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35 q’s currently When did your family move to The Bronx ? Why?  It was late 1960 or early 1961. We were forced to move from our E. 67th St. apt. because   the old tenement building was being torn down.  
What work did your parents do?  My father was a waiter at the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Ave. My mother did not work while my brother and I were young. 
What are your earliest memories of The Bronx ?  The hexagon tiles on the bathroom floor; no particular reason….Falling down the stoop stairs with my tricycle and my dad walking me up to Westchester Square Hospital for 5 stitches. What was the apartment like?   It was very roomy, but on the 5th floor with no elevator. We had a view toward Westchester Square and you could even see the radio tower near City Island .  
Was the building clean?  It was kept up pretty well, considering there was only 1 person who cleaned all the building floors. Carlos the janitor had a ground floor apartment on the back alley. I remember when I was about 12 or so, the courtyard concrete was painted a dark red. I could never figure out the reason for painting it. I don’t think it looked good at all. 
So you went to Catholic school starting at Kindergarten? My mom walked me to school every day. My parents never owned a car. The teacher was Mrs. Hughes I think. She had a son around my age in the school too. I don’t remember hardly anything else from that, except maybe getting those little milk cartons during lunch.   
Did it feel like a safe place at the time? hexagon tiles on  
Were there any minority families in the buildings?  There was a Puerto Rican family right next door to us for a while. There were no blacks.  A few other Puerto Rican families scattered about. When I moved out at 21, there was an Asian Indian family on our floor. 
So it was a mixture of nationalities?Mainly Irish, Italian, German, and Jewish. There was an Italian family on the 3rd floor of our building and they often cooked up some powerful-smelling stuff. 
What was the atmosphere like in the schools? How strict? hexagon tiles on  
What were your first memories of music as you were growing up?   Oldies like the Four Tops and Supremes. I remember hearing them on the radio when we went to Orchard Beach . 
The Bronx  in the 70s, was known for having a lot of gangs. Do you recall any or have any experiences of them? Were people getting killed? What were the police like?       Emergency phone box on corner 
Was it your impression that most of the families were two parent families when you moved in? What did most parents do for work?Blue collar definitely. The list included truck dispatcher, locksmith, machinist, cab driver. What about role models?hexagon tiles on What changes do you recall about technology?hexagon tiles on Did you experience peer pressure?hexagon tiles on  Need to succeed in school? Ambitions?hexagon tiles on  What about dating and sex?  My mom never encouraged me to date, or asked about girls in the neighborhood. I never went to a school dance or prom. My first girlfriend was a gal in 8th grade named Nanette. I was a high school sophomore. She lived across the street from the playground.   Would you say it was a good place to grow up? A safe place?Definitely. Many families stayed in the same apartment for years. We were there about 20 years.  Now what about entertainment? Did you mostly go places close to home or did you feel comfortable going around the Bronx or Manhattan ?hexagon tiles on And what about leisure activities, movies/bowling? Any within walking distance?hexagon tiles on What about summers? Going to the beach?hexagon tiles on What sports were the most popular? Touch football, baseball with a spaldeen, not too much stickball because of the hassle with cars. Basketball of course. In my late teens, I’d ride my brothers bike or drive my car to Bronx State Hospital ; they had 2 tennis courts there. I’d play with Frank Lisi, Ed Tulimero, and Mike Amaturo. What about fashion? Did kids feel the need for nice clothes?  It wasn’t like today. There weren’t many sneaker styles, so if you wore Converse or Pro-Keds you felt pretty happy. I wore plenty of hand-me-downs too. My friends really didn’t care what others wore. How did the Vietnam War affect your life. Were guys you grew up with worried about being drafted?  I remember the national TV news reports that so many hundred enemy soldiers were killed vs. like 12 of ours. It didn’t make sense that discrepancy. My brother was 3 years older and on the verge of being draft-eligible. But when he was 18 or 19 the peace talks began. We both wore POW/MIA bracelets—they were a big fashion thing.  What were your experiences with blacks?hexagon tiles on What were your experiences with pot, coke, heroin etc?hexagon tiles on What years are you talking about here? Did you see drugs as a major problem in the neighborhood? What about gambling?   Horses, football, numbers What do you think motivated people to move to or from the neighborhood?  What kind of changes were going on as far as development or deterioration? What were some of the things you could or couldn’t do? What impression would you most like to leave readers with when thinking about life in the Bronx?
When did your family move to The Bronx? Why?
What work did your parents do?
What are your earliest memories of The Bronx?
How old were you when your family moved to the Patterson Houses?
I was between 3 and 4 years old, and it was around 1961. My parents said our apartment building on e. 67th st (between 2nd and 3rd) was slated for demolition. My dad worked with another Frenchman who had moved to the Westchester Square section of the Bronx, so that is where we moved. Now instead of walking to work at his waiter's job at the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Ave., my dad had about a 40-minute commute. My mom was very sad to leave Manhattan.
So you went to elementary school in the mid 1950s and then junior high and high school in the early 60s. What was the atmosphere of the Patterson Houses like in the 50s and early60s? Did it feel like a safe place at the time?
Was the building clean?
Were there any minority families in the buildings?
So it was a mixture of nationalities?
What was the atmosphere like in the schools. How different were public and private schools? and the junior high?
What were your first memories of music as you were growing up?
The Bronx in the 70s, was known for having a lot of gangs. Do you recall any or have any experiences of them? Were people getting killed?
What were the police like?
Was it your impression that most of the families were two parent families when you moved in?
What did the parents do for work?
What about role models?
What changes do you recall about technology?
Did you experience peer pressure?
Need to succeed in school? Ambitions?
What about dating and sex?
Would you say it was a good place to grow up? A safe place?
Now what about entertainment? Did you mostly go places close to home or did you feel comfortable going around the Bronx or Manhattan?
And what about movie theaters? Were there movie theaters within walking distance?
What about summers? Going to the beach?
What sports were the most popular?
What about fashion? Did kids feel the need for nice clothes?
How did the Vietnam War affect your life. Were guys you grew up with worried about being drafted?
What were your experiences with blacks?
What were your experiences with pot, coke, heroin etc?
What years are you talking about here?
Did you see drugs as a major problem in the neighborhood?
What about gambling?
What do you think motivated people to move to or from the neighborhood?
What kind of changes were going on as far as development or deterioration?
What were some of the things you could or couldn’t do?
What impression would you most like to leave readers with when thinking about life in the Bronx?