Oliver Shannon

That's Oliver above, playing for Erasmus, scoring in the 1966 high school championship game against Clinton
Joe Bruno's mentioning of Oliver Shannon triggered some memories, numbered in sequence from different Kvers:

1. I knew an Oliver Shannon in Jr Hi. A black kid, great b-ball player. Is this the same person you mention. And do you know his whereabouts?

2. Now some bravado. Oliver came to "our" park having heard of my speed and challenged me to a race. I had "school" shoes still on and he had sneakers. I easily beat him. Another time some Italian "kid" also came to challenge me-he was from the Bronx or Brooklyn and looked real tough. Well the result was the same I easily beat him and he shook my hand and said "you won fair and square".

3. I have listened to the tales of Marvin K speeding up and down the asphalt, taking all comers from all neighborhoods and sending them on the impecunious ways besmirched and bedraggled, festooned in defeat and despair. And to o’ercome the human foe is grand and ne’er do I contest it. But I, in no less titanic a tussle have rebuked the grandest adversary of them all-–Father Time himself. Hear me now oh you from KV come. My daily journey around the Central Park of Manahatta runs up and down hill but always from North to South along the western ridge and then due up the Eastern byway. Just so, as the arrows point the path. Yet today I sought to run my duo-pedaled steed down the eastern and up the western drives, thus reversing the direction of traffic and, in effect, biding my pace betwixt and between the rungs of oncoming cyclists and motorists. Backwards did I run my race, you brethren. And for all the time I sped, spinning backwards, I out-pointed my previous best by a full 79 seconds. Around the entire park with time to spare. I beat my best time backwards. Say it with me please, he beat the best backward. And the best of the mightiest. Father Time himself stood speechless by the park exit and dipped his brow into the Harlem Meer, he was spent but now unencumbered by the mantle of invincibility that he once so proudly sported. Do you see what I’m saying here/ Can you make it out clearly oh yee of KV come?

4. Would you be kind enough to repeat that?

I looked to find an address and phone number for an Oliver Shannon. The one suspect I found in North Carolina wasn't him. In searching the Social Security Death Index I found an Oliver Shannon, born 9/29/47, and passed away 9/21/01. The card was issued in NYC and had numbers that corresponded to a lower east side location. This prompted this email to the chatterers.

Looks like Oliver Shannon may have lost the race we all will eventually lose, only looks like he lost in the trials at age 54

1. Very sad about Ollie. He passed 10 days after 9/11--I wonder if it had anything to do with the Twin Towers. Ollie signed my elementary school yearbook, played one year on my Edgies team--went on to star for Erasmus Hall on their city championship team with Coak Cannon and George Thompson and starred in the Rucker league, then played for the Cincinnati Royals for a year or two. Genuinely sweet guy.

2. He had that sleeper play where he would fall down at the key and writhe as if in agony and when people gathered around him he would dribble in and lay the ball up. Willowy and always smiling.  I can't even remember talking to him but I remember his presence very clearly.  A dominating player but a gentle soul. Poetry in motion. An idiosyncratic personality but a true as gravity eye. God bless Oliver Shannon.

KV Sports' Chatter

From Joe Bruno, who unfortunately has no pics from those days:

