OUR NEIGHBORHOOD The Way It Was.......

During World War II and for several years thereafter, this billboard honoring local residents who served their country stood on the site where a Glendale school is currently located. The date of the newspaper with this week’s “Our Neighborhood” column is one day after Nov. 11—Veterans Day.

In recognizing the importance of this national commemoration, we have a photo of the Glendale Honor Roll.

During World War II, communities and veterans organizations erected billboards to honor the local young men and women who joined the U.S. Armed Forces and the Merchant Marine to serve their country.

As permitted by Msgr. Herman Pfeifer of St. Pancras parish, this one was erected by the Glendale Post of the American Legion and the United Organizations of Glendale on church property at the southeast corner of Myrtle Avenue and 68th Street.

The billboard was designed and constructed by L.J. Schmidt of Glendale. It was erected in 1942.

Alice Crimmins was an attractive Queens mother who became the subject of sensational media coverage after she was arrested in connection with the 1965 deaths of her two children. A reader remembers a time years later, when she and her husband would visit the catering hall/night club where he worked. (photo: AP/Wide World) At the time that the photo was taken in 1943, there were 1263 names on the Glendale Honor Roll.

By the time the war ended, more than 2000 names were listed, including about 30 names of Glendale residents who had been killed—among them, Gordon Wagner, Vincent Tourney and Edward Miller.

The Glendale Honor Roll stood at the site until about 1950, when construction of St. Pancras School began.

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Publishing the names of some streets as they once were known in the “Our Neighborhood” column that appeared Oct. 8, 2009 raised some questions about 82nd Street in Glendale.

Our listing identified the former name as Barbara Place, but we subsequently heard from reader John Rienecker of Glendale who advised that according to a family member, 82nd Street had been known as Bertha Place.

Thanks to George Miller, historian of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society, we think that we can clear up whatever confusion may have resulted.

Mr. Miller writes: “Barbara Place was a proposed Glendale roadway mapped by the the Queens Topographical Bureau and first appeared on the July 1905 amended map of part of the Second Ward of Queens. It was mapped from Cooper Avenue south about 470 feet into what became the Atlas Terminal Industrial Park to the line of another proposed roadway (never opened), Graeme Avenue.

“In 1925, Barbara Place was redesignated 82nd Street. This segment of 82nd Street remained on city maps into the 1940s. It was removed from the official map upon a determination that no purpose would be served in its opening and that public roadways were not required in the industrial park.

“Bertha Place is the former name for today’s 82nd Street from 77th Avenue south to Myrtle Avenue. A portion of this road was originally laid out in 1906 and was named Emerson Avenue by the Markert Realty Company as part of its Forest Parkview subdivision.

“At that time, this new roadway, only 50 feet wide, extended from approximately the line of today’s 78th Avenue south to a point about 160 feet north of Myrtle Avenue and the only legal access to Emerson Avenue was by way of 78th Road. Apparently, Markert’s initial mapping and plans for the Parkview subdivision predated the city’s July 1905 mapping, which showed a proposed roadway to be named Bertha Place, with a width of 60 feet.

“The city map proposed that Bertha Place extend from Myrtle Avenue north to the LIRR Montauk Division right-of-way. Initial hearings were held in 1914 to take up the question of closing the existing substandard Emerson Avenue and building a new road to city standards about 30 to 40 feet east of the old roadway.

“Due to strong opposition by residents and local civic groups and the expected cost for damages to improved property, a new map was prepared in September 1915, retaining the existing lines, width and grade of Emerson Avenue (Bertha Place).

“By 1920, the road had been extended south to Myrtle Avenue and when the Schmidt Farm near the LIRR line was subdivided in 1938- 39, the road was extended north from 78th Avenue to the line of the new 77th Avenue.”

Old Timer’s note—As always, our thanks to George Miller for his latest contribution.

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We are in receipt of another letter from Mr. Rienecker, which he sent to this newspaper after reading a story in the Oct. 29, 2009 issue about young historian and author Jason Antos. In it, Antos recalls growing up in Whitestone and how he had a boyhood interest in such local historic places as the Hammerstein House— operated for a time as Ripples on the Water caterers.

Mr. Rienecker writes: “Your article about Jason Antos’ book and Ripples on the Water brought back a lot of memories.

“As soon as I got my license in 1973, I started parking cars there at all the affairs. My best friend at the time, Frank Maniscalco, got me the job through his mother, Anne Cola, who was the hat-check girl.

“It was owned by Dave Sobel. Charlie Sherman and George Lutz were manager and maitre ’d, respectively. They had friends of theirs who were bartenders and all went to Fordham University.

“On Monday nights, there was disco. One of the bouncers, Kasim Dubar, got his head blown off in the parking lot from a sawed-off shotgun. He was one of the top kick boxers in the world.

