Enjoy some comments from friends and neighbors. Feel free to contact us with any stories, thoughts or photos you want to share.
"The other day, my older brother John emailed me a picture and asked whether I knew who the dignified-looking, white-haired man was.
"Looks like an Italian notable," I responded.
"That's our Indian, Frankie Lia," my brother replied. He had done a Google search and found a 2010 obituary. Frank had died at age 81 in Yorktown, VA.
Frank the Indian loomed large in my childhood imagination. First, he was one of the big guys I idolized when I was a kid hanging around Braddock Park; second, he was the only real-life Indian I knew in my Queens neighborhood largely populated by Catholic Irish, German and Italian folks; third, he looked like a warrior, standing about 6 feet 4 with wide shoulders, jet-black hair, olive complexion and a chiseled face; and fourth, he played fast-pitch softball barehanded.
Everyone who hung out at the park in the 1950s vividly remembers Frank the Indian scooping up hard-hit ground balls and catching line drives with his bare hands. In a recently released film documentary titled "The Braddock Boys," a nostalgic look back at the park, one of the old-timers asks "Remember Frank the Indian?" and another exclaims, "Yeah, the guy who played barehanded." Even after 60 years, the legend lives on.
The fast-pitch softball games, played on the park's unforgiving asphalt, were a big deal when I was a kid. My brother, nine years older than I, was the star windmill-style pitcher. The benches were jammed with spectators. Basketball games came to a halt. Competitive emotions ran high. Errors were unforgivable. Yet Frank dared to play the infield barehanded like the warrior he was.
Frank was a few years older than my brother and his crowd. He didn't hang around after the games, and I never heard him utter a word, a silent Indian for sure. Although New York City and Long Island had a long Indian history (most of it exploitative), the little I knew about Indians was mostly negative and scary. At Our Lady of Lourdes grammar school, the nuns liked to give graphic descriptions of the torture endured by Father Isaac Jogues at the hands of the ungodly Iroquois Indians. I retain an image of hot coals being stuffed down the missionary's mouth. (A Wikipedia article fails to support that specific torture image and says he was tomahawked in 1646 by Mohawks, a tribe in the Iroquois Confederacy.)
So those were my memories of Frank the Indian when John delivered the stunning news that Frank wasn't really an Indian. He was Italian. As best he could recall, some of Frank's peers back in the late 1940s spread the tale that Frank was an Indian and it stuck. Even though John came to realize as a teenager that Frank was Italian, he didn't enlighten his kid brother of that fact until the other day. I'm sure all of my childhood friends have no doubt Frank was an Indian.
John did mention that Frank had been quite a basketball player. He shot two-handed set shots off the dead spot in the right quadrant of the rectangular backboards and was always good for two points, John said. "If you got him mad or winning meant staying on the court, he would put the real defensive pressure on so you couldn't move to shoot or drive. R.I.P., Frankie."
Frank had a good life beyond Braddock Park, according to his obituary. He won a basketball scholarship to Hofstra University on Long Island and was a four-year letterman. After graduation, he had a successful sales and management career, was married for 52 years, and had four children and eight grandchildren. In retirement, he was a dedicated volunteer who tutored students. He had a Catholic funeral service.
Why did he ply softball barehanded? I don't know. Maybe he was a poor Italian kid who couldn't afford a glove." - Paul Clegg 11/23/14
"Looks like an Italian notable," I responded.
"That's our Indian, Frankie Lia," my brother replied. He had done a Google search and found a 2010 obituary. Frank had died at age 81 in Yorktown, VA.
Frank the Indian loomed large in my childhood imagination. First, he was one of the big guys I idolized when I was a kid hanging around Braddock Park; second, he was the only real-life Indian I knew in my Queens neighborhood largely populated by Catholic Irish, German and Italian folks; third, he looked like a warrior, standing about 6 feet 4 with wide shoulders, jet-black hair, olive complexion and a chiseled face; and fourth, he played fast-pitch softball barehanded.
Everyone who hung out at the park in the 1950s vividly remembers Frank the Indian scooping up hard-hit ground balls and catching line drives with his bare hands. In a recently released film documentary titled "The Braddock Boys," a nostalgic look back at the park, one of the old-timers asks "Remember Frank the Indian?" and another exclaims, "Yeah, the guy who played barehanded." Even after 60 years, the legend lives on.
