Carroll Gardens native the old neighborhood with a funny new book.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Duh !

Interesting a memoir to the Brooklyn when it was more savage and even more racially balkanize. But all those people that made Brooklyn what it was is either dead, moved to the burbs, or have been marginalized.
But I am curious what set off the transformation. What brought in the Hipster invasion or the invasion of America or people from the around theworld.

I think you mean sits on his old stoop as the article refers to him pulling up stakes and heading for Long Island....

I'm happy that he wrote a book - but he really shouldn't be called a Carroll Gardens Native.
I've read his bio: He & his family moved into Carroll Gardens when he was 8-9 years old and he & his family moved away within the next 10 years.
While his memories may be good & his stories fun, please lets not try to pass him off as a C.G. native.
My family (and the families of many of my firends) have been in Carroll Gardens since is was still considered Red Hook and even earlier.
If you go to St. Agnes Church you'll see names on the wall of people who helped to build the church (both times) Those are my relatives and my friends relatives: 6 generations deep.
Good luck to the author on his book - but please lets not say he's a native or the be-all end-all expert on C.G.

TO "Native? from Carroll Gardens"

I was waiting for such comment from a "purist", a true native... wtf? So only you guys can talk about OUR nabe?
Did you read the book? I understand that you are suspicious of "expert", I do agree with you on that one, but please stop that "6 generations deep" ——. You want a cookie for that?

I was born and raised in Carroll Gardens. I don't refer to it as South Brooklyn like most of the kids I grew up with that are adults now still do. I'm glad he wrote the book. So what if his family moved. At least it's a part of his life he is sharing with the world. My family has been living on Henry btwn Sackett and Degraw for almost 93 years and most of my family moved to Li, Westchester and Florida. But I don't go tooting my horn because I pay rent control rent. Big deal, move on, your life is almost over anyway. I plan on moving myself, stop hanging on to dreams and moments that you know yourself won't be coming back to neighborhood.

such jealous freaks on here! Get a life!

I AGREE W/ ROSE!!!
@ MANHATPOSEUR, OF COURSE SOME OF THE PEOPLE ARE DEAD/MOVED ON ETC....THATS LIFE!! WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO W/ ANYTHING.
AND FOR THE REST OF THE JEALOUS BASTARDS.....GROW UP!!
WISHING MY "NATIVE" FRIEND ALL THE BEST W/ THE BOOK.....ITS FUNNY, BRINGS YOU BACK WHEN THE "NEIGHBORHOOD" WAS A REAL NEIGHBORHOOD!!!
THANKS JOHN......XO

I was born here in Carroll Gardens, in 1966. Grew up on President (between Court and Clinton), and spent most of my childhood on Henry (between Union and President). Until adulthood I had at least a dozen relatives living within a three-block radius.

I went to P.S. 58 from Pre-K (which I think was called "head start" back then) through the 6th Grade, then went to St. Mary's on Court Street for the 7th and 8th grades. I commuted to Bishop Ford for high school and attended a local college, commuting from home every day.

I've never left the neighborhood. My first apartment, after moving out of my parents', was on Third Place, and I've lived on Sackett Street for over 15 years now.

The author and I are the same age, give or take a year, although I don't remember him from my childhood. I've read his book from cover to cover. And while I appreciate its intent, I found it lacking in many ways, both in structure and style. A better editor could have tightened things up a bit, and given the narrative a better flow. That's a subjective opinion, I suppose.

But what I found somewhat troubling is how off-base his vision of the neighborhood often seems. Either his recollections are wrong, or he's writing for effect. From minor things like how everyone had nicknames (that was something true of the older generation; mostly men my grandfather's age - certainly not of the majority of teens), to erroneous facts like how milk was delivered daily by a literal milkman, in glass bottles. Again, I was here from birth, and I can tell you that by 1971, that just wasn't happening here. We bought our milk at Johnny's Grocery on the corner of Henry and President - or at G&G, where Met is currently located. There are many little "errors" like this throughout the book. One or two are fine, but cumulatively, they diminished my enjoyment of the book.

On a grander scale, it doesn't matter. The stories are colorful (if occasionally vulgar - I'd anticipated giving the book to an older female cousin, but a surprising amount of the content made that impossible), amusing but not hilarious. But while I'm all in support of apocrypha, having been here and lived my life in Carroll Gardens, quite frankly, the book feels like it was written by an outsider for an outsider. Entertaining, to a degree, but nearly all of it should be taken with a grain of salt.

