Thursday, October 6, 2011

East 84th Street: The Edge of My Universe






As an adult and as a kid certain Yorkville blocks could instantly swing my mood one way or the other. A block that always made me feel good was 84th Street between York Avenue & East End Avenue. Since I was forbidden to cross a street alone until I was 6, 84th Street was my adventure block.


I lived on 83rd Street and 84th was as far as I could go away from my building without getting a kick in the ass for breaking the "cross the street rule."

84th Street was the edge of my universe.

The housing on 84th Street, unlike 83rd Street, included a row of townhouses and beautiful mature trees on each side that made a canopy of green over the street bed in spring and summer. The block was the yellow brick road that ended in a little hill that led directly into Carl Schurz Park. My park!

On 84th Street riding my bike I felt like Richie Rich cruising his estate. Pretty women in fine dresses walked up and down coming back from fancy East End Avenue. I was careful when I circled past them on my bicycle.

It wasn’t until my teens that I learned my family was this close to buying 511 East 84th Street. My Dad’s family was ready to do it in the early 1950s but my Uncle or Dad chickened out (never completely clear).

The now and then pictures here are 511 East 84th Street in 1942 and yesterday afternoon.

My grandmother, Ann Pryor Rode, is a giving a speech on the stoop and my father, Robert, 13, (on top right) is in the crowd taking in the Service Flag Dedication event in August 1942.

Strolling down 84th Street still makes me feel like a wealthy man.

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