Thumbnail of one of Hamill's boyhood homes via Here's Park Slope
Here’s Park Slope editor Dan Myers took readers on a jaunt through the old neighborhood recently, following in the footsteps of legendary New York writer Pete Hamill.
Hamill recently published an autobiography, “A Drinking Life.” Myers brings Hamill’s world alive, even though the streets have changed considerably from when the writer grew up in the neighborhood in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He uses excerpts from the book, and finds old pictures, comparing them to the present-day neighborhood.
Back in the day, gangs like the South Brooklyn Boys and the Tigers used to rule the Park Slope streets. I love how old-timey gangs sound so cute.
“Pete Hamill’s Park Slope is at once familiar and yet completely changed. The vast majority of the buildings he mentions (including many more not described here) still exist, but the storefronts have been transformed so many times over the years that it’s next to impossible to record their entire history,” Myers writes.
Very nicely done. Hamill should take the guy out for a meal.