“On Saturday nights, the bar at Ripples was open to the public, along with dinner and dancing. A couple used to live in the apartments next to Ripples and would come in on Saturdays. It was Anthony Grace of Grace Construction and his infamous wife, Alice Crimmins.

“Others coming to Ripples were some of the Rooney family, who owned the Pittsburgh Steelers; Bucky Dent; and the little guy who did the commercial for Automobile Club of America. Roger Horan, one of New York’s most decorated cops, was there all the time. He was commissioned by Richard Burton to take the million-dollar ring he bought for Liz Taylor to England. He had become a private investigator and I worked for him tailing husbands and wives. I also went swimming in Roger’s pool, where he lived in Whitestone.

“Through Ripples, I met two guys by the names of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. At the time, they owned the Enchanted Gardens club at the Douglaston Golf Course. I parked cars there, also. They would go on to fame and fortune at Studio 54.

“In 1976, all the ships used for the Bicentennial were docked in the sound next to Ripples. What an awesome sight. I can’t remember what year Ripples closed, but I worked there till they closed. I think the lease ran out.

“P.S. In Forest Park, up at Oak Ridge, I was always curious about the house and who built it. Maybe you can supply some information.”

Old Timer’s note—Mr. Rienecker mentions some names that either were in the news or played a role in some stories that made the news years ago—in two cases, the names of Queens residents.

The late Roger Horan was indeed “one of New York’s most decorated cops,” as Mr. Rienecker notes. In fact, when he retired in 1964 after a 23-year police career, Roger Horan was the NYPD’s most decorated detective.

Among his more famous investigations, in the 1940s, Horan cracked the “Central Park Murder Case”— nabbing the trio who had committed the slaying of an Air Force veteran and the rape of his girlfriend in Central Park.

He also uncovered the actual bandit in a robbery case that had sent an innocent man—musician and Jackson Heights resident Christopher “Manny” Balestrero—to jail. The story inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 movie, The Wrong Man, with Henry Fonda playing Balestrero.

Among the Queens locations that show up in the film is Ridgewood Felony Court on Catalpa Avenue at 64th Street, which later became the Catalpa “Y.”

For those who do not remember the case of Alice Crimmins, she was a Kew Gardens Hills resident accused in the deaths of her young children, a girl and boy, who had disappeared from their home on 72nd Drive in 1965. Their bodies later were found at two different locations.

The media went wild in covering her two trials in sensational fashion over a a six-year period made of the pretty young redhead’s lifestyle; she was depicted as a former cocktail waitress with many boyfriends (she was estranged from the children’s father, Edmund Crimmins). One of the boyfriends was contractor Anthony Grace, whom she later married.

Alice Crimmins was convicted of her son’s murder—a conviction later overturned—and of manslaughter in her daughter’s death. She was released from prison in 1977, after serving several years behind bars. Understandably, she sought a life of anonymity following her release.

Possibly, some of our readers who have memories of their own regarding Ripples on the Water—or any of the other catering facilities that once existed—will share their remembrances.

Regarding some non-local celebrities cited by Mr. Rienecker, Elizabeth Taylor and the late Richard Burton reigned as Hollywood’s royal couple after they fell in love during the filming of Cleopatra in 1963 and left their respective spouses (Eddie Fisher and Sybil Burton) to be together. They married, divorced, remarried and divorced again less than a year later. Recently, Burton’s niece expressed her belief that had her uncle lived—he died suddenly in 1984—he and Taylor would have married a third time.

Fans of the New York Yankees will never forget Bucky Dent’s home run that turned the tide in a one-game playoff victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in 1978, to decide the American Leagiue East division winner. The shortstop was not known for his power; in 12 seasons as a major leaguer, Dent never hit more than eight home runs in a single season. But that one over Fenway’s “Green Monster” was enough to ensure his place as a Yankee hero. The 1978 Yankees went on to defeat the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and won the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers—with Bucky Dent named the World Series MVP.

As Mr. Rienecker notes, the Rooney family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. In New York, the family also owns Yonkers Raceway.

As for Oak Ridge, the turn-of-thecentury golf house is a facility that houses both the administration of Forest Park and the Queens Council for the Arts and serves as a community center.

As noted on the Department of Parks and Recreation’s website, “This two-story structure was built in 1905 in a Dutch Colonial Revival style as a facility for the Forest Park Links. It was designed by the firm of Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell, who also designed the landmark Williamsburg Savings Bank (now home to HSBC Bank). Located near the first tee, the house held lockers for men and women.”

If you have any remembrances, comments or reunion announcements that you would like to share with our readers, write to the Old Timer, c/o Times Newsweekly, P.O. Box 860299, Ridgewood, NY 11386-0299.

To send a submission via e-mail, our e-mail address is Old Timer@timesnewsweekly.com

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