This too is Yonkers-by Eric Schoen
The final week of summer is upon us. Labor Day will be here before you know it. My family always enjoyed the last week of summer in the Catskills. But that dreaded ride home on Labor Day was a sign that yes, summer was over.
We would usually arrive home, depending on traffic just in time to watch Jerry Lewis sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as he closed the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon which started Labor Day Eve and concluded around 6 or 7 p.m. on Labor Day. To see the tears he shed as he met his new fundraising goal, well yes, that was the end of summer.
Sometimes we had some ‘ falata’ Danish pastries and muffins that we sneaked out in a little bag covered with napkins for the ride home from Catskills or to enjoy as we watched Lewis’ tearful goodbye. Now you may ask what is a ‘falata’ danish or muffin. ‘Falata’ means ‘for later’ a term coined by one of the Catskills comedians about the pastries, muffins or little snacks people would smuggle out of the dining room to eat later, when they were driving home or when they arrived home and wanted that final taste of their vacation!
Since we were away over Labor Day and school would start a day or two after we returned, all our new school clothes had to be ready before we left on vacation. That meant the trip to Alexander’s on Fordham Road (the Yonkers one came much later) for shirts, pants and everything else we needed for the school year. Or until our next growth spurt. The key to Alexander’s was to follow the crowds to the big square tables with drawers with extra stock underneath and try to find the correct size.
At Alexander’s if you saw crowds around the big square tables you knew there was a bargain to be had. That’s why everyone was pushing, shoving and grabbing. Another place we would shop for back to school clothes was Robert Hall, located directly next to School 13 on McLean Avenue. People joke nowadays when they see a friend in an old suit or sports jacket and they know that person can afford a new one, ‘Is that jacket from Robert Hall?’ Robert Hall closed in 1977 so the garment would be at least 40 years old!
Shoes for kids in Yonkers? That meant a trip to Meyerson’s or Saed’s on South Broadway. Meyerson’s featured X-ray fitting and of course, The Stride Rite shoe. As their advertisement said, ‘Stride Rite Shoes were the Footsteps of Tomorrow. From Tots to teens Stride Rite shoes help young feet to grow straight, strong and normal. Only the best of lasts and craftsmanship, only the fullest range of sizes and widths are worthy of this task! ‘
Our friends who went to parochial school or private schools which required uniforms went to Walterman’s on South Broadway and Radford street. Walterman’s were camp experts too, and they would sew on labels so that you could always identify your clothes.
Can you believe there was a time when people didn’t shop for their back to school supplies (notebooks, pens, paper, etc.) at Staples or Office Depot or any of the big ‘supermarkets’ filled with school stuff and supplies. A time with no Dollar Stores chock full of pens, pencils and protractors? In fact, we never got our supply list prior to the first day of school unlike most kids today who get the list a month in advance!
We relied on good old Woolworths or P and L stationery, card and school supply store on South Broadway for all of our back to school needs. There was always 1 thing on the list these stores could not supply. That meant a trip to Getty Square with Grants, H.L. Greens and another Woolworths to find the mysterious item.
Hey let’s not forget the two Woolworths at Cross County, the place where kids on the East Side of town went or we went in case of emergency. I think my cousin Frank Mendelson’s Biber Brothers Office Furniture and Supplies in Getty Square had school supplies. That’s were I got my first big boy desk that would take me right into college!
I went to School 13 from Kindergarten to Third Grade and School 27 from Fourth to Sixth. The reason for my change in schools was redistricting, basically a shift in the school lines due to a population change. My parents did everything in their power to keep me at School 13 including talking to the Deputy Superintendent of Schools, a childhood friend of my father. It wasn’t like today when school changes are made at the drop of the bucket. If you were redistricted you were redistricted.
Mom and her best friend, Antoinette Costantini were very active in PTA at School 13. They both even won the Jenkins Award, one of the highest awards in PTA service. She would always be at school, and the Principal knew they could count on her whether it be running the mimeograph machine, basic office duties or running the Halloween UNICEF collection. Students that went to School 13 with my sister still remember my mom always being in the office helping out.
My parents were upset that I could not stay at School 13 until 6th grade as was I. Mom would help out when asked at School 27, but she wasn’t ‘the mom in the office’ like she was at School 13. School 27 was newer and nice, and one of the advantages when I went to Hawthorne Junior High School was that I knew students from both School 13 and School 27. I also had friends who I had gone to Nursery School at Temple Emanu-El at Hawthorne and I felt right at home.
There was no massive school busing like Yonkers has today. You either walked to school or if you were lucky and your mom drove she would take you and/or pick you up from school like mine did. Mom always had a car filled with kids, whether going to public school or religious school at Temple Emanu-El.
But then There was always the wonderful Nodine Hill Bus, Route 32 as it’s called today that went from Valentine Lane to Hawthorne Junior High to Getty Square to Yonkers High School to the old School 13 up Caryl Avenue to South Broadway dropping me across from Bohack supermarket. All I had to do was walk up the hill to 75 Bruce Avenue, the apartment that I grew up in.
The Nodine Hill Bus is as vibrant a route today as it was 50 years ago. Pretty much the same hilly route though I think they have taken out some of the twists and turns as the bus goes up Elm Street before hitting Yonkers Middle High School. When I had car problems for nostalgia sake that trusty bus would take me to my office at the Board of Education at Larkin Plaza or Mark my mechanic!
So, another generation of kids will head back to school shortly. Summer will soon be over. What did we look forward to as our first school year break? Whether you were Jewish or not the first break from school were the Jewish holidays. My how things never change!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on cthe Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
