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Park Slope

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Pete Hamill’s Brooklyn Revisited

New York magazine’s 40th Anniversary issue has an article by Pete Hamill, who grew up in Park Slope.

And here’s an article he wrote about Brooklyn for the same magazine in 1969.

Coincidently, our Park Slope Neighborhood and Architectural History Guide launches this Thursday.

The guide includes two Walking Tours of Park Slope and accompanying audio tracks which can be downloaded from our website or through the Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast on iTunes.

Here’s one track from the audio tour where Pete Hamill’s brothers John and Denis Hamill talk about the street gangs in Park Slope in the 1950s and 60s:

John and Denis Hamill on Park Slope

(warning: contains strong language)

Floyd DeSilva

Floyd DeSilva, owner of DeSilva South Brooklyn Liquors on 5th Avenue in Park Slope, passed away on August 7, 2008.  Corie Trancho-Robie interviewed Mr. DeSilva in July for the Park Slope neighborhood guide we are working on, and clips from this interview will be made part of the audio tour (due out in October).  I learned of Mr. DeSilva’s passing when I called the store to get his approval for the clip we’d like to use.  I’m so glad we were able to record Mr. DeSilva’s memories of the neighborhood.

Born in Trinidad, Mr. DeSilva came to New York as a teenager.  He saved up the money to buy his store by working at a hospital during the day and driving a cab at night, and he kept his cash safe in a mattress!  Mr. DeSilva laughs a lot as he describes his first few months as a business owner.  He chose not to sell lottery tickets at his store, even though it’s lucrative, because he didn’t want to encourage people to spend their money unwisely.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

DeSilva South Brooklyn Liquors, photo by google maps

DeSilva South Brooklyn Liquors, photo by google maps

Park Slope Food Coop

Seventeen seconds of sound from the Park Slope Food Coop, recorded today around 11:30am.

Click here to listen:

Park Slope Food Coop Today

Lesbian Herstory Archives

Today took me to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Park Slope to interview one of their volunteer staff  for our forthcoming Park Slope Neighborhood Guide‘s audio component.  They have over 2,000 tapes of oral history in their collection that they are slowly digitizing.  It’s a warm, welcoming, and inspiring place.

photo courtesy of the Lesbian Herstory Archives