I grewup on henry st and president, I don't know the author and have not read the book, but the author's name does not sound Italian, so to a non Italian it would have been a scary place.
the area henry from baltic st upto jhs 142 was all italian
I knew just about everyone but the author I don't know I and my friends never felt it to be scary. who did this guy hang with degraw would be nunsio richie and anthony fm cheever pl. I mostly stayed on president st down at sam's
on the hicks st corner. I left in the 70s primarily because the only thing to see was how the drugs were destroying everyone. I have not been back since 1981 I live in the philippines now although I am 59 I retired in 1992 The one guy is right the milk trucks did stop around 1970 midnite milk and camarary's hot bread from the cellar.
all way's preferred them to mazzola's. glad to here someone talking about the old neighborhood. should anyone like to talk my ds129@msn.com good luck with the book...

Wonderful. He wrote a guide for the me monkey transplants.
That's all we need is the tattooed Latte foam artisans actually playacting about how to "act brooklyn"

Let me cue you in. Egg creams, pizza and bread were not artisanal. we didn't have the douche bag on the corner of Sackett and Henry St dole out BS about hwo he couldn't find a good eggcream in NYC until he arrived from Willow Dick, OH.

Good God - the solid world reknown and respected Brooklyn accent has now turned into the the nasally whiny "YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH".

In my day, we didn't shout have crap stolen in the subways. The only time we ever bothered the cops was during a black out or an all out riot.

Pizza was 15 cents, then a quarter. Your high school bus pass got you anywhere in NYC for a nickel. But by the late 70s the bums, muggers and psychos would follow you off the train and try and get you on a dark street. Heroin killed (just like now, shocking), and times were bad, just like now. The world moved on, and yeah, we moved away, because you just had to get out. So, now we come back and visit our families and friends and reminisce, until they are gone too. Just remember: there were other great people and cultures here before you, and there will be many others aftwerwards as well. Just don't forget.

To D
I am glad that this neighberhood is being gentrified. So poop poo to your people.

To the ignorant,

I am a native of Carroll Gardens, I'm ITALIAN and I was born and raised there. Franko-you must have a terrible memory.......
1-we DID have milk delivered in glass bottles
2-you and I are exactly the same age
3-do you remember having cases of soda delivered in glass bottles? PROBABLY NOT.
4-Head start? ps58? I went there honey, I don't think so! pre-k? really? WRONG!
5-I'm also very educated, but it seems you have something to prove with your writings above. Must've been the "head start" program at 58's that made you such a smart boy.
6-AND FINALLY - YOU SEEM LIKE A FRUSTRATED AUTHOR, ALTHOUGH, GRAMMATICALLY, YOU'VE MADE QUITE A FEW ERRORS IN YOUR FOOLISH STATEMENTS ABOVE.

No offense Frank, I grew up there at the very same time. Your memory is shot sweetheart. What is it that you do for a living? Just curious.

Ciao!

Alan from Carroll Gardens says:
In April of 1984 we retired to Carroll Gardens from Northport, L.I. Our friends considered us delusional, as did our new neighbors in Carroll Gardens who told us that their dream was to move to Staten Island or New Jersey. My wife had grown up on Columbia St., and she had no idea that it had morphed from South Brooklyn/Red Hook into Carroll Gardens - a bit of cachet concocted by realtors. Then she found the library she had used as a girl, as well as her elementary school a few blocks away. Our original plans to retire to Greenwich Village evaporated like spit on a hot July pavement when we learned of real estate prices there, and we wound up in wonderful Carroll Gardens.
Our retired former colleagues and friends in Florida tell us about manicured golf courses and lighted tennis courts, early bird dinners, sunshine and swimming pools. When we rhapsodize about BAM, the Promenade,
the Botanic Gardens, the pizza, the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge - and all the enchanting diversity we encounter daily - they shake their heads in wonder. They still consider us deranged for having adopted Brooklyn as our final resting place.
I have written a followup in 2004 detailing all the changes we have seen over a 20 year period.

