Anyone originally from Park Slope?

icejice

Well, for someone who wants to know what I know about me and this area's history, here goes. My family settled in this area around 1900 or close to it. Dates and stuff get distorted as time goes by, but I do know my Great Grandpa was born in Brooklyn and he was born in 1906 so I know I cant be too far off. My Grandpa was telling me that his father had a house that the city demolished when they were building the highway. I think it was around 18th street. I thought that was interesting but that was all my grandpa remembered. After that they moved to 15th street, 16th, 18th, 19th, and I think 20th as well. I had cousins that lived on 10th st too. I would say that all of my family moved out of the neighborhood. People moved to Jersey and Florida but most just moved to Bensonhurst and Marine Park. I lived on 10th with my Mother and Grandma until maybe the mid 80's. (on a side note, I had a battle beast toy that I dropped between the 3rd floor steps and the wall. if you live there now let me know! (306 10th st)) Anywho, things got really bad by us and after a few robberies and stolen christmas trees we left. I moved back to the neighborhood almost a year ago. A lot of stuff has changed to me. Mostly stores and stuff. Everything is in different locations.

That wasnt much about history but i'll try better here. Feel free to correct me because im just going from what I can remember.
A plane crashed at 7th ave and sterling pl. in the 60s if I remember correctly. At the time it was the worst flight accident in the US. 2 planes collided above staten island. There was one child who survived the crash but then died the next day.

Grand army plaza's soldier statues were built years after the arch was.

Greenwood cemetary was an urban landscaping project that in a way inspired the city to develop central park.

Also my great grandparents are buried there.

The steps on the brownstones and most of the brick row houses that start outside at ground level and go up to the second floor were made that way so you didnt track mud and dirt into your homes. A lot of the houses were built in the early 1900s so I imagine there were horses around and mud and horse poo poo.

Well, that's all i can think of but i know i have some more stuff in my head.

So, it's kind of weird now because when I left Park Slope I would say that it was mostly native new yorkers. So it's a little weird when you leave a place you grew up and come back and all the people are different.

Now, im not going into the native vs non-native thing but I want to share my thoughts.

I don't mind people moving to brooklyn at all. That's what happens in Brooklyn. Id say the friction comes from a lot of different reasons and they can be totally different depending on the person. And im DEFINITELY not saying that natives are better people. Good people are good people. How I feel about NY is it's a city that holds genuineness very high. It's also a city that embraces many a people. Maybe a lot of native Brooklynites see people moving to Brooklyn, and leaving after a while. Where as things used to be more permanent. You moved to a place and you lived there for 20+ years. You had kids there, they went to school there, you worked there. You sat on the stoop and talked to the neighbors.You cemented yourself in the community. You embraced it and became part of the neighborhood. You didnt just move in, change things around, and move away. So, maybe some people feel that way and they just never thought about it that way. But that's all this is worth talking about.

Well, im sure this is loaded with typos and all kinds of mistakes but im too lazy to proofread. I wasnt looking to step on any toes, but maybe I did. Hope it was interesting! My fingers hurt.....

idlewild

cheflady wrote: Ok, well I'm wrong then. Sorry.

I go by who's a native Brooklynite first, native NY'er second, then there's the rest of y'all. Although with the Brooklynite thing I've had friends who Imet in Brooklyn college that were grew up in Bensonhurst/Dyker Heights/Bay Ridge who never went outside the three neighborhood box. Not to other parts of Brooklyn or Manhattan. So there are hard core people (natives) who consider their neighborhood like a country.

idlewild

I liked the Old Purity as well as The Economy across the street. Now, I like Park Cafe (same owner as The Economy) and 7th Ave Donuts.

icejice

So there are hard core people (natives) who consider their neighborhood like a country.

Ever visit Gerritsen Beach? Some of the people there never leave their 15 block radius. In their whole lives.

idlewild

Yup! I have. I had a friend who lived on Gerritsen Ave. I also bike down there and weave in and out on the little side streets and go on the beach as well. I wish I had a house on the water with a boat dock (legal or otherwise) like they do over there.

Didn't Condi Rice recently give fame to that area? Supposedly there's a deli that serves her favorite hot plate over there.

icejice

I don't know anything about Condi Rice but I know Chris Rock went to the elementary school on Gerritsen Ave.

So I was walking around the courts over there one day (in case you are unfamilar with the area, most of the streets are named courts) and I walked down a dead end only to look into someones backyard and see a cow and goat and chickens. Also this guy had a turkey in his yard and would bring him in the house around Thanksgiving time.

restless native

jennitrixie wrote: What is it about being "native" to a place that people act like it's an accomplishment? Did they have some sort of pre-natal control over their parents' whereabouts that I'm not acknowledging? I try to reserve my judgment for where people choose to live (and how they choose to live) after they're all growns up, is what I'm sayin'.

Buzz off, the title of the thread isn't asking for your opinion on us (as if I.. let me stop :roll: ).

The point of the matter is that we were born here not of choice, but we grew up here and share a common history. Yups, on the other hand, are a self-selected group who came here with a pre-conceived image of how they thought life here is supposed to be.. which is fine, the Ellis immigrants did the same thing.. only they didn't flock here with their midwestern parents' money to do it, and their image was a tad less pretentious. Not to mention they actually consisted of real, working, people. Drop off an entire block of Park Slope yups on a desert island and I'd be shocked if they could round up a useful skill between them.

quigley

Drop off an entire block of Park Slope yups on a desert island and I'd be shocked if they could round up a useful skill between them.

Seriously, what are you even talking about?