The fast-pitch softball games, played on the park's unforgiving asphalt, were a big deal when I was a kid. My brother, nine years older than I, was the star windmill-style pitcher. The benches were jammed with spectators. Basketball games came to a halt. Competitive emotions ran high. Errors were unforgivable. Yet Frank dared to play the infield barehanded like the warrior he was.
Frank was a few years older than my brother and his crowd. He didn't hang around after the games, and I never heard him utter a word, a silent Indian for sure. Although New York City and Long Island had a long Indian history (most of it exploitative), the little I knew about Indians was mostly negative and scary. At Our Lady of Lourdes grammar school, the nuns liked to give graphic descriptions of the torture endured by Father Isaac Jogues at the hands of the ungodly Iroquois Indians. I retain an image of hot coals being stuffed down the missionary's mouth. (A Wikipedia article fails to support that specific torture image and says he was tomahawked in 1646 by Mohawks, a tribe in the Iroquois Confederacy.)
So those were my memories of Frank the Indian when John delivered the stunning news that Frank wasn't really an Indian. He was Italian. As best he could recall, some of Frank's peers back in the late 1940s spread the tale that Frank was an Indian and it stuck. Even though John came to realize as a teenager that Frank was Italian, he didn't enlighten his kid brother of that fact until the other day. I'm sure all of my childhood friends have no doubt Frank was an Indian.
John did mention that Frank had been quite a basketball player. He shot two-handed set shots off the dead spot in the right quadrant of the rectangular backboards and was always good for two points, John said. "If you got him mad or winning meant staying on the court, he would put the real defensive pressure on so you couldn't move to shoot or drive. R.I.P., Frankie."
Frank had a good life beyond Braddock Park, according to his obituary. He won a basketball scholarship to Hofstra University on Long Island and was a four-year letterman. After graduation, he had a successful sales and management career, was married for 52 years, and had four children and eight grandchildren. In retirement, he was a dedicated volunteer who tutored students. He had a Catholic funeral service.
Why did he ply softball barehanded? I don't know. Maybe he was a poor Italian kid who couldn't afford a glove." - Paul Clegg 11/23/14
"Shocked to see this website. A good shock. No one can explain the wonder of Braddock Park. For many years and seasons, it was the place to be. It started with swings and slides, then handball, dances and always with your best friends. Marilyn who married Matt Downey, Wally Sweeney, Warren Vanderhill, Camille Novara... too many to type right now. It has been a beautiful time just remembering. I lived on 89th Avenue right next to the parkway." - Joan Clifford Aumuller 11/1/14
"Out of the blue, John Clegg called me last night (10/19/14). Spoke for an hour about the old days at Braddock Park. I think we were the age group before some of the names on this site. I remember Clem Meotti, Jimmy Wilson, Ray Fox, and others. The name Ritchie Apicella rang a bell as I went to PS33 with a Vinny Apicella. Also, the name Mikey Bonasia as I used to pal around with a Vinny Bonasia (NY Fire Sept. as I recall). Played a lot of hoops at the Park, also enjoyed the dances. Flo Kuchenbrod & I used to go together and went to the dances. Also remember Carol Wallace from the dances. Anyone remember the Queens Village Boys Club Hoops Team? I know Ray Fox played with us. Used to be coached by Politician Matty Troy. Great memories, can't thank John Clegg enough. Art Fries (now in Alabama) 78 yrs old, love to hear from old friends, [email protected]." - Art Fries 10/20/14
"Just went on this site and was so interested. Eileen Donohue told me about it and I told several friends about it also. My brother, Don Casale, Gene Maag, etc. I recognized Billie Falls and Vinnie Bonasia and I have been with them in E. Northport at Chuck/Lin Mullers home over the years. I also recognized Ray Fox and Matt Downey and Richie Apicella and Bill Morgan... WOW... fun... I had a 14 or... 16th birthday party many years ago and I think that is where Marilyn and Matt met... I see Carol Maag in LI and in Ft.Myers, Florida every year... we are great friends. I see Carol Wallace Hardy when I am in LI, also a long time friend. Just great seeing all the pictures. Enjoy." - Carol Casale Vilbig 10/11/14
