Oh boy! where do I begin, let me start by saying that i was raised without a father, but no matter how bad things would get for my Mom she would not let it affect us in any way, my Mom would do anything so that it would not affect her children.
Well before I left rather abruptly to Puerto Rico I was living in what I would proudly call the "Ghetto" at 386 south second street, the year was 1975, I remember running the 
streets of
Brooklyn with all my friends,
throwing snowballs at each other in the winter time
and battling the summer heat bathing against the
strong pressure of the water of the fire hydrant on the corner
of second street. I attended Public School P.S.19 located in
the same neighborhood of the south side of
Brooklyn.
I come from a large family of six brothers and one sister and if any of you out
there have a similar family you know the toughest one is always the female, our sister, my brothers were all too busy having fun with their friends joining a local gang called the "bikers", that was the thing back then, to protect your neighborhood from other gangs "taking over". It was not the type of gang you saw on tv brawling and killing, they often helped the residents and protected our property, however if another gang tried to "invade", it would often escalate to extreme violence. Me, I was too young to join, besides I was too busy having fun riding my big wheel and eating candy at the store next to my building, I remember 
hanging out on the roofs of the buildings making club houses with my friends and bird coups to keep as pets. My brother David and I used to climb the fire escapes to get to the apartments of our girlfriends, that their mom wouldn't let us see, but you know kids, if theres a way around something we would find it.
I can still smell the ocean of Coney Island on those hot summer days, how we used to take the F train to Coney Island and spend the whole day and sometimes nights at the beach, ride the
Cyclone (roller coaster) and be frighted in
the house of horrer, we would go home packed with
stuffed animals and prizes from all the games we had played. I recently went to
Coney Island to see if I could revive that great
feeling 
I had as a child so many years ago, but to my amazement Coney Island was very much different, most of the rides have closed, there were no more side shows, and the wax museum was closed. although there was still a family atmosphere and new rides have replaced the old ones, I guess thats
what they call progress.
I was very close to
my sister and every where she went I was sure to
follow, sometimes she wanted to go out alone but I
made sure that did not happen, I would cry and my mom would make her take me along, Oh but rest assure she
would make me regret it sometimes when we were alone, it was bad then but now every time I 
remind her about those times we laugh so much. I recently went back to see the old "hood" but was very saddened to see that the 386 south second building was torn down some years ago and all that remained was the little store I bought my candy as a child now closed down and put up for sale, gazing at the only remaining thing that still stood in place, the fire hydrant, that brings back precious memories of a childhood gone, Its amazing sometimes how vivid some of my memories are, thank God I still have them and I will treasure them for the rest of my life.
Oh boy! where do I begin, let me start by saying that i was raised without a father, but no matter how bad things would get for my Mom she would not let it affect us in any way, my Mom would do anything so that it would not affect her children.
streets of
hanging out on the roofs of the buildings making club houses with my friends and bird coups to keep as pets. My brother David and I used to climb the fire escapes to get to the apartments of our girlfriends, that their mom wouldn't let us see, but you know kids, if theres a way around something we would find it.
I had as a child so many years ago, but to my amazement Coney Island was very much different, most of the rides have closed, there were no more side shows, and the wax museum was closed. although there was still a family atmosphere and 
remind her about those times we laugh so much. I recently went back to see the old "hood" but was very saddened to see that the 386 south second building was torn down some years ago and all that remained was the little store I bought my candy as a child now closed down and put up for sale, gazing at the only remaining thing that still stood in place, the fire hydrant, that brings back precious memories of a childhood gone, Its amazing sometimes how vivid some of my memories are, thank God I still have them and I will treasure them for the rest of my life.