I PLAYED SECOND BASE FOR TRANSFIGURATION CHURCH IN 1960, WHEN WE WON THE TWO BRIDGES LITTLE LEAGUE TITLE BEATING ST. JAMES IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. VINNIE ADIMONDO WAS OUR PITCHER AND RAY WILLIAMS WAS THE PITCHER FOR ST JAMES. I FORGET THE SCORE.
ALSO ON OUR TEAM WAS CATCHER VINCENT MOSCO, THE SON OF FRANK MOSCO, OUR COACH. FRANK WAS ALSO THE UNCLE OF VINNIE ADIMONDO. FRANK'S WIFE AND VINNIE'S MOTHER WERE SISTERS. VINNIE'S UNCLE JUNIOR ADIMONDO, MARRIED MY COUSIN JUDY PALATTO, WHICH MAKES VINNIE AND I COUSINS THROUGH MARRIAGE. VINNIE, AMAZINGLY, IS TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME. BUT HE LOOKED TWO YEARS OLDER.
THAT YEAR, THE TWO BRIDGES ALL STAR TEAM PLAYED AN ALL STAR TEAM FROM NEW JERSEY AT COLEMAN OVAL. VINNIE ADIMONDO, VINCENT MOSCO AND MYSELF REPRESENTED TRANSFIGURATION. ALSO ON THE TEAM WAS TEDDY GRAFF, JOEY EGAN AND OLIVER SHANNON FROM ST. JAMES. LITTLE JOE, BOBBY D, CARL SCARNA JR. AND TOMMY RED REPRESENTED ST. JOSEPH. I FORGET WHO THE REST OF OUR ALL STAR TEAM WAS.
WHAT I DO REMEMBER WAS THAT I STARTED THE GAME AT SECOND BASE AND THEN PLAYED THREE INNINGS IN CENTER FIELD. WE WON THE GAME BIG AND TOMMY RED HIT A COUPLE OF HOMERS. VINNIE ADIMONDO WAS THE WINNING PITCHER.
VINNIE WAS ALSO THE QUARTERBACK ON OUR TOUCH FOOTBALL TEAM THAT PLAYED IN COLUMBUS PARK. IT WAS AN EIGHT MAN SHIFT LEAGUE. CENTER, 2 LINEMAN. TWO ENDS. QUARTERBACK AND TWO HALFBACKS.
THERE WERE EIGHT TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE. THE OTHER SEVEN TEAM'S AVERAGE AGE WAS 25-30.
I WAS 16, VINNIE WAS 14. OUR OLDEST AND BIGGEST PLAYER WAS SKIPPER (ALAN MCCRAY), WHO WAS 18 YEARS OLD AND MAYBE 170 POUNDS. HE CAME FROM THE 4TH WARD BUT PLAYED FOR US.
WHEN WE APPLIED TO ENTER THE LEAGUE, WE WERE TURNED DOWN BECAUSE THEY SAID WE WERE TOO YOUNG AND TOO SMALL.
THERE WERE TWO TEAMS FROM THE 4TH WARD. AN OLDER TEAM FROM COLUMBUS PARK. ONE FROM JAMES CENTER. ONE FROM GRAND STREET NEAR THE FDR. ANOTHER FROM CHRISTIE STREET. AND ANOTHER FROM ST. PATRICK'S NEAR HOUSTON ST.
IN OUR FIRST YEAR (1963, WE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP, GOING UNDEFEATED IN 14 GAMES. WE HAD SPEED BURNERS LIKE LOUIS MINGIONE, PETER CAMINITI, LOUIE PACE AND MYSELF. SKIPPER MAY HAVE BEEN OUR FASTER PLAYER AND HE PLAYED LINEMAN, BECAUSE HE WAS OUR HEAVIEST PLAYER.
OUR STRATEGY WAS SIMPLE.
VINNIE ADIMONDO, PLAYING QUATERBACK, WOULD SCRAMBLE UNTIL ONE OF US GOT OPEN. THEN WITH HIS RIFLE ARM, HE WOULD FIRE THE BALL TO EITHER, PETER CAMINITI, LOUIS PACE, LOUIE MINGIONE OR MYSELF. IF NOBODY GOT OPEN, VINNIE WOULD SCRAMBLE FOR A TOUCHDOWN. THE FIELD WAS 50 YARDS LONG, AND VINNIE COULD FIRE THE BALL 50 YARDS WITH A FLICK OF THE WRIST. AND HE WAS ONLY 14 YEARS OLD.
SOMETIMES, LARRY VENTURATO WOULD PLAY QUARTERBACK, AND VINNIE WOULD PLAY HALFBACK. THE HALFBACK OPTION PASS WAS THEN IN PLAY.
WE WON ALL OUR GAMES BY LARGE MARGINS AND THE BIGGER GUYS ON THE OTHER TEAMS WOULD GET FRUSTRATED AND SOMETIME ROUGH US UP. THAT'S WHEN SKIPPER, OR MY COUSIN JOHNNY PALATTO (A LINEMAN) WOULD STEP IN AS ENFORCERS.
ASK ANYONE WHO PLAYED IN THAT LEAGUE. IT WAS TWO-HAND TOUCH, BUT AS TOUGH AS ANY TACKLE LEAGUE AROUND. AND WE PLAYED ON CONCRETE. LOTS OF BUSTED LIPS AND SKINNED LEGS.
WHAT WERE WE THINKING? WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED.

