwood St.) Linda Weiss (Shepherd Ave.) Tim O'Reilly (Logan Street) all sent in shots and they are up on their respective streets. April 28- I've done an update on Zone 6, creating pages for P.S. 64 and ENY Vocational to lighten the load. I've added several churches and synagogues, and thanks to Maria DeGennaro for getting us some shots of Crystal Street from the 1940s. Alan Heins helps us with the mystery of the Euclid Ave. Baptist Church and supplies a history.  April 24- I know we've got a big St. Rita's following so
I'm looking for some help on this one. Click on this 1930 image of St. Rita's and look all
the way to the right. On the property is a movie ad for the 1928 silent film, "Submarine".
Oddly, though silent it was the first Columbia release with sound effects. The question is
why is the ad there? Did St. Rita's show films to raise funds or help those who couldn't
afford to go to the movies? Or was it just an ad? April 22-Peter Rapelje, descendant of the Rapelje family that owned farms in the area, contacted me awhile back and shared information, history and pictures that I have been working to incorporate into the site. My first effort was to recreate what New Lots Road was like back in 1870, and that new page, under Zone 5 can be found here. April 15- I've been a little bogged down so I thought I would release an update of Zone 5 while I work on some things. April 7- A very Happy Easter and Passover to everyone! March 28- Well look what we found! Thanks to Dominick Mondelli, who actually contacted the White Castle Corporation to track down a shot of the original building on Atlantic and Highland Place. Dom also sent over a shot of Carlucci's, which is in zone 1. Joe Morreale sent over a 1964 class picture from Blessed Sacrament which we posted on the Blessed Sacrament page and also as a reminder we have a reunion alert
posted above this update- Paula is also extending an invitation to all 1962 graduates of Blessed Sacrament and St. Michael's as well so give her a shout!March 20- I've updated Zone 4, by creating pages for Euclid Ave. and Crescent/Hemlock Streets. I've added research on the cemeteries, Dexter Park and the old Truant Home. The 171 page gets some updates as well. March 5- I have returned-those that dropped me a note requesting to be added to the directory should now be in. As an update, I received some St. Rita's pix from Phyllis (Annunziata) Esposito and Gail Lazzinnaro, and added some more from Pete Colantuoni. Feb 21- I'm hitting the road for a bit, but we've had nice contributions from some new fans so I put together a page to show a few here Feb 18- Frank Luchino sent in a wonderful series on his house on Logan Street and even included some 1969 classroom shots of P.S. 65. I also found the origin of the name of Logan Street so you can visit that page and P.S. 65 to see the updates. Feb 8- I'm hard at work doing research on Zone 4, but Mike Abney, who was good friends with my brother Gary back in the day, sent over a bunch of shots that gives me something to post while I work. Although the shots will head out to their respective pages, I made a temporary update page where you can find them all together. Thanks Mike! Jan 27- Zone 3 is updated; Elton, Linwood, Shepherd, Hale, Richmond get some nice updates and I created a page for Highland Place. Some questions get solved (see the Arlington Ave. Presbyterian Church) while new ones pop up (Hale Lanes). The YMCA page gets some new material and its interesting to note just as 3 exhibitions involving Robert Moses appear, I add some information on one of his projects that never happened; the Bushwick Expressway. Jan 11- Zone 2 gets updated, with a new Arlington Avenue page to lighten the picture load on the streets from Barbey to Cleveland. The library page is updated, and all the streets receive some minor updates and additions. Jan 5- I'm still working on Zone 2 but Cathy (Russell) DiBenedetto sent over some Highland Park playground shots from 1975 that I have added to the Lower Highland Park page. Jan. 1, 2007- Happy New Year everyone! I'm working on Zone 2 at the moment, but I posted up some recent contributions from Richard Basmagy. He sent over his 1959 St. Rita's graduation class picture and his wife's 1955 class picture from P.S. 64 which can be found in Zone 6. Dec 31- Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! Dec 25- A Very Merry Christmas to All!Your webmaster in red checking out the scene, Christmas Day 1958Dec 21- Zone 1 gets overhauled; I built pages for the Gotham Theater and the House of the Good Shepherd to include a bunch of history and additional images. The Schenck and Van Siclen pages get some new images and some more historical shots have been added to the main Zone 1 page.   