Growing up as a Jew in Brooklyn involved unique experiences. It could have been playing stickball in the one of the borough’s many parks, enjoying the beaches of Coney Island in the summer, playing street games after school, taking in a Brooklyn Dodgers game or weekend matinees. Whatever it was, we would love to hear about your Brooklyn Jewish experiences. Click here to share Your Story with us!
Sarina Roffe, interviewed May 30, 2012, Brooklyn Borough Hall: My most favorite memories from growing up as a Jew in Brooklyn are playing street ball and street games with the Italian neighbors that I had growing up in Bensonhurst. I used to live on 69th Street between 21st Avenue and Bay Parkway, and all of the kids, and all my cousins would go to the Marboro Theater, and we would go for matinees… Read More »Growing Up In Bensonhurst
BY DAVID HINCKLEY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2013, 4:39 PM
Larry David spoke at the ‘Clear History’ panel discussion during the HBO portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Now we know exactly where Larry David’s humor comes from. Not just the borough or the neighborhood or the street, but the exact apartment.
David was on a panel for TV writers here to discuss his HBO movie “Clear History,” which premieres Aug. 10.
He did this film instead of starting another season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” he said, though “Clear History” has David playing a character with pretty much all the same exasperations and neuroses.
Partway through the panel, a writer asked, “Where is the influence of Jewish humor in your sensibility? Where does that come from?”
Larry David is barely recognizable in “Clear History.”
By Adam Cohen My family grew up in Brooklyn including my parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and both sets of grandparents. I was dubbed a first generation New Jerseyan by many of my family members. As you could imagine, we spent a lot of time in Brooklyn. My parents would take my sister and I into Brooklyn on a whim and show us where they grew up, met, and dated. They… Read More »Memories of Sheepshead Bay
On the seventeenth floor in Luna Park,
Neighbors would gather just after dark.
Many beliefs and nationalities,
We shared our delicious specialties.
Everyone talked, had fun and cared,
A little part of our lives were shared.
Read More »Tuesday Nights In Summer
Submitted by Roberta Ann Afflitto
At a time when I was experiencing loss and sadness, I moved to Coney Island. It took me a while to make friends, but when I did – every day became an adventure. We would walk down Surf Avenue, moving to the uplifting sound of the carousel. We’d ride it and attempt to catch the golden ring to earn another ride. The aromas of grilling hot dogs and French fries made us quicken our steps to reach Nathan’s. The crunch of that first bite gave our tastebuds a salty, yummy treat. Then on to play games such as skeetball.
by Joe Dorinson I grew up in the Williamsburg Housing Projects and lived there from 1939 to 1960. To qualify for residence in this FDR crafted New Deal experiment in public housing, you had to be poor. That didn’t bother my lifelong friends, Irving, Ivan, Mike, Vinny, Bernie, Richie, Leslie, Barbara, Howie and me because we were all poor. Fineshmecker snobbery did not appeal and we thought everyone was in the… Read More »Growing up in the Williamsburg Housing Projects
by Bernard Braginsky, 80 I lived in Brownsville from my birth in 1934 to age 18 in 1953, when my family moved to the tree shaded streets of East Flatbush. Now, at age 80, I think of Brownsville and the people I loved there. My family lived in a railroad apartment in a four story tenement at 175 Osborn Street. Our house was torn down about 1960 to make room for… Read More »Schmatehs and Cinemas in Brownsville
Sarina Roffe, interviewed May 30, 2012, Brooklyn Borough Hall: My favorite memories from growing up in Bensonhurst are playing street ball and street games with our Italian neighbors. I lived on 69th Street between 21st Avenue and Bay Parkway, and all of the kids, and all my cousins would go to the Marboro Theater, and we would go for matinees and my mother would give us fifty cents for the… Read More »Growing up in Bensonhurst
Some of the Better Known Jews from Brooklyn[nggallery id=4]