They All Longed To Be Close To Her

You'd be surprised how many people reach Knickerbocker Village by googling Nancy Bueller (Bayer)
From a source, and now an email pal, who I will keep anonymous:

I happened to come across the entry on the KnickerbockerVillage blog regarding Nancy Bayer (Bueller ).
I was very good friends with a Nancy Bueller from about 1964-1969 when we both lived....
I'm guessing this is the same Nancy, she did have a brother, Bruce.
I married and moved to Seattle in 1968, but did see her a few times after that; when she married Chris Bayer in the summer of 1969, and several times in the early 70's. But have not spoken or heard from her since then. My fault (actually my wife at the time was a bit jealous of her). Needless to say this came as quite a shock. It is hard tell from the blog when she passed away. I saw the entry on the blog about Mickey Mantle. We were both Yankee fans. I grew up in the Bronx and worked as a vendor in Yankee Stadium, took her to a few games with me. ...

I now regret not trying to locate her. Always put it off. Dam life is too short!
I wish I had married her instead of my first wife. Nancy was my best friend during the years I knew her.
Wonder if we would have made it together.
I've been married to my current (second) wife since '92, together as couple since '85.
Her personality reminded me of Nancy, has a great laugh, smile, loves music, baseball, sports and arguing about politics. Not only do we live together, we also work together.
I have two daughters in their 30's; one of them has three kids, so I'm also a grandfather.
She asked me why I was so "poopy" the last few days. I told her how upset I was with myself for not trying to reconnect with Nancy.
Can't change the past; I'll always have great memories from those days.

The Lower East Side's Stan Getz

His father Alexander (Alfred in the census), little Stan and mother Goldie.
The Getz website notes that the picture on the horse was taken in the Bronx. In 1930 Stan was living at 288 Monroe Street

Who's Almost Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Stan Getz

Above a clip of Astrud Gilberto singing "Girl From Ipanema" with Stan Getz in the 1964 flick "Get Yourself A College Girl." I saw a terrific documentary about Anita O'Day today called ANITA O'DAY–THE LIFE OF A JAZZ SINGER While searching through youtube clips of her I found one where she sang in a band with Stan Getz. This led me to research Stan's biography.

Stan Getz (Stanley Gayetzky) was born on February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia. Stan's younger brother Robert was born in 1932. His parents were Ukrainian-Jews who immigrated from the Kiev area in the Ukraine in 1903. The family later moved to New York City's lower east side and then later the Bronx for better jobs. Stan worked hard in school receiving straight "A's" on average and finished 6th grade close to the top of his class. Stan's major interest was in musical instruments, and he felt a need to play every instrument in his sight. He played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. Even though his father also got him a clarinet, Stan instantly fell in love with the saxophone and began practicing 8 hours a day. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City.

I later discovered on the Stan Getz site that his mother's name was Goldie. With this clue, (since there were several Getz's in the 1930 census), I was able to find Stan (age 3) living with his parents Albert and Goldie at 288 Monroe Street! That address is now part of the Vladeck Houses (around Jackson Street).

