I Love New York

I took a vacation from the Florida life last week and went back to Ridgewood, New York and was surprised by how much things have changed. I took a seat on the stoop of my old apartment building on Fresh Pond Road breathing in the cool crisp fall air and the memories just came flooding back.

To my right used to be Mr. G’s arcade were all the neighborhood kids would go and play the latest video games like Pac-man, Pitfall and Dig Dug. Next to Mr. G’s was Sal’s Barber Shop and Danny’s restaurant. Sal would give you a lollipop if you behaved yourself while getting a haircut. My friend Tom and I would go into Danny’s everyday and charge up his parents store credit. We would get Chuckles candy, Sugar Daddies and Bazooka Joe gum. Down from Danny’s was Rainbow Bridge Comics which was a second home to me. I got a job there when I was about 8 years old and got paid in store credit. My job was to put the comics in protective bags and stock them on the shelves. Now that I think about it that was one of the best jobs I have had.

Sitting there on the stoop I cannot believe how long ago that was because it feels like it was just yesterday. I look to my left and I notice Mr. Whitman’s building. Mr. Whitman was a very old German man who did not like anyone sitting on his stoop. If you were seen by him from his third floor apartment sitting on the stoop he would throw hot water on you. Naturally, this did not stop my friends and I., we used to play this game called Smashing Boat and the stoop was our boat and the sidewalk was the ocean where sharks and killer fish lived. We would break up old card board boxes and break dance in front of that building. We could have done all these things on or in front of any apartment buildings on the block, but I think we picked his because we knew it got him mad.

No matter what time of year it was there was always something happening on Fresh Pond Road. In the winter there were the snowball fights between my friends and the older kids. Then in the summertime it was the block parties on Sundays. Everyone would bring some kind of food and we would open the fire hydrant and make our own sprinkler.

As I look around now the only thing I see is a quite city block in Ridgewood. Mr. G’s is gone as well as Sal’s, Danny’s and Rainbow Bridge Comics. No more kids playing or break dancing in front of Mr. Whitman’s stoop and no more block parties or snowball fights. It is at this moment that I realized something, growing up in New York is one of the best things in the world. I can’t imagine growing up anywhere else. God, I love New York!