Bonnie: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience.   I appreciate your candid response.  I have to say that although I share the sentiment of Ray and Johnny about our childhoods, I also acknowledge the drugs and dangerous teens that dominated the area in the late 70s.  My mother once said Howard Beach was like a rich Harlm; but we were much prettier. It sounds like you might share some of this sentiment.   hope you find peace and great success in college. 

By the way, I remember kids who were the first class is Beach Channel.  It was a really big deal when they first opened their doors.  I'd like to hear more of your experiences, both positive and negative if you have time to write.

Dee:

Thank you for the compliment! 

My profession requires a lot of writing and analysis.  The writings I do about things that I have an interest in, comes from my passions and/or interests.  In particular,  I have always been interested in exploring the topic of "growing up" in Howard Beach during the 1960's and 1970's and how things have changed since that time.  I believe that this story is representative of many stories in the US of how children today have such different chilhoods than the childhoods we had back then.  Howard Beach has such an interesting history withiin the context of the history of New York City........HB was once a summertime escape haven for the affluent of Manhattan.  Yet what makes HB so unique in the history of Queens and NYC is its geographic location within the Borough.  The fact that it has such "hard" boundary lines has helped to keep the community identity and physical definition.  At the same time, it has hindered the community and its residents from understanding and tolerating people who are "different" than those that traditionally have lived in HB.  This has lead to some of the unfortunate incidents that HB has experienced over the last few decades.

There are similar stories that exist in Queens, as well as some neigborhoods in Brooklyn.  Former residents of Whitestone, Douglaston, Ozone Park, Glendale, Maspeth, Richmond Hill, Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge, all have fond memories of their childhoods in their neighborhoods.  Some are different than HB given the more "cosmopolitan" nature of the communities, but they all share the same memories of local candy stores, bakeries, grocery stores, street games, childhood friends and elementary schools.  Perhaps they were simplier times, missing the complex decisions and competing interests that children face today.  Perhaps I am just nostaglic and am remembering things through "rose-colored" glasses.

Anyway, I am very interested in your collection of stories that you are pulling together and I would love to read them when you complete your project.

Ray