Dec 20- Christmas is almost here so I figured I better get some holiday shots up! That's yours truly looking out our heavily stenciled front window on Ashford Street in 1964. Tim O'Reilly sent over a shot of his first grade class at P.S. 65 performing a Christmas show in 1965. I'll move that over to the P.S. 65 page with more details later.  Dec 18- Glen Gochal captured the tilework off the old Borden Plant on Atlantic off Barbey recently; the plant will probably be gone soon so we are grateful to Glen for getting these shots before its too late! Dec 15- I swung by the old neighborhood today and managed
to get in the Arlington Library; I'm happy to report it is beautiful inside and all fixed up. (Click that picture to enlarge). I also swung by the old Pool hall on Logan, and you've got to check out what's there now on the Logan Street page.Dec 13- I knew site fan Phil "Dukie" Santella would come through with some memories of the pool hall, and I added one of his stories to the page. I had read somewhere the hall was the hangout of the "Essex St. boys" and Phil confirmed that with some names; " Essex St. Boys, Johnny Pirano, Tommy Parks, Frankie Dellapace, Armaday Perillo, Bobby Laccorie,Frankie DeLeo, Willie the weeper,and others. Warwick St.Boys, Bobby Morrison, Andy Di Angelo, Joey Cola, Joey Bloodgood,Jackie Durando, Jimmy Walsh, Red Benson, Frankie Daschunt, Myself Philly " Duke" Santella. and many others. Also quite a group of girls from the neighborhood. There was also a group from Liberty Park and Elton Sts. "The Dukes" Eventually a lot of the groups gravitated to Fulton and Richmond Sts. and hung out at the Embassy Luncheonette. Which was also known as Bennys." Let's see if we can find any of the old gang! Dec. 9- I'm calling on you slackers now for some help. Tim O'Reilly sent over a great early shot of the Logan Pool Hall, it can be found on the Logan St. page. So for those of you who wasted away some youth there we are looking for some stories and history. Dec 4- I heard recently from Elise Feiner, whose mother was my brother's first grade teacher at P.S. 108 (and is in the class pic on the 108 page). Elise sent over some great shots for the 108 page and sent over her 171 8th grade class shot as well. Nov 28- I'm working on a few things but Tony Davenport sent over some shots of the Arlington Village, an area we have not explored much so I put those up in Zone 6. Tom Valenza sent over some more great shots for the Blessed Sacrament page and his kindergarten photo from P.S. 65 so those are up as well. Nov 23- Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Glen Gochal sent in some material on Franklin K Lane, and combined with a 1950 yearbook I found I was inspired to update the Lane page. Nov 21- I had a visit from an old friend, Pete Colantuoni, who dropped off more St. Rita's material. I also received some shots from Vinny Capasso and finally resigned myself to reworking the St. Rita's page. In order to reduce the image load on that page, I created an entirely new page just for the class photos. I have updated that as well as the new main St. Rita's page. Nov 15- First, a "theater" update. We have discovered that Hale Lanes did in fact start life as a theater. The "Norwood Theater" appears in the annual theater guidebooks in 1929 at 3118 Fulton (it may have opened earlier) and disappears by 1932. Dan Bivona recalled a theater by Miller and Sutter, and we have uncovered the Miller Theater, which was issued a CO in 1926 at 747 Sutter Ave. We do not have images of either theater, though a tax photo should exist for the Miller. Second, we have some updates. New contributor Tom Valenza hits the Blessed Sacrament page, Dan Bivona sends over shots for Zone 5 and Lower Highland, and Judy Close forwards yet another St. Rita's class shot, this one from 1963. Great work guys! Nov 10- Tim O'Reilly, longtime site supporter, sent in some fantastic tax photos of the Richmond Street area as well as some memories of the Embassy Theater and its aftermath. I took some time to grab update photos and alter those pages but they are finally up. Richmond, Norwood and Logan all contain those updates and a big thanks to Tim for sending those over. Nov 6- My brother Lou and I took a trip back to the neighborhood on Sunday. We were trying to tackle a few mysteries and wound up generating a few more. I decided to create a temporary Update Page to hold some samples for the time being. Nov 4- Back to some new contributors; Glen Gochal sends in some great block party pix of Lincoln Ave. from 1971 and of the "Spartans" football team. Those are in Zone 4. Gene Padakowski becomes the first to submit a family neighborhood shot of Chestnut St., that is located on the Richmond/Chestnut page. Nov 2- Working on Zone 6, and "Red" Piazza asks a good question; what is the southern boundary of East New York? I considered it Linden Boulevard, but it appears to have been a moving target over time. I added shots from Bill, Matt Shelfo and Phil Santella to both Zone 6 and the St. Rita's page.  