The Ballad Of Davey Crockett

Giselle MacKenzie from 1955
over at Pseudo-Intellectuallism there's a Ballad Of Sarah Palin

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
Greenest state in the land of the free.
Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree,
Killed him a bear when he was only three.
Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier.
Fought single handed through the Injun war,
Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored.
And while he was handling this risky chore,
Made himself a legend, forevermore.
Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear.
He went of to Congress and served a spell
Fixin' up the government and laws as well.
Took over Washington, I heard tell,
And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell.
Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear.
When he come home, his politickin' was done,
While the western march had just begun.
So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun
And let out a grinnin' to follow the sun.
Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneer.

Full Lyrics
Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
Greenest state in the land of the free.
Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree,
Killed him a bear when he was only three.
Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier.
He fought single handed through the Injun war,
Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was restored.
And while he was handling this risky chore,
Made himself a legend, forevermore.
Davy, Davy Crockett the man who don't know fear.
When he lost his love, and his grief was gall,
In his heart he wanted to leave it all,
And lose himself in the forest tall,
But he answered instead, his country's call.
Davy, Davy Crockett, the choice of the whole frontier
He went off to Congress and served a spell
Fixin' up the government and laws as well.
Took over Washington, so we hear tell,
And patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell.
Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear. (Serving his country well)
When he come home, his politickin' done,
The western march had just begun.
So he packed his gear, and his trusty gun
And lit out a grinnin' to follow the sun.
Davy, Davy Crockett, Leadin the Pioneers.
His land is biggest, and his land is best
From grassy plains to the mountain crest
He's ahead of us all in meeting the test
Followin' his legend right into the West
Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wide Frontier
King of the Wild Frontier.

The Worst That Could Happen (Well, Not Really)

I got a speeding ticket on the way to Clark University. The worst is if Palin is a heartbeat away from the presidency. Gives me a chance to use KV neighborhood's Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge
words and music by Jim Webb, #3 hit for The Brooklyn Bridge in 1969 (released November 1968 - entered the Billboard Top 40 January 4, 1969)

Girl, I heard you're getting married
Heard you're getting married, this time you're really sure
And this is the end, they say you really mean it
This guy's the one that makes you feel so safe, so sane and so secure
And, baby, if he loves you more than me
Maybe it's the best thing
Maybe it's the best thing for you
But it's the worst that could happen to me
I'll never get married
Never get married, you know that's not my scene
But a girl like you needs to be married
I've known all along you couldn't live forever in between
And, baby, if he loves you more than me
Maybe it's the best thing
Maybe it's the best thing for you
But it's the worst that could happen to me
And, girl, I don't really blame you for having a dream of your own
Hey, girl, I don't really blame you
A woman like you needs a house and a home, baby
If he really loves you more than me
Maybe it's the best thing
Maybe it's the best thing for you
But it's the worst that could happen
Oh, girl, don't wanna get married
Girl, I'm never, never gonna marry, no no
No, it's the worst that could happen
The worst that could happen
Oh, girl, the worst that could happen

Jake LaMotta vs. Sugar Ray: Part 1, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

