... Recommend this series to a friend.



Nowhere was such delicious contempt exhibited toward any other NYC neighborhood as it was towards Canarsie. For years, Canarsie was the butt of many Borscht Belt comedians' jokes. In television it was the Three Stooges, Ed Norton (our sanitation engineer) in the Honeymooners, and many other notables who directed their barbs at Canarsie. I'm sure that many of the following pictures probably originally came from an excellent webist ... Brooklyn Pictures ... put together by Brian Merlis. His website is a great credit to Brooklyn and to all who love Brooklyn. Take a look, spend some time there ... but come back y'all.



Golden City Amusement Park at the foot of East 93 Street, 1920. The resort on the shore of Jamaica Bay opened in 1907. The carousel Swing (center) was one of its main attractions. This photograph was taken during the off-season.



Another view of Golden City Amusement Park. To quote from the NY Times, July 2, 2007 (from where this picture was taken), "Not far from Dreamland (in Coney Island), another dreamland once flourished, complete with a tunnel of love, King Pharaoh the 'Wonder Horse' and once visited by a young star named Mae West" ... this park could be found at the end of the "L" line in Brooklyn.



E. Theodore Bruning's Cash Grocery-1908 was a general store, and located at Conklin Ave. and Rockaway Parkway, the Eastern part of what was once the town of Flatlands, retained much of it's rural charm even until World War II (the big one as Archie Bunker would say). When this photo was taken neither the street nor the sidewalk was paved. Note the policeman on the corner.



This old house, 1922, was located at Rockaway Parkway and Skidmore Lane, which is now Rockaway Parkway and Ave. J. It was once known as the Canarsie Meadows, and was home to many African-American families around the turn of the century. Ten years later, the Holmes family lived on the southeast corner of Ave. K and East 95 Street, and they have a lane named after them. My family lived across the street from the Holmes family, and we shared a bathroom with another family.



The Nicholas Schenck House, 1924, was situated until about 1930 within the confines of today's Seaview Park, this Dutch farmhouse, with its gambrel roof (that's a two-sided roof with a double slope on each side, the lower slope having the steeper pitch), was built prior to 1758. During the British occupation, the Red Coats, set up a guard at this house. In 1897, the farm was sold at public auction. The city purchased much of the land for use as a public park. The house fell into disrepair due to the city's negligence and was dismantled. Part of the Schenck House was reassembled and is on permanent display at the Brooklyn Museum. This photograph shows the Schenck House at the Denton Avenue entrance to the park. I knew the heirs of the Denton family; they lived near me on East 93rd Street, between Avenues J and K.



Here we see the trolley on Rockaway Parkway coming from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn (along Rockaway Avenue) with the last stop at the train depot. From there one could either take the train to Manhattan or the shuttle trolley to the "shore" (Golden City Park).

Until 1942, though, a free transfer existed at the Rockaway Parkway station of the BMT (now the LL line) that allowed you on a trolley line that traveled on a private right of way between East 95th and 96th streets to its terminus at a long-departed beach resort at Jamaica Bay called Golden City, complete with an amusement park, fishing boat rentals and beer halls.

The trolley car extension of the subway (it ran on the ground until New Lots Avenue and the up on the elevator until Broadway Junction, and only then did it run as a "subway") ran through a littered lane between the back yards and unkempt gardens of rundown houses. Here and there passengers caught a glimpse of Canarsie's better dwellings, of its village-like business section on Flatlands Avenue, of great stretches of dump and marsh, and of unpaved streets. Canarsie then underwent changes as the new Circumferential Highway [Belt Parkway] around Jamaica Bay was completed and the shore improved.

An interesting recollection by a friend living in Lynbrook, NY ... L.C. Llewellyn, a retired chief inspector of the fire department in that Long Island town, and who was born in Canarsie. He writes the following: "On Rockaway Parkway, going north to Farragut Road across from the present fire house was the original Canarsie fire house. It housed two pieces of fire fighting equipment. One was a horse drawn coal fired pumper drawn by horses and along side that was a brush truck. You could peer into the "bays" through the glass windows on the large wooden doors and see the equipment although the windows where very dirty. The block additionally had two alleys running east and west from Rockaway Parkway to East 96th street and the res of the block had several small stores on the west side of the street." ... I'm sure the above picture is even older than Len Llewellyn.


Rockaway Parkway looking north from Avenue K. This is a bit more recent than the one above. Still, look to the right; there's nothing built there. I remember when it was all marshland there. Much later, Waxman built very beautiful Long Island looking homes all the way to East 108th Street (that's going approximately 10 blocks east). To the left of this trolley is now Canarsie High School.




Interesting picture of a P.S. 115 graduating class that I found on the internet Should any of these students (who are now adults on in years) feel this picture should not be shown here, they should please let me know and it will be removed. Anyway, they are good looking kids and we're not kids anymore. Notice the hairstyles; unlike today where everyone wants to stand out and be unique, there was a sense of conformity that pervaded the social scene before the 1960's. I know you would never see anyone with green or purple hair, boys with earrings, or a girl with a pierced tongue in those earlier days. Maybe we all felt special and unique in a different way, something more internal and eternal, and compared to today, most thinking people would say for kids, those days were better.


There's been plenty of time to obliterate any trace of the trolley right of way, but this driveway between East 95th and 96th north of Conklin follows the route. The trolley continued on this route, between the backyards, until the route was moved to Rockaway Parkway. Before it was a trolley route, it was used by the train, stopping at Flatlands Avenue, Avenue L, and the Golden City Park. For an excellent picture of Avenue L when the train station was there (but remember to come back, y'all).
Look at: Avenue L around 1908 ... see the left side and remember, I'm waiting for you to return.


A view of Canarsie ... My Street ... I loved it there.
From the late 1930's ... The Log Cabin ... our ice cream parlor.

And from Dan Potter, a member of the Lott family.
They've been a family in Canarsie since the late 1800's
Like the song in that great Broadway show, Damn Yankees, "Ya gotta have heart"
That's how Dan talks about Canarsie, he talks with heart.
Our Canarsie - Way Back When - by Dan Potter
Now remember to come back, y'all.

Any corrections? ... ... you be my guest.

All right, here's the way ... Old Brooklyn ... used to look years ago.
And how about this one, old ... Coney Island Hotels ... "upper class" lived here.
Look, old Coney Island's ... Beach & Boardwalk ... used to looked like this.
How about a ride on the ... World Famous Cyclone ... you hold on tight now.
Now for the history buffs ... Coney History 1609-1880 ... very humble beginnings.
And if that's too much ... Brooklyn - a Quick History ... for those in a hurry.
Great, here you can see ... 1879 Map of Coney Island ... where everything was.
And a Brooklynese letter - Brooklynese Letter ... from Bill Gates himself.
And now, just for fun, only ... Old Brooklynites ... could possibly understand.
And finally, old Brooklyn ... Remember When ... fond, fond, recollections.
Oh yeah, lest we forget - Brooklyn Now - The Modern Way - you will recognize it.
We'll return to the ... Navigator ... our contents page.