Ricky Amsterdam:
CLASS OF 1969
Sheepshead Bay High SchoolClass of 1969
Brooklyn, NY
CUNY Kingsborough Community CollegeClass of 1975
Brooklyn, NY
Ricky's Story
Life
Whoever reads this may or may not be happy to know that I survived the streets of Brooklyn. After graduation (which I did not attend due to expulsion by the supt. of schools) but I did get my diploma. Anyway, I went into the Army and spent 1 year in Vietnam. Came home and got into a lot of trouble and then a few years later straightened out, got married, had kids, made a career, got divorced (best thing to happen 2 me) now I'm retired and life is good, peace to all, be good and take care, Ricky
JUST A FEW THOUGHTS: Went to P.S. 52 from K-6th grade. Best friends in school were Tommy Victory, Greg DiBona, Anthony Triglia, and Michael Race from the projects on Nostrand and Shore Pkway. Female friends were Debra Aronsen (brother Danny would later marry my sister Judy), Betti Ann Donaldson, Mary Fike, Carolyn Grosso,
Went to Shell Bank JHS and best friends were Greg DiBona, Mike Timmins, Tommy Victory, Jimmy Brady, Jimmy Ryan, Mike Trumpfeller, Ricky Rabinowitz, Joey Cappello, Warren Abrams from Ocean Ave and Voorhies Ave projects. Female friends were Debra Aronsen, Betti Ann Donaldson, Ronnie Brady.
Went to Grady Vo Tec for one year and xferred back to Sheepshead Bay HS because there were no girls in Grady.
Came into Sheepshead Bay HS in Commercial course because there were soooo many girls in that program and after a year of not being with them I wanted to be all around them. My friendship with old friends and many many new friends flourished and was nurtured by the times. Way to many guy friends to mention in HS besides Greg DiBona, Mike Timmins, Frankie Novo, Jackie Sabato, Joey Smyth, Danny Flynn, Roger Hanson, Bobby Hanson, Chickie Hindel, Eddie Walsh, Anthony Triglia, Timmy & Dennis McKnight, Larry Reich, Ricky Rabinowitz, Richie Lee, Billy & Bobby Shavin (identical twins) etc etc so lets just say Me & Greg hung out down "The "End" half the time and down "the Beach" the other half with frequent visits to Bedford Park, The Bay Road, 52 Park, 286 Park, Gerritsen Park, The Old Section, Doc's on Emmons Ave and "The Courts" on Emmons & Ford St near the old Hickory Q. . Female friends I was close at the time with were Ronnie Brady, Ro Ro Musco, her best friend "Sissy", Peggy McMahon, Paula Pisciotti (Timmins) and the rest of the girls who hung out "Down The "End", Florence & Nancy Benecke, Lois Hardman, Dee Dee Hardy and everyone from "The Beach"
These are the many friends who I am still in contact with:
Greg DiBona, Mike Timmins, Danny Flynn, Roger Hanson, Bobby Hanson, Ricky Rabinowitz, Anthony Triglia, Robby Gerstel, Frankie Novo, Eddie Walsh, Larry Reich, Ronnie Brady, I recently met Peggy McMahon, Ro Ro Musco, Gene & Marlene Mead at re-uion at Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club.
RIP to life long friends Jimmy Brady, Jimmy Ryan, Mike Doyle, PJ Macken, Kenny Lynch, Danny Aronsen, Tommy McMahon, Mike, Jimmy & Pete Trumpfeller, Billy Shavin, Jackie Sabato, Kenny Lupens, Billy Donovan, Billy Burgraff, you are missed and thought of with laughter and smiles. Sad note that in October 2016 my best friend - life long best friend Greg DiBona passed away suddenly. As Greg's way to say good-bye to me on the phone was " I'll see you in the movies". and some day in the future I will be seeing him in the movies. For now I'll have to settle on a spot we picked out when we both got out of the Army back in 72. Our names were listed together on the Sheepshead Bay Memorial to the Veterans who served in the Armed Forces tribute on Emmons Avenue near the Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club. We had a pact that when one of us goes we would talk to each other at the site of the Veterans Memorial. So for now I communicate with Greg at our sacred site on Emmons Avenue. RIP brother.