from wikipedia

Giacobbe La Motta (born July 10,1921) better known as Jake LaMotta, nicknamed "The Bronx Bull" and "The Raging Bull", is a former boxing middleweight champion who was portrayed by Robert De Niro in the film Raging Bull.
LaMotta, born in the New York City borough of the Bronx in the Pelham Parkway and Morris Park area, began boxing at an early age when his father made him fight other neighborhood kids for the entertainment of adults. A crowd pleaser even back then, the money that spectators would throw into the ring after Jake fought — usually pennies, nickels and dimes — helped pay the rent at home. LaMotta turned to pro boxing in 1941 at the age of 19.
LaMotta, who compiled a record of 83 wins, 19 losses and 4 draws with 30 wins by way of knockout, was the first man to beat Sugar Ray Robinson, knocking him down in the first round and outpointing him over the course of ten rounds during the second fight of their legendary six bout rivalry.
On 14 November 1947, he was knocked out in four rounds by Billy Fox. The New York State Athletic Commission withheld purses for the fight and suspended LaMotta. The fight with Fox would come back to haunt LaMotta later in life, during a hearing with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In the testimony and his later book, LaMotta admitted to throwing the fight in order to gain favor with the mafia. All involved agreed the fix was obvious and their staging inept. As LaMotta wrote,
The first round, a couple of belts to his head, and I see a glassy look coming over his eyes. Jesus Christ, a couple of jabs and he's going to fall down? I began to panic a little. I was supposed to be throwing a fight to this guy, and it looked like I was going to end up holding him on his feet ... By [the fourth round], if there was anybody in the Garden who didn't know what was happening, he must have been dead drunk."The thrown fight and a payment of $20,000 to the mafia got LaMotta his title bout against Marcel Cerdan.
LaMotta won the world title in 1949 in Detroit against Frenchman Marcel Cerdan, who was the world champion. Cerdan, called by many boxing critics the greatest champion ever from France, dislocated his arm in the first round and gave up before the start of the tenth, the official scoring being LaMotta winner by a knockout in ten because the bell had already rung to begin that round when Cerdan announced he was quitting. A rematch was arranged, but while Cerdan was flying back to the United States to fight the rematch, his Air France Lockheed Constellation crashed at the Azores, killing everyone on board. LaMotta met two challengers (Tiberio Mitri and Laurent Dauthuille) and beat them, and then he was challenged by Robinson for their rivalry's sixth fight. Held on February 14, 1951, the fight became known as boxing's version of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Robinson won by a technical knockout in the thirteenth round, when the fight was stopped with LaMotta lying on the ropes. In 1960, LaMotta was called to testify before a U.S. Senate sub-committee that was looking at underworld influence on the boxing game. Lamotta testified that he had thrown his bout with Billy Fox so the mob would arrange a title bout for him.
In the mid-1950s LaMotta suffered from a boxing injury and took time off to recover. He was always interested in baseball and decided to form the Jake LaMotta All-Star team. They played in Sterling Oval which was located between 165th and 164th Street between Clay and Teller Avenue in the Bronx. He also held professional fights at that field and his brother Joey often fought there.
After retirement, LaMotta bought a few bars and became a stage actor and stand up comedian. He also appeared in over 15 motion pictures, including The Hustler, with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. LaMotta played the bartender.
Jake LaMotta is recognized as having one of the best chins in boxing. While he was able to absorb punches with little effect, he was also adept at rolling with the punches to minimize the damage. He was recognized for having immense punching power, and was one of the first boxers to adopt the physical "bully" style of fighting, in that he always stayed physically close and in punching range of his opponent, by stalking him around the ring, and sacrificed taking punches himself in order to land his own powerful punches. Due to his aggressive, unrelenting style he was soon dubbed "The Bronx Bull" by fans and journalists alike.
Hollywood executives approached LaMotta with the idea of a movie about his life, based on LaMotta's 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story. The film, Raging Bull, was initially only a minor box office success, but eventually became a huge critical success both for director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, who gained about 60 pounds (27 kg) during the shooting of the film, to play the older LaMotta in the scenes of his later life.
De Niro lived in Paris for three months eating at the finest restaurants in order to gain the sufficient weight to portray LaMotta after retirement. De Niro received an Oscar for his performance.
The movie depicted a violent and self-destructive LaMotta who once even went as far as beating his own brother, manager Joey LaMotta, accusing him of having an affair with his (Jake's) then wife, Vickie LaMotta (in real life, this altercation happened between LaMotta and his best friend Pete, not his brother Joey).
In 1998, his son, Joseph LaMotta, died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
His nephew, John LaMotta, was a member of the Golden Gloves championship tournament.
LaMotta has been active on the speaking and autograph circuit, and has published several books about his career, his wife, and his fights with Robinson.
He is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
He was ranked 52nd on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. Ring Magazine also ranked him as one of the ten greatest middleweights of all-time.

