It recently occurred to me that I have not been to the Bronx in decades, and that my wife and daughters never have been there -- despite repeatedly asking me to someday visit my boyhood home. Well, right before New Year's, we went on a sort of pilgrimage to the Bronx, ranging from "the old neighborhood" (with a first stop at Harris Field, no less) to a journey down the Grand Concourse from top to bottom, stopping to take a picture of my mom's old church, St. Jerome's in the South Bronx.
The following is a photo essay of our trek. Enjoy! (Click on each picture for a larger image).
Halfway point of the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River. Welcome ta New Yawk!
The Henry Hudson Parkway exit -- a sign that I have not seen in my travels in many years. A strange sensation, indeed.
On the edge of the old 'hood, corner of Gun Hill Road and Mosholu Parkway across from DeWitt Clinton High School (unpictured), where my father attended in 1950s. But rather than making a left and heading up the hill, we make a right and drive directly to...
... you guessed it: the new and improved (and presumably no longer toxically tainted) Harris Field! (For more on the history of Harris Field, see my MoJero post "Harris Field: Behind the Name.")
That's me, Steve Peacock, on the end of the field (which now has tennis courts, too) across from the Bronx High School of Science, former home to the winners of six Nobel Prizes and seven Pulitzer Prizes.
At the Lehman College end of Harris Field. Did you know that former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins taught at Lehman for 35 years? (I'm an English teacher; things like that interest me.) If that doesn't interest you, perhaps you might find it more compelling that that the O'Jays (1972's "Backstabbers") played just the other day at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts.
That's me with my daughters Quinn and Julia, braving the bitter cold. This present-day photo was taken to the immediate left of where the photo "Steve Peacock, Catcher; Flyers or Jets (Minors) 1975 had been taken back in the day. (Remember that construction site with all the giant tunnel-sized pipes were stored? I used to have such a blast leaping around on them!) I also had wanted to have a picture of me taken at the very spot where the 1976 Astro's team photo had been taken -- you know, to provide an interesting"Now and Then" shot -- but it was so cold on this morning that I did not dare take my family across the wind-swept field. Oh well, we'll have to settle for old team photo that I included in the opening-day post "Welcome to the Grand Premier of the Mosholu Jerome Baseball Memories Site."
In the heart of the old neighborhood -- my former apartment building a 19 W. Mosholu Parkway N. at the corner of Knox Place. We used to live on the fourth floor (or should I say "fawth flaw"!)
I can still picture my Nana yelling out the window at people hanging out on The Rail in the park late at night, "Quiet down, ya' stupid bastids!"
Been a long time since I stood in front of 19 W. Mosholu. Even when I briefly moved back to the area in 1990 I never stepped foot on those steps. In fact, until recently, I had not touched those steps since July 1, 1976, when my parents moved us to Lakewood, New Jersey.
The 19 W. courtyard entrance. A dull picture, yes; unless, like me, you have not cast your eyes upon that spot in many decades.
Looking upward from the courtyard entrance at the windows of my old kitchen and living room on the fourth floor. Richie Doyle and his family lived directly above my apartment, while Steven Cohen lived across the courtyard on the same floor. it was on the other side of my living room window that the picture "Steve and Colleen Peacock, Day One of the 1973 Season" had been taken NEARLY FORTY YEARS AGO!
Oh my goodness, it was strange to write that.
Sitting on "The Rock," Tracey Towers in the background, in the park across from 19 W. Mosholu.
Sitting on "The Rock" with my daughters, Quinn and Julia.
Mosholu Parkway, from 21. W. on the bottom right (former home to my cousins the Woods family, as well as to the Shalley family and other memorable neighborhood families), up to the corner of Gates Place to the top left, where the Farbent and Duffy families used to live. Speaking of the Farbents, I recently heard from Michael Farbent (thanks to Michael O'Donahue) for the first time nearly four decades! What a treat!
3422 Knox Place, former home of my dear friend and former teammate Billy Rapelye.
St. Ann's School and Church, Bainbridge Avenue & Gun Hill Road.
St. Jerome's Church in the South Bronx, where my mom and her family attended back in the 1950's. My family settled in this area from Ireland in 1890s.
Although there are more photos from our trip (including a fascinating trip through Woodlawn Cemetery, the pix for whichI posted on my personal blog), this is the end of the line. I hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I did! Many thanks to my dear Jen, who took the majority of these pictures.
Speaking of "the end of the line":
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