July 29, 2005
    Myname is Wayne Plump. I lived at 83-26 Lefferts Blvd(just south of Metropolitan Aveand zoned for PS 90) from my birth in 1954 until I married and moved in 1978. Iwanted to thank you for keeping me connected to my roots and for adding a bitof unexpected joy to an otherwise routine day. I posted a �Where are they�message about a year and a half ago looking for old buddies from the building. Justlast week I was contacted by an old acquaintance of one I sought and based oninformation he had, was able to track down and talk with someone who I had losttouch with 30 years ago but with whom I share formative experiences of ouryouth. I now have found, Irwin Fiedler Apt 1E, Jimmy Callen, Apt 2E (I was 4E)and remain to find only Charles Lowe from my original post.
    Kew Gardens was not just aplace to be, it was, and from what I read here, still is, an environment inwhich to experience life and grow. Again, I Thank You for all of your effortsand for spawning this wonderful network of reconnected souls. Any news of othersfrom 83-26 would be welcome.
Wayne Plump
[To contact Wayne Plump, click here]


July 27, 2005
Editor's Note: Kevin Abel of Kew Gardens, who posted a message below on July 25th, is quoted in the Newsday article linked to here:
    Click here to read the story
The link will open in a new window. Close out the window to return here.


"Night- Out Against Crime"
July 27, 2005
    NOTICE FROM THE 102ND PRECINCT AND THE 102ND PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL: (INCIDENTALLY, WE LEARNED LAST WEEK THAT DEPUTY-INSPECTOR MICHAEL BLAKE AND LIEUTENANT MCDERMOTT HAVE BOTH BEEN TRANSFERRED OUT OF THE PRECINCT, BLAKE TO JAMAICA AND MCDERMOTT TO MANHATTAN)
    THE ANNUAL NATIONAL "Night-Out Against Crime" will be held NEXT TUESDAY EVENING, August 2nd, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm AT THE OVERLOOK, Park Lane South and Metropolitan Avenue/Union Turnppike, in Kew Gardens.
    The Precinct and Council invite all residents of Kew Gardens to join together for an enjoyable evening while Promoting Community Spirit, Increasing Awareness and Strengthening Police/Community Relations.
    On display, we are told, will be NYPD Mounted Police, the NYPD Canine Unit, NYPD Emergency Services, NYPD Motorcycle Units and Police Recruitment Officers. [Also, an opportunity to meet the Precinct's new Commanding Officer and his staff.]
    FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED --- ALONG WITH LIVE MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT!
    The Council urges everyone to light up your back yards and leave your porch lights on: "Let's take a Bite Out of Crime!"
    [I believe this is the first time this event is being held in Kew Gardens and I encourage a large turnout]
For Further Info: call the Precinct at 805-3200.
Murray Berger
[To contact Murray Berger, click here]


Poetry and Music at the Bliss
July 25, 2005
The next poetry and music evening will take place on Friday, August 5th at 7:30 P.M. at the Bliss. Several new entertainers will be there, and it should be a lot of fun.
Aaron Adler
[To contact Aaron Adler, click here]


July 25, 2005
Lived in Kew Gardens: Since 1970
Graduated P.S. 99: 1973
Kevin Abel



July 24, 2005
Editor's Note:  I have been elected to the Board of Directors of the Richmond Hill Historical Society.
http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/directors.html


July 23, 2005
the first email i sent hasn't got any answer i'm frensh my name is sabine soandjoglou and i use to go to ps 99 when i was 10 or11 year old . i went back to france after my father died and i would like to have news about my freinds . my wish is to come back to states in a few times with my husban and my son ,so they will be able to see my childhoold . please send me a message if you remember me or my sister sybil .
sabine soandjoglou
[To contact Sabine Soandjoglou, click here]


July 23, 2005
LOOKING FOR ANYONE WHO ATTENDED THE "QUEENS SCHOOL" IN THE LATE 60s EARLY 70s. my name is lisa rosen.
[To contact Lisa Rosen, click here]