Oct 31- Happy Halloween! That's older brother Bruce staring out our front window at 120 Ashford circa 1962. Today's updates came from Phil Santella. When Phil updates he goes for the whole neighborhood! Zone 2 (Cleveland) Zone 3
(Richmond St.) Zone 4 (Blessed Sacrament) Zone 6 (Liberty Playground, Pitkin Ave, and Zone 6 itself) as well as the Reservoir page all have new pix from Phil. Oct 30- The updates start with entries from new contributors; Lucy sent in some great shots of the Ashford St. floods and two shots up in Highland Park. One is by the reservoir and one is a great "teaser" shot, right in front of what we believe is the entrance to the "Haunted House". Dan Bivona is the first to send in photos of PS 64 (Zone 6) and a shot of his grandparents on Miller Ave. (Zone 5).He also sent in a reunion photo of the 1963 class at ENY Vocational which I posted on the Reunions page.  Oct 29- I'm back! Boy, do I have some catching up to do!
While I prepare the first update, I'm posting a cool picture submitted by a former next
door neighbor of mine, Lucy (Patini) Ellis. The picture is of her friend Fran Fiorino, an
appropriately styled "Batman" angled shot in 1965. Try to guess where this picture was
taken while I work on the updates.Oct 6-I'm getting ready to hit the road for awhile. I updated the mysteries page and added a few new ones to give everyone something to chew on. Matt Shelfo sent over a 1956 class pic from St. Rita's so I slipped that one in as well. Oct 1- The updates are a bit scattered; Therese Panariello sent in some interior shots of St. Rita's, my brothers sent over some early shots of the Arlington Avenue Presbyterian Church and a PS 108 class picture, and I slipped in an update to the Blessed Sacrament page as well. Sep 28- For those that remember the 20 foot diving board at the Cypress pool, Joe Sadauskas sent over pictures of the old neighborhood that include a shot of that tower. Richmond Street, Highland Park, and Blessed Sacrament have also been updated with Joe's photos! Sep 27- Greg Goldstein, who sent us those great shots of Pinky's, came up with another set of great old photos so I had to redo the Jerome St. page to add those. I also needed to lighten Zone 6, so I created a Liberty Avenue page and added a few shots there as well. Sep 23- Therese Panariello, who is our site's biggest cheerleader, sent in a bunch of shots of her old block on Ridgewood Ave., so I added some new parade pix and created a Ridgewood Special page. I also received another Hoffman Bowling Club shot from Ron Bogart which is up on our Hale Avenue page. We are still investigating the mystery of the early life of the Hale Lanes building!  Sep 14- Today's update is actually a mystery. I was researching
Hale Lanes, and found the CO for the building dated 1926. Have a look- the CO was issued
for a 555 seat movie theater. I have no record of a theater there, if it did exist it
would have been short lived since we have the tax photo circa 1940 showing Hale Lanes
was there. If anyone can add to the story, drop me a line at tapeshare@yahoo.com.Sep 9- Here's a nice ENY Project story. When Helen Moody posted to the guestbook that she lived at 86 Georgia Ave., I realized it was one house down from my mother and that she probably knew her; to my amazement she not only recalled her but had pictures of her family! Helen also knew my aunt, and I used my aunt's album as well to do an overhaul of the Georgia Ave. page that now includes Helen's house which, like my mothers house, is now gone. Sep 7-New contributors Pat Annuziata and Robert Ingardia send over some school shots- Pat not only sends over a 1956 St Rita's class pic but a shot of his bowling club at Hale Lanes. Thise can be found on the St. Rita's page. Rob Ingardia sends over a graduation pic from his class at ENY High School and an update photo. That can be found in Zone 6. Sep 6- Those of you who grew up near Jerome Street probably recall 'Pinky's', the local drugstore on the corner of Fulton and Jerome. His grandson contacted me, sent over a bunch of