More than 90 members of the Four Seasons Metedeconk Lakes Brooklyn Club in Jackson boarded two buses on the morning of Sept. 6 to visit their old stomping grounds in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The familiar streets and ethnic neighborhoods of Brooklyn, N.Y., brought back fond memories for the members of the Brooklyn Club who recently toured the borough. “The Brooklyn Club began as a whim,” said Paul Winkler, who founded the club with residents Jack McNicholas and Dave Mendelsohn.
At present, the club has more than 250 members.
“Whoever thought it would mushroom the way it did?” Winkler asked. “Who knew there were people with a similar interest as me? I always felt that Brooklyn was a state of mind.”
Winkler said he and his wife, Carol, have been living in New Jersey for more than 30 years, but when someone asked
Where are you from?” he would always reply “Brooklyn.”
“Part of the enjoyment of this trip is the actual ride through the streets of Brooklyn, once we get off the highway,” said Winkler, who acted as the tour guide for the group of active adults on one of the buses.
Brooklyn is a borough of 71 square miles with a population of about 2.5 million people, making it the most populous of New York City’s five boroughs, according to the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation’s Internet Web site.
According to the Web site, if Brooklyn was considered to be an independent city it would rank as the fourth largest city in the United States after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Winkler noted that the Williamsburg section of the borough is being restored and a lot of people are moving there. He said it is becoming the “in” area and a lot of single people are moving there.
“We’re going to go down Fort Hamilton Parkway to Caton Avenue and around Park Circle to Flatbush Avenue,” said Winkler, who used the public address system on the bus to make the announcements. “Over there we’ll make a left past the apartments on Sullivan Place where Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was,”
Passing the street where the “Brooklyn Bums,” as they were called, once played, one could not forget names such as Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella.
Prospect Park Plaza Arch Over at the Grand Army Plaza, Winkler pointed out the Brooklyn Public Library, the entrance to Prospect Park, the Soldiers and Sailors Arch (originally called the Prospect Park Plaza Arch which resembles the Arc de Triumph in Paris, France) and the Botanical Gardens on Eastern Parkway before reaching the first stop, the Brooklyn Museum.
The museum dates back to 1823 and was founded as the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library. Walt Whitman was one of the museum’s early librarians.
By 1890 the museum had evolved into the wide-ranging Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences with departments ranging from anthropology to zoology. In 1897 the museum opened its west wing and additional sections followed over subsequent decades.
The institute was the parent of the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum until the 1970s when each became a separate entity.
Paul Winkler The club members had several hours to explore the museum, including an extensive Egyptian exhibit, an African exhibit and an exhibit called the Global Feminism Remix. Other exhibits included Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art; Brushed With Light: American Landscape Watercolors; and The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago. The latter was a large room filled with a well-set table in the shape of a large triangle. On the table were dinner settings in a variety of colors and designs. Only one’s imagination could determine what the designs represented.
After leaving the museum, the two buses filled with Jackson residents headed south on Flatbush Ave toward the famous intersection of Church and Flatbush avenues.
Calling out the names of significant landmarks along the way, Winkler noted the Dutch Reformed Church, Garfields Restaurant, Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor, the Loews Kings and the Albemarle movie theaters, the RKO Kenmore and Erasmus Hall High School. Some sites were no longer in use or had been reconstructed for other business establishments.
“Barbra Streisand went to Erasmus Hall High School,” Winkler noted. “Look to your left. That’s one of the original Sears Roebuck stores down on Snyder Avenue.”
As the bus moved through Brooklyn, the club members pointed out their own significant landmarks.
“I lived down that street,” one person shouted.
Continuing down Flatbush Avenue, the buses came to the intersection of Flatbush and Nostrand avenues where the sightseers had a quick glimpse of Brooklyn College.
“I paid $24 a term to attend Brooklyn College,” one person reminisced. “That was it.”
There wasn’t even a charge per credit, another club member said.
Still others recalled their college days and buying books at Barrons or Barcus Bookstore on Hillel Place.
At the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Kinds Highway, some people recalled the Kingsway Jewish Center.
“We were married there,” said Steve and Debbie Caplan.
“There was a Waldbaum’s supermarket over there,” one person said, pointing to a specific location. “Now it’s a CVS.”
Turning right at Avenue U, club members were treated to a festival of international stores – Russian, Chinese, Tai, Vietnamese, Jewish, French and Greek, to name a few.
The buses continued into the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, passing the train station at East 16th Street, crossing Coney Island Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Ocean Parkway before stopping on 86th Street for a late lunch at L&B Spumoni Gardens, where club members had their choice of round or square pizza, heroes, seafood, pasta, salads and soups.
“They’re known for their Sicilian pizza, which has a very thin crust,” said Winkler. “It was even written up in The New York Times and it was mentioned on the Food Channel. It was built in 1939 and the same family owns it. It’s like a Brooklyn landmark. And don’t forget the Spumoni for dessert.”
With their stomachs full, the Garden Staters were off down 86th Street, under the elevated train tracks where John Travolta filmed scenes from “Saturday Night Fever,” and “The French Connection,” with Gene Hackman, was filmed in the vicinity of New Utrecht Avenue.
Then it was over the Verrazano Bridge for the ride back to the Brooklyn Club members’ new homes in Jackson.