July 19, 2005
    Kew Kiddy....my second home. I was born in Jackson Heights General Hospital in 1943. My mother a High School Teacher remained home for her maternity leave and then hired a Nanny and went back to work. I was sent at age 2 years 2 months to Kew Kiddy. As a child I always had difficulty with words and so at age 2 years 2 months I wasn't speaking very well. At Kew Kiddy there was Matilda (aka Miss Hilda) straight off the boat from 1945 Germany. I probably had a few more words in English than she had ...we were on a par. To this day I owe Matilda my ever so slight German accent.
    I have only little kid memories of Kew Kiddy. There was a huge tree at the end of the play ground. I felt very lonely and would go to this tree and examine it. I'm sure it was a Dutch elm ... the bark was the same as the one in front of my house on Cuthbert. It was very big and sheltered me. We had to nap each day on mats on the floor. My aunt Miriam Berg who taught grade school in Forest Hills embroidered my name on a streamer blanket for Kew Kiddy it was in script and stayed with me until there was nothing left of it. The blanket was wool and itched painfully. I remember nothing of the activities. The next year my sister took the Kew Kiddy bus to PS 99. She was 2 years older. I remember her leaving on the bus and feeling jealous that she could do that.
    After when I was going to PS 99, I use to love driving by Kew Kiddy and seeing the big tree. Over my 3 years at Kew Kiddy it had become a very wonderful friend.
Marianne Lods
[To contact Marianne Lods, click here]


Rest in Peace
July 17, 2005
Editor's Note:  Andrew Weyell, 79, passed away this past Saturday morning after a long illness. Although he did not live or work in Kew Gardens, he nevertheless rates a very honorable mention here. During the night of November 22 - 23, 1950, he was a 24 year old member of the Emergency Services Unit who spent 18 plus hours retrieving the dead and injured from inside the wreckage of the Long Island Rail Road cars that collided near 125th Street. [Click here.] For that, he will always be considered family. Having won a Bronze Star in combat, he is eligible for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Our thoughts go out to him and to all of the other emergency personnel no longer with us who performed so valiantly that night.


July 17, 2005
    I enjoyed greatly reading your wonderful web-site and appreciate your Herculean efforts to make a comprehensive history of Kew Gardens. Bravo!
    I lived in Kew Gardens from 1943 to 1965 in the Richmond House (118-14 83rd Avenue) ( my mother lived there until 1988); Unfortunately I couldn't find this apartment house in your historical survey. I attended PS 99 from September 1947 until June 1954. Although I had looked forward to sewing my white graduation dress for the eighth grade graduation, my seventh grade class was probably the last to attend PS 99 because the following year JHS 190 opened in Forest Hills and the eighth grade was sent there.
    I remember that Henrietta A. Oliver was the principal of PS 99 during my years there. She was big supporter of the music program. We learned the tonette (song flute in the fourth grade)and the recorder in the fifth grade. There was also a little school orchestra of miscellaneous instruments that students who studied privately played in conducted by Alice C. Smith. Mrs. Oliver also obtained subscriptions for the "Music Kids" to attend the NY Philharmonic Young Peoples Concerts on Saturday Mornings at Carnegie Hall.
    My official class teachers were: First and Second Grade: Mrs. Leider; Third Grade; Ms. Parrish: Fourth Grade: Mrs. Fuller: Fifth Grade: Ms. Mahon: Sixth Grade: Mr. Ellenport (the only male teacher on the faculty); Seventh Grade; Alice C. Smith (who also taught social studies, science, music, and sewing. She also began each day with an exciting reading from the Old Testament). ( My math teacher was Ms. Goldberg).
    I was told about your web site by Nina Simon, a fellow musician and PS 99 alumnus who was a graduate student at Lehman College/ CUNY where I am Professor of Music. I made my concert debut as a pianist in the basement of PS 99 while I was in Class 2-1 and remember a traumatic experience performing Beethoven's Sonatina opus 49 for the Third Grade Assembly the following year. In 1998, I presented a chamber music concert at PS 99 sponsored by the Kew Gardens Association for Recreation and the Arts. The New York Times wrote in a preview column "Pianist Returns to Site of Third Grade Debut". I presented the opening concert at the new Kew Gardens Community Center in 1997 and have performed there from time to time afterwards. I can remember many amusing anecdotes from my years at PS 99 and living in Kew Gardens. When I retire from teaching it would be nice to write them all down.
Very sincerely,
Diana Mittler-Battipaglia
[To contact Diana Mittler-Battipaglia, click here]


July 15, 2005
Click on thumbnail to view photograph.
Your pictures of Hampton Court were great. When I lived there in Kent Manor it was not nearly so beautiful. the only picture I have was this one taken from my first floor apartment in C Building around 1950.
Anne Parnas Skandera
[To contact Anne Parnas Skandera, click here]


July 12, 2005
Responding to Steve Feigelis. Did you live in Kent Manor, Bld B on the 4th floor? I'm Nina Simon and we lived on the 2nd floor and were good friends of the Weinmans. My contact is .