shots, so that series appears on the Jerome Street page. I slid a little south down Jerome and added 2 graduation pics from the 1940s to the St. Michael's page. I recently heard from Emily Blank, who works at the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. They are making great efforts to support the area and you can check them out here or drop Emily a line at emilyb@cypresshills.org. Aug 25- Rose Hanley sent in a great shot of her grandparent's bakery on Liberty Ave. so I added that to Zone 6 and I did some updating of the Pennsylvania Ave page under Zone 5. Aug 23- A bit of housekeeping; I created pages for Etna and Logan St. to lighten the Richmond page, and I added Atlantic Ave. to Zone 5 since the original special does not have a menu link. I added some shots of Atlantic and Warwick from 1920 to that page. Aug 20- Frank De La Rosa sent in a bunch of Essex St. shots so that page received an update today. The St. Rita's gang keeps them coming - and if you're into Catholic schoolgirls with platform shoes head over to the Shepherd Avenue page! Aug 19- The Yankees keep taking 4 hours to stomp on the Red Sox so that is cutting into my update time. I finished some work in the general Zone 1 area. Now I need to work on some recent submissions by some of our fans! Aug 11- The new Guestbook has been installed; thanks to Mike and Wendell for their very complimentary contributions. For the 171 crowd, I managed to find a 1937 Yearbook and autograph book on Ebay which I snatched up and put the highlights on the 171 page. August 5- Who remembers the Record? (That's a rhetorical question). A local newspaper devoted to ENY and Cypress Hills, my brother and I used to buy it from the printer for 2 cents and sell it for 5 cents. Paula Curci sent in some scans from a 1961 edition and my brother tracked down a 1938 issue. The ads of all our local shops are the best part! I set up a page so we can all time travel to the Record here. August 3- I intend to replace the Guestbook technology as the one supplied by the host is inadequate for our needs. As a result, I have created an archive under the "Home" button that covers messages posted from February 28, 2006 to July 31, 2006. The new Guestbook will appear shortly. August 2- There's been a number of mention of "Zip's" in the Guestbook so Zone 6 got some special attention; I created a page devoted to Atlantic Avenue through that area with a bunch of new pictures, and of course I added some pictures of Zip's in Zone 6. July 28- I needed to do a Highland Park update, the lower and upper pages, to reorganize misidentified postcards but of course I added some images. Meanwhile, ENY vet Phil Santella sends over a series of great shots that are spread throughout the site. Check Cleveland St., Warwick St., Liberty Park, and St. Rita's. July 17-St. Rita's on my mind..Denise Milo sends in a series of class pictures so that page gets an update and some of the St. Rita's gang had a reunion which inspired me to create a Reunions page. July 14- Zone 5 gets a heavy update. I finished scanning my mother's oldest album; she lived on Georgia Ave. and combined with some great old pix sent in by Peggy Solazzo we have a great page dedicated to Georgia Avenue. Breweriana collector TJ Wiegand lends a great hand by sending over fantastic material on the Piels Brewery so we have a great page on that now as well. July 4- I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July! I hooked up with my brother, who owns many of the postcards on the site, to do some major upgrading of those images. I scanned and posted up 40+ cards on the site, most of which were already up in much smaller images. June 23-I'm working on Zone 1 these days, mostly older shots, adding pages for Wyona St. and Bradford St. I also created a page for Trinity Hospital, a bit of a mystery which both Neil Sullivan and I have tried to investigate. The Mysteries page has been updated as well.  Fellow ENY collector Ike sent me an upgraded scan of this card. The details it reveals were quite interesting. The view is of the lower park with a ballgame in progress. Note the trees on the right which must have been removed in
later years. Note that Highland Boulevard on the left has no trees lining it; this means I misidentified a William Fick postcard on the Lower Highland page. I thought that card was a view
north up Highland Boulevard but that view is tree lined; it must be a view in the Upper
Park looking east. Note the trolley car on Jamaica Ave. Across Jamaica sits two houses; they can be seen on the YMCA page because the one on the right was removed to build the Y.