"Growing up in Bellerose from 1944 when I was born to 1967 when I got married and left, I had three homes. One was 88-40 239th St. One was Leo's candy store. And one was Braddock Park. 239th St. is directly across Braddock Ave. in line with the Park's front gate. Leo's candy store was also right across from the Park's front gate at 239th and Braddock. At any given moment I could be found in one of these places. Chocolate egg creams at Leo's was an addiction. My crowd (first tier: Marty Cashin, Tommy McCarthy, Mike Dolan, and Vinny Marchesano) was addicted to those chocolate egg creams, too, and rarely a day went by when we didn't have one or more of them, sipping through straws while we took great delight in watching and waiting for Leo's long, hot cigarette ash to fall into whatever it was he was making for someone behind the store counter. I'm not sure I ever saw him touch the cigarette again after it was in his mouth. It just drooped there between his lips forever. Leo seemed a little tough at first, but underneath he was a good guy. We'd play handball against his store outside; practice for when we'd play in the Park. We spend countless hours in the Park's handball courts, but mostly we played stickball there and pitched against the wall. On Sunday mornings a bunch of old guys played real handball with the little, hard, black ball and handball gloves. I suspect those 'old guys' were thirty years younger than I am now; maybe more. They were real good, and we liked watching them, but mostly we wanted them to go home so we could play stickball. I feel like writing about the Park's name change in 1980, but will refrain from doing so. I'll just say that the Park will always be "Braddock Park" to me and to so many of us who spent so much time there, learning the ropes, discovering life, and creating some of the best memories anyone could ever want. Thank you, Bellerose. Thank you, Braddock Park!" - Don Casale 1/13/14
"I was born in Bellerose in 1942 on 240th Street right down the street from Braddock Park. Played hand ball and stick ball in the park…I walked through the park to get the Q36 on Jamaica Ave to go to JHS 109." - Gene Maag
1/13/14
1/13/14
"John Clegg was taller but I was handsomer." - Ron Redmond 12/10/13
"Moved to Bellerose on 238 St. in 1938, age 3 and a half. Still there. Spent many pleasant years in Braddock Park playing a lot of basketball and handball, plus other sports occasionally. Wish I had taken pics then. Later I worked in the playground and summer dances there run by the Park Dept. :)" - Walter Audubon 12/5/13
"I was at the showing of the film in Floral Park and had a great time. Great job, Whitey. Unbelievable, I received an e-mail tonight from John Clegg, 50 years since we connected. He sat next to me in OLL (Our Lady of Lourdes), class of 1951. My forte at the park was handball. Other than that, it was girls at the dances. Get well, Ray Fox." - Phil Buttling 12/5/13
"Can you tell me if anyone knows the history of Braddock Park? Was the name the original name, what was the first year the park was opened to the public and does anyone know if homes were there or woods?" - Tom Scally 10/22/13
"The photo submitted by my former VFW teammate Dennis Shea came from the Long Island Press. I believe the date is Sept. 25, 1956. We had won the PAL 105th Precinct peewee championship. The IDs are: front row, left to right , Robert Giorlando, Thomas Cavanaugh, John Cavanaugh, George Connaughton, Ricky Schneider, and Bob Wewers; Middle row, left to right, Jerry Sullivan, Jimmy Quinn, Howie Quinn, John Quinn, John Benestad, and John Williams; Top row, left to right, manager Howard Quinn, Phil Pettingil, Dennis Shea, Jerry Giorlando, Dennis Stanley, Paul Clegg, Larry Dawson, and youth patrolman William Corcom." - Paul Clegg - 7/31/13
"I grew up a stone's throw from Braddock Park @ corner of Fairbury Ave & Gettysburg St. I spent multiple thousands of hours @ that wonder facility built by the WPA circa 1941-42 (thank you FDR)!!! :-)
As a little tyke, I would be over in the kiddie area; when I got to be about 4-5-6-7, I graduated to the larger apparatus in center of park, near refreshing wading pool/showers. Then, my home-away-from-home for next dozen yrs was the remaining 1/3 of the park... All the athletic areas: basketball courts...softball fields...roller hockey rink...horses shoe pits...stickball using handball wall...the 1/11th mile track...the track infield grass for football...day after day after day I just enjoyed working hard @ my skills @ all of those "venues." We just showed up, found a quorum of buddies, and played whatever sport was "in season"!!! We were our own refs & umpires using the honor system, so there were tons of arguments, but we worked them out somehow without gunshots being