July 9, 2005
Click on thumbnail to view photograph.
This is a photo of my great grandmother Frieda Magee. It was taken in the late 1950's in her home on 118th Street in Richmond Hill. It was a single family home. She was married to a Harry J Magee who is my father's grandfather. I know very little about Frieda. I hope that someone might recognize her and perhaps help me fill in some genealogy back round. She died in 1966 on Christmas Eve.
    They had several children. One of her sons owned Magee Fuel Oil in Bay Shore LI. This house had the original gas lamps in the ceiling with the plaster medallions and also had the original tin ceilings. It was so Victorian inside. It had a 1920's Caloric gas range.
    The electric service was installed outside its plaster walls as was the heating system. I haven't been in that house since the 1960's. I do remember it. I loved that house but it also scared me.
    Harry is from Aquebogue LI. His father James M Magee was a postmaster in Riverhead. I am doing research on them for family historical purposes. James' grandfather settled in the riverhead/ Southampton area in 1838.
    My father reminded me of the street that his grandparents lived on. It was 131st Street, not 118th Street. I just wanted to correct that. They had a single family, that looked like the houses in the opening credits to "All in the Family".
    I thought I would share this.
Liz
[To contact Liz, click here]


July 9, 2005
Editor's Note: Thanks to 14 year old twins, Alexandra and Rebecca Chipkin, of Kew Gardens, NY for a black and white illustration of Kitty Genovese. Click here to view the page.


July 7, 2005
lived at 103 Mowbray Place (82nd Dr) across from P.S. 99 from 1947 to 1958
Graduated P.S. 99 in 1954 which I believe was the last 8th grade class
Paul Onish found the site
Would enjoy emailing old classmates!
Ken Onish



Leona Pick Dress Shop
July 7, 2005
Click on thumbnail to view photographs.
Hi Old Kew Gardenites,
I am responding to the wonderful photograph posted under FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHS. For those of you that remember my Mom who owned Leona Pick Dresses, this picture really touched her. She is now 91 years old and in decent shape. My father, Robert, who worked with her in the store after he retired, died in 1983. As always, I enjoy this site very much as do my sister, Kitty deChiara, and brother, Leonard Pick.
Be well and thank you Joe.
Renee Pick Resnick
[To contact Renee Pick Resnick, click here]


July 6, 2005
    I lived at 103 Mowbray Place, next door to Malcolm Mallory, Rev. Richard P. Mallory's youngest son. They were Dicky, Bruce and Malcolm.
    My friends and neighbors were Malcolm, Michael Racoze?, Roger Sabot, Richard Konigsberg, Joyce Bocar, Patty Kohn, Stephanie Landsman, Roger Moss, Mina Chester, Romy Schneider, Corky Carp, Simon _____, Martin, _____, not Martin Martell, Roy "Coolshar", Marjory Gibson, ... I just ran out of names.
    I'll send in some photo's after I locate them and scan them into the system.
    I'll take ALL calls from connections in the WORLD.
Paul
Paul M. Onish
East Brunswick, NJ
732.613.1515 Office
732.613.1226 Fax
732.241.0800 Cell
[To contact Paul M. Onish by email, click here]


More on Kitty Genovese
July 5, 2005
[Editor's Note:  This message has been moved to the Kitty Genovese Message Board.]


July 2, 2005
hi, my name is mike,iattended p.s. 99q. from 1960-1966. lived in kew gardens from 1954,still hang out there,on ocassion. my mom and dad still live on austin street. today is the first day that i discovered this web page.please email me for more details!
mike bianco
[To contact Mike Bianco, click here]


July 1, 2005
    Editor's Note: As of February 1st, Old Kew Gardens [.com] got with Gmail, which is the Google web based email service. You've probably heard that Gmail offers two gigabytes [2,000 MB] of free storage. It's free, but available by invitation only. Invitations are so sought after that they are being offered for sale on eBay. I have invitations I can distribute to friends. I'm not selling them, I'm giving them away. They are available on a first come first serve basis. Just send me an email telling me you'd like one.
    Update: Unless I know you, your request must come from a bona fide working ISP email address. To prevent abuse, email requests coming from free web based email services like Yahoo or Hotmail will not be honored.
    Update: I will remove this post when I run out of invitations. If you're reading this, then there are still invitations left to give out.


July 1, 2005
[Ed.'s Note: The reason each guest book posting does not appear here immediately is that I review each message individually before posting to eliminate spam or unwanted adult content. Email me if you want to make a correction to a message you have already posted or if you would like a message removed.]




How to contact Guestbook signers

Some Guestbook signers choose not to publish their email addresses. If you wish to contact one of them, send me an email identifying the guestbook signer you wish to contact and giving me the date his or her message was posted. Your email to me must contain your full name, and may also include anything else you wish to tell the signer. I will forward your email to the Guestbook signer you wish to contact, but with no cc or bcc to you. It will be the signer's decision whether or not to make contact with you. Any emails which contain spam, adult content, or appear suspect for any other reason will not be forwarded. ~The Editor.