They look a lot closer together in the images on the Y page. Where Highland Boulevard crosses Jamaica to become Highland Place, I don't recognize the building on the corner.
Behind it I believe is 2 Etna. The view is not quite sharp enough to tell if it is
the same building. In the distance, to the right of the Pumping Station, is a tall
flagpole. Any guesses on what was there? Great card, Ike. June 13- The Reservoir page has been updated. Thanks to Peter Stango for sending in a great family shot to prompt me to finish that update! June 9- The updates have been a bit scattered recently; I updated the Sunnyside page, added info to the PS 65 and IS 171 pages,and pictures to Hale Ave and Highland Place. May 31- I have rebuilt the Richmond St. page and devoted a new page to P.S. 65, under Zone 3. May 23- Working on a few things, but I received several cool shots I had to post. They are spread around; Peter Stango sends over those Lion Heads at the Cypress Pool, a YMCA shot, and a great shot of Euclid and Fulton you can find in Zone 4. That team of Therese Panariello and Danny Blanda have been lighting up the St. Rita's page and Danny also sends over some great Atlantic Ave. shots I placed in Zone 6. Back to work! May 19-Zone 4 has been overhauled, with the creation of 3 new pages. Each one was inspired by contributions of site fans. Neil Sullivan's shots of Cypress Cemetery can be found on the new Cypress Cemetery page, Tim OReilly's 171 contributions can be found on the I.S. 171 page, and new contributor JoAnn (LaForte) Ambrosio kickstarts our new Blessed Sacrament page! In addition, in Zone 4 we put to rest what was there before the Cypress Pool!Meanwhile, the St. Rita's crowd is on fire- another set of photos has been added to the rapidly expanding St. Rita's page. May 11- The Guestbook is fixed, and today I created a special page devoted to Atlantic Ave. I haven't decided if I will make it permanent or distribute the pictures to their respective zones yet. Many are from the great Brian Merlis collection and for those who wish to see the original 'Willies' check out the Atlantic Avenue Page. May 7- We're starting to get contributions from all over. Don DiGennaro sends in some shots of the Feasts of St. Cosmo and Damian. Angela Gironta sends in her 1956 class picture- all thee shots can be found on the St. Rita's page. Tony Della Croce sends in another old shot of Essex right near St. Ritas from 1945, which can be found in Zone 6. May 2-It's always nice when we have a new contributor and its to an area we have not covered yet. Eloise Wendell sends in a series of family shots of the area south of Atlantic and east of Conduit Blvd from the 30s , 40s and 50s. They can be found in Zone 6. April 27-We always wondered if we would ever find pictures of the famed Willies Lemon Ices and Eleanor Deliberti comes through with shots I have posted in Zone 6! April 23- I couldn't wait for my usual weekly update to post some great shots sent over by our Amazin' Cin, Cynthia Rongione, of the St. Rita's gang in 1964 and 1972. Tony Della Croce keeps the St. Rita's page cooking with his 1955 class picture. Those shots are on our new St. Rita's page. April 19-Zone 6 now has 5 subpages, which includes some interesting research on the Water Works and the Old Mill. April 11-I've been working on Zone 5 and subpages, but took a detour when devoted site fan Therese Panariello managed to track down an old school friend Dominic Mostoccioulo in Italy! Even more amazing is that Dom sent over some pictures, which I have dropped in the Shepherd Ave. and P.S. 108 pages. 