fired... We were buddies & would show up the next day & do it all over again, choosing up new teams. "Choosing" became an art/game in itself. I don't recall a lot of big fights...Somehow we all learned to get along pretty well despite any differences in age, ethnicity, religion & skill levels...lots of tolerance. In 1954 I sure hope I said "Thank you Braddock Park" for helping me hone my basketball skills to a good enough level to earn a free ride to college. My parents were delighted with that news, and I can still remember the expressions on their faces when they heard it. And now that I have 7 children & 21 grandkids, I appreciate the lessons learned @ Braddock Park more each day. Thank U BP. I haven't seen your BB documentary yet, but from the pictures on your homepage, I've identified a few dozen of my old buddies/contemporaries as well as my kid brother, Paul, on the VFW baseball team (@ about age 10). I'd love to hear from anyone who remembers me...gus like Pfeiffer, Saville, Jakabauskas, Downey, Shea, Favata, Crawford, Morgan, Fox & a few more that I recognized/remember... Thanks to everyone involved with this project for bringing back such great memories of happy long-ago days in my life. Sincerely," - John C. Clegg (age 76), Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022 - He can be contacted at [email protected] 7/30/13
As a little tyke, I would be over in the kiddie area; when I got to be about 4-5-6-7, I graduated to the larger apparatus in center of park, near refreshing wading pool/showers. Then, my home-away-from-home for next dozen yrs was the remaining 1/3 of the park... All the athletic areas: basketball courts...softball fields...roller hockey rink...horses shoe pits...stickball using handball wall...the 1/11th mile track...the track infield grass for football...day after day after day I just enjoyed working hard @ my skills @ all of those "venues." We just showed up, found a quorum of buddies, and played whatever sport was "in season"!!! We were our own refs & umpires using the honor system, so there were tons of arguments, but we worked them out somehow without gunshots being fired... We were buddies & would show up the next day & do it all over again, choosing up new teams. "Choosing" became an art/game in itself. I don't recall a lot of big fights...Somehow we all learned to get along pretty well despite any differences in age, ethnicity, religion & skill levels...lots of tolerance. In 1954 I sure hope I said "Thank you Braddock Park" for helping me hone my basketball skills to a good enough level to earn a free ride to college. My parents were delighted with that news, and I can still remember the expressions on their faces when they heard it. And now that I have 7 children & 21 grandkids, I appreciate the lessons learned @ Braddock Park more each day. Thank U BP. I haven't seen your BB documentary yet, but from the pictures on your homepage, I've identified a few dozen of my old buddies/contemporaries as well as my kid brother, Paul, on the VFW baseball team (@ about age 10). I'd love to hear from anyone who remembers me...gus like Pfeiffer, Saville, Jakabauskas, Downey, Shea, Favata, Crawford, Morgan, Fox & a few more that I recognized/remember... Thanks to everyone involved with this project for bringing back such great memories of happy long-ago days in my life. Sincerely," - John C. Clegg (age 76), Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022 - He can be contacted at [email protected] 7/30/13
t"My first memories of Braddock Park was in the 1940s. My mother used to bring me there from our home on 88th Ave and Winchester Blvd. I was one of the middle guys, younger than Whitey but older than some. I played handball, softball, basketball and any other sport we could find. I went to school with Kathy Piro, and knew her younger brother Eddie. I left Queens Village at 17 to join the service. Came back a few years later and enjoyed it all over again." - Jim Jackman 6/4/13
"Bellerose was a great place to grow up. I went to St. Gregory's and Bishop Reilly. Playing nok hockey at Braddock Park, running through the sprinklers, handball, hopscotch, steel monkey bars. Getting the nok hockey sticks from the "parker"! Leo's candy store across the street on 239th St. and Braddock Ave. Families with lots of kids playing in the street together. I declare war, giant steps, red light green lift, stoop and stick ball. Ring a leavio? Those were the days." - Donna Bonasia Ragogna 5/3/13
"Great pictures!!! Love the one of Mikey and Richie because they are my age, not like those other OLD GUYS like Billy and Whitey LOL (I remember playing basketball in your backyard) -- - Joe Casey, 4/8/13