If anyone ever walked into Billy's Tavern on Voorhies Ave & 23rd St around the holidays you would have seen an outrageous Holiday Banner hand painted that went the entire length of, and surrounded the bar which depicted Santa on his way but getting stalled with his chores due to stopping at Billy's Bar. This banner & mural was hand painted by Billy Shavin and given to Howie the bartender (who used to be the bartender at The Saddle Inn) and Howie would put it up every year for everyone to view in awe. This was a few years before Billy Shavin passed away. Howie also passed about a year later.
Our neighborhood was big - yet small and the friendships that were made were very close and the loss of close friends hit us all very hard.
My senior year in Sheepshead H.S. was insane.
Expelled from school in early April 69 but allowed to home study.
Received my diploma in June 69 and not allowed to attend graduation.
Summer of 1969 was absolutely the most insane summer of my life. Went to Woodstock and 6 months later I was in the jungle's of Viet Nam. Too many crazy stories to get into. Take a look at my pics of Viet Nam to get an idea.
Nearing the end of my enlistment (yes I enlisted, not drafted) and while on my way home on leave I met up with Mike Trumpfeller, Jimmy Trumpfeller, Barbara Roerich, Bernie Ford and a few other friends on the DeKalb Ave train station. They had no problem convincing me to come with them to sneak into a Grateful Dead concert at the Bklyn Academy of Music. (no tickets) We get there and to get into the concert we had to sneak into adajacent apt. bldg went to 3rd floor and opened staircase window where we crawled thru window and onto adajacent roof top. Went over roof top, across another then jumped onto fire escape of Academy of Music, climbed to the top and knocked on door hoping for someone to let us in. Hells's Angels opened door and chased us back to roof tops. Jimmy Trumpfeller jumped off roof top onto flag pole and made it to the street to get away. Rest of us hid behind an old AC unit on roof top. Waited 20 mins. and tried it all over again and this time someone opened door and let us in. We did this and I was in Full Dress Military Uniform carrying my Army Duffle Bag. As we snuck in the Hells Angles came running up the stairs looking for everyone who snuck in. Barbara Roerich took hold of my arm and we walked arm in arm right past the Hells Angels. They never thought to check on a guy in Military Uniform. Went into lobby where a girl came up to me and gave me her ticket stub and said enjoy the concert. I asked a Hells Angel security g...Expand for more
uard to take me to the seat. He escorted me to my seat which was 3rd row center stage!!! It was by far one of the best nights of my life with my friends with such twists and turns and a unique series of events that could never be repeated.
Flash forward to Sept. 15, 1976 and the Grateful Dead were playing on a Ferry boat concert co-starring Bo Diddley. It was called The Pirates Ball.
One of my best friends, Kenny Lynch worked on the ferry as a mechanic and Kenny asked me if I wanted to go to work with him and see the concert. Kenny lived on Nostrand and Ave X in the projects. So Kenny and me drove to his dock in Bklyn where the Dead and Bo Diddley were putting all their gear onto the ferry boat. The Hells Angels were supervising the enitre show including loading and unloading people and equip. Me and Kenny go to the boat and Kenny tells them we both work on the boat and we will be working this night. They say "no problem" and hand me and Kenny all access passes signed by the leader of the Hells Angels. They did this so other Hells Angels who didn't know we worked on the boat wouldn't give us any problems. So me and Kenny go to his cabin, then go upstairs for the boat ride to NYC to pick up the concert goers. On the way to NYC we meet Bo Diddley on deck and talk with him, smoking joints with him all the way to NY, then he tells us to see him later on the return trip. Concert was insane but what made it great was our pass as workers which allowed us access to every inch of the boat. We met Garcia, Bo Diddley again and many many Angels. On the way home we sat on the boat rails smoking joints and just laughing and laughing about the crazy night we just had. Then we saw the Angels do an insane thing which made us retreat to Kenny's cabin and made the newspaper the next day. Something we would never forget but never would talk about either. What a blast and just another insane story of concerts we went to as kids from Bklyn.