ROSE, ONCE AGAIN, WELL SAID!!! YOUR RIGHT, WHAT THE HECK IS FRANKO TALKING ABOUT?? FRANKO, DID YOU GET OUT MUCH??
@ MANHATPOSEUR.......THATS A MATURE STATEMENT....HAHAHAHA

I was born in 1940 at St Peters Hospital, and it was all called Redhook, from Erie Basin to Atlantic Avenue. I lived on Cheever place and delivered the Brooklyn Eagle, and later meat from the butcher on the corner. They used to deliver milk to houses, but that ended considerably before 1971. What I remember most was all of the great places to get fresh foods such as panelles, pastries, fresh killied chickens, pushcarts on Union Street between Hicks and Columbia. We had four bread bakeries, five pastry shops, fresh fish market, pork stores, Foccacheria's (it means ovens in Italian). We used to hang out on the corner of Kane and Henry and sing doowops. We loved to dance the Lindy and salsa. That was my neighborhood. Later we had social clubs.

Hello, Rose -

Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful response to my post. Your jovial list of facts and corrections absolutely put me in my place. I'm giving up chocolate and cartoons for a week, just to punish myself for speaking so far out of turn. Before I do, however, I think a quick rebuttal is required...

1 - In my post, I didn't say that milk didn't exist in glass bottles, just that the practice of delivering said milk to neighborhood homes predated my childhood. Unless through some insane coincidence, every person I knew as a kid didn't receive the service and every person *you* knew did. We're talking about dozens of families, but it's certainly possible. Again, to clarify: I didn't mean that milk wasn't *available in stores* in glass bottles - it was. I meant that the milk wasn't home-delivered. See the difference? (Probably not, but I had to try. Sigh...)

2 - We're the same age. Duly noted. Perhaps we knew each other as children, although even as a boy, I was a good judge of character, so probably not. By the way, Rose, I'm also Italian (no need to capitalize it, dear, we can all "hear" you), so whatever empowerment you thought that loud fact might give your post was a bit of a failure. My people are your people, so please do chill out. 'Kay, sweetums?

3 - Of course, I remember soda being available in glass bottles. Do you really think your condescending tone makes you look good?

4- Head-start/pre-K at P.S. 58. Yes, Rose. This was a thing that actually happened. My kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Yasso, and although I don't remember my pre-K teacher's name, I, without a shadow of a doubt, recall attending pre-K. It was a half-day set-up, and we entered the building on the First Place side of the school. If you have any doubt, the next time you're in the building, go to the main office and ask someone. You're still attending right?

5 - I'm glad you're "very educated" (although apparently not educated enough to know that saying "I'm also very educated" isn't quite grammatically correct, but typos happen, so we're good; next time try "well-educated" or just go for broke with "I got some schoolin' on me."). And I have nothing to prove, pumpkin. I paid for the book, I read it, and I had an opinion. What's your excuse for being so rude? (In case you're wondering, my excuse is you. Don't dish out what you can't take, cupcake.)

6 - I'm not a frustrated author at all, Rose. In fact, I've been working in publishing since 1989, as both a writer and an editor (primarily the latter; the word "latter," Rose, is indicative of the second of those two jobs, it doesn't mean the thing you climb to get on the roof, that would be a "ladder."). I'm well-respected, and pretty good at what I do. People seek me out and pay me good money for my skills, more than enough to pay the crazy rent in this neighborhood. However, if you'd like to point out my grammatical errors, please feel free to do so. I'm always willing to learn from someone who is "very educated," even at this point in my career. Enlighten me, buttercup, I beg of you. (And for the record, I freely admit that I use sentence fragments when posting on message boards, although it occasionally brings out the riff-raff and the wackadoos. Don't take that personally, Rose. You're not riff-raff or a wackadoo. You, Rose, are something else.)

In closing, Rose, sweetheart, honey pie, light of my life, you're more than welcome to disagree with anything I've posted. Such is life. Our memories may certainly differ, as may our personal experiences, but when you get judgmental and start typing in capital letters like you've fallen asleep on your keyboard, well, Rose...no offense, but your own ignorance shines through like the Bat-signal on the Gotham City skyline.

Thanks for the laugh, pooh bear, you're a peach.

Ciao, indeed!
-Franko

FRANKO,
ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT YOUR RESPONSE IS RIDICULOUS & BORING!!
DID YOU REALLY FEEL THE NEED TO POST ALLLLLL OF THAT? (I SKIMMED THRU IT)
AND YOU DO SOUND VERY FRUSTRATED....

PS...IN DEFENSE OF ROSE, SHE SAID BOTH "DELIVERED & GLASS BOTTLES)

Thanks for the analysis, D. You're a terrific skimmer!