"Since I was last born of the 5 Fay's from 241st Bellrose, I often rode my bike thru the park on my way home from cousins' house on Gettysburg, the other Fay's (from Lourdes). I would pass my brother Tom and sister Donna, always surrounded by large groups of kids. My most vivid memory is of Tom Biggers streaking thru Braddock Park. Funnyeeee, life forever changed!" - RuthAnn Fay Morrisey 3/25/13
"I grew up living on Edmore Ave. My house was the first house next to the park. I remember the park dances, the whole neighborhood showed up to watch you guys dance and to listen to your music. (rock n roll is here to stay...) I watched my two sisters, Joyce and Kathy, dance in the roped off area. I remember the baseball and basketball games played in the field. My brother Eddie was one of the best handball players in Braddock Park. Swimming in the summer and skating in the winter. It didn't get much better than that. I'm happy you that you guys took the time to make a short film about Braddock Park for it brought back so many memories. Some good, some bad. BRADDOCK PARK RULED and in my mind still RULES!" - Elizabeth Pirro 3/21/13
"It's such a great idea... getting together and talking about the old days. I have friends... growing up in St. Albans... St. Pascal Baylon school... we call ourselves the Golden Girls... it's such special memories..." - Peggy Kelly Elmont 3/19/13
"I lived on 222nd Street and Jamaica Avenue. My earliest memory of Braddock Park was as an 8 year old. My father worked six days a week, but Sunday was family day. Every Sunday morning, weather permitting, my father would take me to the park to watch him play handball. I would sit there and watch all these amazing shots, and then home to do our shopping for the week on the lower eastside. (There were no supermarkets.) Later, when I was old enough, I would ride my bike to the park and it was basketball, softball or stickball until dark.
Stanley Einbender 10/18/12
Stanley Einbender 10/18/12
"I grew up on 242 and Braddock Avenue. I recently attended a neighborhood childhood reunion with 175 from 17 different states. Our reunion took place in March 2010 in the year our 6th Grade class from PS33 turned 50. The attached photo was a reenactment of our 6th grade class taken the day before the reunion in the PS33 auditorium thirty seven years later. We called it the 1970s Childhood Neighborhood Reunion. It was an extraordinary event and a testament to how fortunate we were to grow up in such a place." - Greg Battaglia 7/11/12
"I grew up a few blocks from Braddock Park. I went into the sprinklers there in the summer as a kid. I played paddleball there in my teens and early twenties! All day on the handball courts and breaks for deli runs for iced tea and buttered rolls! It was a place to meet friends before the movies at night and to come back and hang out until way after midnight! It was part of us who grew up there and it forever will be!" - Terry Moran 7/9/12
"Great times were had by all who went through Braddock Park. Legendary stories will be past down for generations with the stories and the people becoming more legendary. There was a unique pecking order in the park, from being the "kids" to being the "old guys," but once you were there, all the guys had your back!! You learned so much in that park that is not taught in the classroom!"
- Jimmy Conboy 7/6/12
- Jimmy Conboy 7/6/12
We swam in the little pool in the summer, and skated there in the winter. I remember falling off the monkey bars once - that was way before they had all that padding they have now! Once I was in high school (Van Buren class of 1974) we spent hours at Braddock Park every summer playing handball. Me, Norma Aidala (RIP), Gizella Kocsis and Debbie Ross. Great memories."
- Patricia Carberry-Harris 7/5/12
- Patricia Carberry-Harris 7/5/12
"Played stickball there many times. Went to OLL class of '63.'" - Frank Fucci 7/5/12
"...after they became of age and, of course, after attending church on Sunday, my brother, Pat, and his friends would gather in our kitchen to knock back ham and egg on a roll sandwiches, oj, milk, coffee and occasionally, a cold beer or two to prepare for the bar league softball game that a.m. always a great weekly event. And, I made sure I ate before the arrival of the 'locusts.' To a man, they were and are today 'stand up guys.'"
- Dennis Shea 6/28/12
- Dennis Shea 6/28/12
"...In my memoir, I mention the park and growing up in Queens Village. There is also a chapter on Ray Fox and the Braddock Park dances. Matt Downey and I use to 'dance off.' The park taught us much about life and the pecking order of things..." - Jim Hyland 6/10/12