April 3-Those with a sharp eye will notice I have started breaking down Zone 1 and Zone 5 into streets; I added some great early photos to Pennsylvania Ave. and some new
Neil contributions to Hendrix St. As promised, while I catchup from my travels (and get my taxes done) I would drop in some treats and here is a special one; a birdseye view of East New York from 1887.Click to enlarge; this is huge so you can enjoy the detail.March 12-I'm about to hit the road again but Neil Sullivan continues his great detective work and sends over another load of update photos, primarily Zones 2 and 6. March 5-Two of the site's big supporters kept me hopping this week. Neil sends over another great batch of shots and Tim O'Reilly composes an ode to the old neighborhood that I would like to debut here-  Feb 25-Well I'm back from traveling and Neil swamped me with a bunch of update photos that fill quite a few holes- so they are posted up in Zones 1 thru 5. Feb 14-Happy Valentine's Day! Neil Sullivan sent over some terrific material relating to our trains, and I have put up some significant updates in Zones 4 and 6. I have some travelling to do so that's it for a week! Feb 11-I've finished slipping in updates from Elsie (zone 6) and my own (Ashford St.) We have updated photos now coming in (zone 5) and Annette Brayman sends in a collection of gems from F. K Lane Senior Day in 1954! Feb 4- Almost Super Bowl time but we're still going strong! I finished scanning the family album from the early 70s and Elsie Anzalone sends over another terrific batch so I'm hopping. Lower Highland got some additions, as well as Zone 1, Cleveland St, and Jerome Street- where Tim O'Reilly provides a spectacular bit of trivia! Jan 29- Since I'm enjoying the research, I can share the fun two ways; I have added a "Mysteries" page under the main menu where I will post images that raise questions, and for some of the answers I will hide them behind a 'trivia' button to test your knowledge. The first is in Zone 4. Jan 28- We have a Guestbook! I admit its a bit simple, I'm still struggling with the presentation, but you can finally send input or a story direct to the site. Can't think of a story? Wes Miller gave me an idea when he told me his sister was in the YMCA pool when the blackout of 1965 hit. If you were in East New York, tell us where you were! Use the dropdown menu under the "Home" button to find it. Jan 22- I've uploaded some postcards I have been researching which still have unanswered questions. Check Zone 1 and Zone 5 for a few as well as a rare Etna St. postcard of the Etna Street Club House. Jan 16- Time to update some pictures. Wes Miller, a P.S. 108 friend of my older brother whom we haven't heard from in 40 years, sends over some great additions for the Hale Ave. page as well as some additions for P.S. 108 and Upper Highland. Tim O'Reilly sends over some more 1990 shots added to the Richmond page. I took a trip yesterday to grab some update photos but the weather was horrible so I tried Microsoft's local live product and it is fantastic. Check out the great aerial shots in Zone 4. Jan 8- Upper Highland Park has been updated including images and history of Banzer Park. Jan 6- I finally finished those straggler pages (FK Lane, Arl Ave Church, YMCA) and can focus on Highland Park. Lower Highland was updated today with new pictures, some additional history, including a new feature "Did You Know?" which are just tidbits of information I have picked up that were certainly new to me. Jan 1- Happy New Year!In between all the holiday festivities I have been preparing an overhaul of the site. The first step was to introduce a dropdown menu navigation that permits users to move to any other page on the site no matter where they are. Zone 3 was broken down into individual streets to speed up page loading. We teamed up with noted Brooklyn collector Brian Merlis to add very high quality images to the site. We have also added an index page to help users find key landmarks quickly. New pages have been built to feature the Cypress Pool, the historic Schenck House,and Reformation Church. Many of the postcard scans have been upgraded. Next steps include updating the Highland Park pages, adding a message board, and upgrading the clickable map which I have temporarily disabled. |