Who's Almost Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Jake LaMotta

The picture of Joe Bruno with Vicki LaMotta brought Jake to mind as a "who's who" candidate. Most biographies say Jake was born in the Bronx in 1921, some say on the lower east side. I'm sure it's the Bronx, later (early 1930's) he moved to the east village area where he developed a friendship with Rocky Graziano. Rocky was born on Rivington, near Chrystie and later moved to Avenue A and around East 14th Street. Here are several youtube clips of Jake, telling some humorous, stories that I combined into one clip. Jake is still with us and living in Manhattan.

Battlin' Joe Bruno Of KV 2

With Jose Torres and Vicki LaMotta. Vikki was Jake's wife. In the inset is her picture from Playboy when she was 51. My father met Jake on several occasions when Jake was a piece goods salesmen after he retired from boxing.

John Palumbo: Bronx Paradise

above a clip from a recent film of John's called Bronx Paradise from youtube user verinoble. Forewarned of strong language.
About the film from backstage:

For his latest role, SAG actor John Palumbo didn't really have to prepare to get into character; he just had to play a part that he says he felt like he already knew inside and out. Raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, another Italian-American kid from Mulberry Street, Palumbo has made a career playing New York characters: cops and criminals, gangsters and tough guys, in films and TV shows like Law & Order and Oz. When he saw a casting notice in Back Stage East for a short film called Bottom Feeder, Palumbo knew he was the only actor who could play John Manfredi, described in the casting notice as a "muscular nut job and mob enforcer" in the Bronx. The character is based on the best friend of the film's writer-director Wayne Gurman, who stars as himself in this day-in-the-life story. "He called me up," Gurman recalls, "and he goes, 'Wayne, this is my part. I'm the guy, and no one can play this part better than me. No one knows this type of character better than me.' So I liked him already. The fact that he believed in himself made me believe." Gurman, who has been working as an actor for over a decade and also found his first work in student films and independent shorts from Back Stage casting notices, says Palumbo "looked the part, he talked the part, and he knew the type of people that were like this. He was perfect for the role." Bottom Feeder is the first film Gurman has written or directed, and it led to the feature film Bronx Paradise, again written by Gurman and based on events in his own life. Gurman cast the short film and the feature through Back Stage. After completing work on Bottom Feeder, Palumbo reprised his role as John Manfredi in Bronx Paradise. In fact, Palumbo convinced Gurman to expand the part from one scene to a co-starring performance. "Usually a writer-director wants to keep all the good stuff for themselves," Palumbo says, "but Wayne had a lot of confidence in me, and he knew I was gonna bring it." Actors such as Arthur Nascarella (The Sopranos), Karen Lynn Gorney (Saturday Night Fever), and Thomas Jefferson Byrd (prolific film actor and 2003 Tony Award nominee for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) appear opposite Palumbo in vignette-style scenes in the film about a guy trying to escape his rough life in the Bronx. Palumbo says he doesn't mind being typecast as an Italian-American tough guy. In fact, he hopes for it: "I want them to typecast me. That means I'm working. I'd love to play other parts, but until then I'm very happy to be playing those New York characters. I can make them come to life." Bottom Feeder won the award for best short screenplay at the 2006 New York Independent Film & Video Festival. Bronx Paradise is currently in the final stages of postproduction, and Gurman intends to travel the festival circuit this year while he seeks distribution for the film.

The Palumbo's Of KV

The beauty of the internet and blogging and the power of community. Just recently after posting a picture of John Palumbo (saying that I couldn't find a picture of Robert) I got this email from John along with the picture above

I found your blog dedicated to Knickerbocker Village where I was born and raised. Attached please find a picture of my father, Robert Palumbo, Angel Cordero (Hall of Fame jockey) and myself taken in Saratoga Springs last week. Please feel free to post this on your blog. Thanks and great job with the site.