LORD J.

440 EVERGREEN AVENUE FROM THE TIME I WAS SIX MONTHS OLD IN 1947, UNTIL THE SUMMER OF 1961, WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN, THE 8-FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE AT THE INTERSECTION OF EVERGREEN AVE & GROVE ST WAS HOME. UP UNTIL SOMETIME IN LATE 1954 THE BUILDING WAS OWNED JOINTLY BY TWO NICE OLD GENTELMEN NAMED MR. SCHULTZ, AND MR MULLER, WHO ALWAYS MADE SURE THAT EVERYBODY HAD ENOUGH OF EVERTHING, LIKE HEAT AND HOT WATER. THE BUILDINGS HALLWAYS, VESTIBULE AND OTHER PUBLIC AREAS WERE ALWAYS SPOTLESS. THE HAD HIRED A BUILDING SUPERINTENDANT NAMED JOHN, (WHO WAS MY GIRLFRIEND LINDA NOCCO’S GRANDFATHER) WHO CAME TWICE A DAY TO TURN THE HALLWAYS LIGHTS OFF & ON, AND TO SHOVEL COAL IN THE WINTER MONTHS. JOHN ALSO TOOK CARE OF ALL MINOR BUILDING REPAIRS. JOHN LIVED ON GROVE ST AND WAS ALWAYS AVAILABLE IN AN EMERGENCY. MID-1954 SAW MY WHOLE LIFE (AS I KNEW IT) CRUMBLING AROUND ME. LINDA’S FAMILY MOVED TO FAR OFF HEMPSTEAD, AND MR SCHULTZ & MR MULLER SOLD THE BUILDING TO A MR LANGSETT. FOR THE FIRST FEW MONTHS AFTER THAT, ALL OF THE TENANTS WONDERED WHAT WOULD BECOME OF THE PLACE THEY CALLED HOME. IT TURNED OUT THAT MR LANGSETT WAS TWICE AS NICE AS THE PRIOR OWNERS, AND REALLY SPENT A LOT OF MONEY ON THE AGING BUILDING. HE DISCARDED THE OLD COAL FURNACE, AND REPLACED IT WITH A STATE OF THE ART OIL-FIRED MODEL, FIXED ALL OF THE HALLWAY FLOORS, AND COVERED THEM IN NEW TILE, AND INSTALLED NEW HALLWAY LIGHTING, WHICH WAS CONTROLLED BY A TIMER, SO NOBODY HAD TO TURN IT ON OR OFF. RO TOP THAT OFF, HE HAD EVERYONES APARTMENT PAINTED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. MR LANGSETT DID A LOT OF HIS OWN REPAIRS, AND ALWAYS LET KIDS, SUCH AS MYSELF HELP HIM. I GUESS HE KNEW THAT WHEN SOMEBODY HAS A HAND IN FIXING SOMETHING THEY TAKE BETTER CARE OF IT. IN 1957 HE ALSO TOLD US THAT IT WOULD BE OK IF WE HUNG OUT IN THE IMENSE CELLAR WHEN THE WEATHER WAS BAD. THE CELLAR AT 440 WAS AS BIG AS A DANCEHALL, WITH THREE SEPARATE ENTRANCES. LOTS OF REAL OLD FURNATURE, LEFT BY FORMER TENANTS ALWAYS PROVIDED PLACES FOR US TO STORE STUFF AND PLACES TO SIT. THE ONLY RULE WAS THAT WE HAD TO KEEP IT SPOTLESS. WE FOUND SOME VALUABLE TREASURE IN THAT CELLAR. A BIG OLD TABLE RADIO, WHICH STILL WORKED, AND A CRANK TYPE PHONOGRAPH, COMPLETE WITH RECORDS, AND SPARE NEEDLES. IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS TIME WE HAD IT LOOKING AS IF SOMEONE COULD LIVE THERE.. LOUISE, JOANNE AND SUSAN EVENTUALLY EVEN PUT LITTLE CURTAINS ON THE SMALL CELLAR WINDOWS, TO KEEP OUT PRYING EYES. FOR ABOUT THE FIRST YEAR AND A HALF, WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME DOWN THERE, BUT AS WE WERE GROWING UP, WE FOUND IT MORE COMFORTABLE TO SIT ON SOMEONES COUCH INSTEAD, AND WE PASSED OUR RECREATION ROOM ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION. SOMETIME AROUND 1959, A REAL ESTATE COMPANY BOUGHT OUT MR. LANGSETT, AND THINGS STARTED GOING DOWNHILL RAPIDLY. THE GUY THAT RAN THE BUILDING FOR THEM, AN S.O.B. NAMED GASPAR LaSALA, IMMEDIATELY PUT A LOCK ON ALL OF THE CELLAR DOORS, AND TOLD EVERYONE THEY COULD NO LONGER “HANG OUT”.  IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE HEAT, AND HOT WATER WERE CUT BACK DRAMATICALLY, AND HENRY HAD MANY NASTY ARGUMENTS WITH THIS BOZO. THE BUILDING FELL INTO A STATE OF DIS-REPAIR IN THE MATTER OF A FEW SHORT MONTHS, AND PEOPLE STARTED MOVING AWAY. (THE POLITE TERMINOLOGY FOR THIS WAS “BLOCKBUSTING”. THOSE REAL ESTATE COMPANY’S WOULD FORCE ALL OF THE OLD TENANTS OUT, AND WITH THE INFLUX AT THAT TIME FROM SAN JUAN, HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH EAGER TENANTS, WILLING TO PAY A HIGH RENT, WHICH MOST OF THE TIME GOT PAID BY WELFARE. THE BLACK PEOPLE DID NOT KILL BUSHWICK, AND THE SPANISH PEOPLE DID NOT KiLL IT. IT WAS KILLED BY THISE MONEY GRUBBING REAL ESTATE GUYS, THAT DIDN’T EVEN LIVE IN THE CITY !)

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