13 April 2008

Walking Distance

Shore Road Hospital in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn was the kind of community hospital that people walked to. In fact, that's just what my mother did on the morning of April 12, 1964. On a sunny Sunday morning, suitcase in hand, and nine months pregnant, she proceeded down Marine Avenue to Shore Road.

After a quick exam, her doctor famously told her that she had some hours to go yet, and that he was going to play tennis.

Where was dad? He was back at the apartment trying to assemble the crib. Yes, the scene is right out of a fifties sit-com.

I didn't make my appearance until 4:08 p.m.

The hospital is long gone now, apparently demolished during the Verrazano Narrows Bridge construction later that year.

My mom reminds me of all of these details every year around this time.

Muhlenberg is also a hospital people walk to - and I'm sure there are a lot of memories associated with it. Herb Kaufman, who blogs about Plainfield for the Courier News, has written extensively about the closing of Muhlenberg. Read more here.

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