Paula's Workshop.com

That familiar walk along 187th Street, between the Bronx Zoo and Arthur Avenue (and yonder) is still a place where "everybody knows your name." Saying hello to someone every step of the way, waving "hi" into pizzerias, delis, men's haberdasheries (yes, they still exist here), restaurants, candy stores. And, if you happened to grow up in this magical place, echoes of yesterday fill every corner of Belmont today.

So, would'ya like to take a walk?

Let's begin at the corner of Southern Boulevard and 187th.Street, heading west toward Arthur Avenue. See those tall apartment buildings on either side? Massive as they are, I don't see them. Instead, on the northeast corner, there is the Elm Tree Inn, the great fighter Tami Mauriello's neighborhood tavern back in the '50s. Cane-back chairs, glass cube walls and the sweet smell of beer drifting out onto the summer afternoon air. Years later, it became Cardella's Bakery - the delicious aroma of hot rolls still play in my mind, as real as yesterday.

Moving on, the first block we come to is Prospect Avenue – my own beginnings. A quick walk halfway up, you'll see a parking garage on the right, crowding buildings on both sides. But wait! There's a beautiful garden hidden away in there, a secret paradise lovingly nurtured by the father of our next-door neighbor, Peggy. A neglected and forgotten city owned lot, tenderly brought to life by an Italian immigrant who saw land and could not let it lie untouched. Sometimes he'd let us kids walk through it, let us eat grapes right off the vines that covered the sky.

The end of the block is now a cul-de-sac, created by the construction of an apartment building and elementary school PS 205. The long, wide-open stretch that once attached us to 189th Street is' gone. But no!., "Up the block" is where we played in the schoolyards of PS 74, and later Grace Dodge; where, we walked Rusty, Champ, Bimbo and Slugger; where, as teenagers, we'd go to talk about serious things. It was our route to Howard Johnson's (today, McDonald's), the Bronx Zoo, Botanical Garden, or the #19 bus to Fordham Road.

If you made a left at the end, after the little amusement park, there was our brand-new Carvel on the corner-of Crotona Avenue and, directly across the street, Dr. Martoccio's magnificent gray stone mansion. A quick U-turn back to 187th Street.

Standing in front of the nail boutique on the corner, look directly across. There's a variety store on the other side. Un-unh! That's Colavolpe's (later Ruggiero's) where we-got Italian ices every hot summer day of our lives. Sometimes the guys who hung out there would treat us. That was so cool, because then we could go back across the street and buy another comic book at Jimmy's Candy Store. (That's not a nail boutique, that's Jimmy's!)

Time to stop and rest. We have a long way to go, with many people to meet and places to see again. Not unlike the black-and-white serials we saw every Saturday afternoon at "The Dumps" (our nickname for what was actually Cinelli's' Savoy.) Ironically, it's now the site of the renowned Enrico Fermi Cultural Center. Next-door neighbor? Still the fabulous and nationally famous Arthur Avenue Retail Market, where the First Lady of our country has been known to shop.

Come visit. We're still here. You'll love us!