Who's Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Dr. Serafin

I wish I had a picture of Dr. Serafin to post. Salvatore Frank Serafin is his full name. He was our family dentist for over 30 years. I began seeing him in the late 50's. His father, "Pops," would always sit in the office which was on the first floor of 14 Monroe Street. Dr. Serafin was a very nice man and we always had good conversations about baseball. I also have recollections that as a kid these conversations were on a level playing field. He never made me feel my opinions were not equal to his, as other adults would often do with kids. Doc was a Red Sox fan. Who knows maybe it has do with the "curse" of Julius Epstein? It could have been also because of Frank Malzone, a "paisan," who played then on the Red Sox. He talked about Malzone all the time as well as an old friend Rudy Riska. Later when I was an adult he talked about his real estate investments in neighboring tenements. Boy, do I wish I had taken his advice! In researching about Malzone and Riska I see that Malzone grew up in the Bronx and Riska in Lower Manhattan. I suspect Dr. Serafin's family lived near Knickerbocker Village and moved there when it was built. When Richard Karney and I revisited Knickerbocker a few summers ago we learned by speaking to some people there that Dr. Serafin was in a nursing home, but that his wife still lived in Knickerbocker. Some info on Malzone and Riska (their pictures are above, Riska is in the top left corner with the Heisman statue), who are both still alive.

Frank Malzone, a member of the inaugural Red Sox Hall of Fame class in 1995, will serve as a player development consultant in 2005. He spent 11 seasons with the Red Sox and was an 8-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove award winner at third base. Malzone ranks among the all-time Red Sox leaders in several categories, and he hit .276 with 131 home runs, and 716 RBI in 1,359 Red Sox games. In 1957, his first full season with the Red Sox, Malzone recorded 103 RBI and tied an A.L. record with 10 assists in one game. He became the first player in history to lead league third basemen in games, putouts, assists, double plays and fielding percentage. Previously to his consultant role, Malzone served as a Red Sox scout.
Rudy Riska
Born across the street from The Downtown Athletic Club (DAC), of which he would become a lifetime employee, Rudy Riska has devoted his career to honoring the very best of college football.
An accomplished high school athlete, Riska was signed by the New York Yankees and played professional baseball for three seasons - the final with the Baltimore Orioles. Following his baseball career, he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served for three years prior to joining the DAC in 1961.
For 30 years, Riska served as the director of athletics at the club while having the prestigious honor of being executive director of the National Association of Club Athletics Directors.

Now in his 43rd year with the DAC, he currently serves as executive director of both The Heisman Memorial Trophy Trust and The Heisman Memorial Trophy. Riska's work with the Heisman Foundation has helped raise more than $1 million over the past 12 years for various foundations and charitable organizations throughout the country. Currently, he is in the process of developing the Heisman After School Academy with the Boys Club of New York focusing on middle school children. Riska plans on establishing an After School Academy in each Heisman Trophy winner's hometown