Yonkers

Y is yet another letter with which I struggled to find a topic.  I was completely out of ideas.  I thought about maybe driving to Yarmouthport and shooting some pics but didn't feel like going that far, what with gas prices and all. Frustrated, I finally said to my squeeze, "I'm out of ideas.  If you can think of a topic for Y, have at it."  Without missing a beat, he goes, "Yonkers?"  Just like with the letter N, it was a major league "DUH!!!" moment!!!!  How could I have not thought of the place my family settled when they came from Italy?  A place I've been to hundreds of times?

My great grandfather, Giovanni Marganella, came to Yonkers from Corvara, Italy, and worked hard to afford the cost to bring his wife Filomena and their two small daughters, Ersilia, and my grandmother, Maria, to the USA in 1911 (Filomena's parents, sister and brothers settled in Connecticut).  Yonkers is very hilly and has a few that rival San Francisco's hills, especially in the neighbourhood in which my grandmother lived, Nodine Hill.  In 1645, a land grant was given to Adriaen van der Donck, who was known locally as a 'Jonkheer', which is Dutch for 'gentleman'.  Yonkers is derived from 'Jonkheer'.

It's only about a 20 minute train ride to Grand Central Station in NYC, so it's an attractive place to live for commuters.  Parts of the city are beautiful.  My mom grew up there and all of it was nice in those days, but unfortunately the area where my grandmother and some aunts & uncles lived has deteriorated.  I only have one aunt and uncle left in Yonkers now, when once all my aunts, uncles and cousins lived there.  But throughout the 70s and 80s, they began to leave.

I spent a lot of time there as a child, and I have fond memories of making the rounds to see everyone.  I loved visiting Jeannie & Skee because I could see the clock from Yonkers Raceway out their kitchen window.  If I went down to the corner of their street, I could see part of the track and watch the trotter races.  I wish I had more pictures of Yonkers, but I don't.  And I don't see myself going there any time soon to shoot them.

Here's me and my dad, sometime in the spring of 1965, in front of the building in which my Aunt Gloria & Uncle Steve lived at the time, on Alder Street.  You can see the iconic water tower at the top of Nodine Hill in the background.  I always thought it kinda looked like the Jupiter 2 from "Lost in Space."

1968 or 69.  I loved that cowboy hat.  I lost it in Genung's Department Store on this trip.  Could my shorts be pulled up any higher?  They are practically in my armpits!

Looking all angelic, November 1968 at Nana's apartment.

Alder Street, 1974, walking my Aunt & Uncle's poodle.  Dig those groovy bell bottoms.

July 1972, me, Nana and my mom, on our way to my cousin's wedding.  Those 70's fashions....my grandmother is wearing silver shoes.  Mom's rockin' the "Maude" look.  And the less said about my short hemline, the better.

This is my grandmother's apartment building on Alder Street, as it appeared in the mid-80's, one of the last times I was there.  There was a little alley between this building and the one next to it, and her apartment was down the alley, almost underground.  Therefore, her apt. windows are not shown in this picture b/c they can't be seen.  She moved there in the late 60s, from an apt. across the street.

I doubt I'll return to Yonkers again but I'm glad it was such a big part of my childhood.