Kenny would pass away a short time later.
To Honor Kenny I named my son after him.
He was a great friend and each of us confided with one another the entire time we were both serving in Viet Nam. Did any of you know Kenny was a SFC (Sergeant First Class - E-7) with the 101st Airborne and that he was platoon sergeant/leader with his infantry unit. Kenny was highly decorated and gave me advise that helped save my life due to the survival skills he passed along to me while in Viet Nam.
Kenny and I went to Kingsboro Community College after we served in the Army. We got into daily fist fights in the cafeteria with the students at Kingsboro because we "Veterans" had our own table (we were blackballed). While eating lunch each day there was always one or another student who would walk past us and say the magic words to set us off: they would call us "Baby Killers" and we would erupt into an all out fist fight in the cafeteria which always ended up with us in front of the dean. His response was always the same to us.. he would say "please stop beating up my students" to which we would reply we will not harm them if he could stop them from saying the words that spark the fight, reminding him that to contrary belief, we were not baby killers, but that we held our service to our country as proud soldiers but we would not put up with statements so blatantly infuriating as to what was being said to us. This went on every day for six months. We finally both left Kingsboro a short time later. We figured it wasn't worth fighting kids who we thought we had defended in the war. We just wanted to get some college and "find ourselves" in an unforgiving world. Kenny passed away far too young and with such a promising future. His girlfriend was, and still is a close dear friend of mine, Dot Feist.
Early 70's during the free concert in Central Park by Jefferson Airplane,, me and Mike Trumpfeller make our way to the front stage where we see a friend of ours as the "roadie" for the Airplane, it was Alan Weslin from Emmons Ave. We quickly convinced him (threatened) and he gave us back stage passes to yet another great concert, another crazy story and we ended up getting stoned and swimming in the lake.
So many stories of the neighborhood that are so similar from all my friends. Many are no longer with us and I will always remember the close friendships we held, the faith and total loyal trust we had for each other and the insane times we had.
Take a look at the first pic I have and you will see me in my basement in 1976. On top of the pic is the stub I still have signed by the leader of the Hells Angels from the Pirates Ball concert on the Ferry where me and Kenny Lynch went. He signed it so other Angels on the boat knew we had all access because Kenny worked in the engine room of the Ferry boat.
Look at the pic closer and you will see the bar in my basement is from Martins Bar on Nostrand and Ave W. Mike Trumpfeller stole it and then gave it to me the next day. He actually pushed it home on top of a dumpster and brought it to my back yard and we put it into my basement where we used it daily for many years. In the background of the same pic is a NY State Flag. This Flag was personally sent to me from Governor Nelson Rockefeller while I was serving in Viet Nam. I also have his original letter he sent to me accompanying the flag and how proud he was that I was representing the State of NY during this conflict.
I am, and have always been proud to have served in Viet Nam. I always held my head high and looked people straight in the eye when telling them I was a Viet Nam Veteran, I did this back then when it was frowned upon, and I do it today.
So many other stories, so many other events, so many great friends. We were a unique group of people who grew up in a unique time in history and who shared in so many unique events during this historical time. I can go on and on, back and forth in time with each story bringing great memories and sad ones.
I am still proud to call Greg DiBona (now deceased) and Mike Timmins, as my two closest friends who stay in touch on a regular basis. Also still close with Anthony Triglia, Danny Flynn, Roger Hanson, Teresa Flynn (Breen) Debbie & Regina Smith and my old HS girlfriend from my senior year, Janet Savas.
Gonna say what I always said and still do: Be Good & Take Care
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