In 1964 there was a movement to alter the naming of the bridge from Verrazzano to the recently assassinated Kennedy. The backlash from Italian Americans was strong, as was the insistence of Irish Americans. That became ugly, and impressed on me how important this sort of thing often is to ethnic groups.
5
....and while Shea Stadium will always be Shea Stadium despite the Citifield sell-out, "the Stadium" will always be Yankee Stadium!
9
“Lady,” the cabby said, “it will always be Idlewild to me.” ..........and to me, too!
12
There is a joke down here in the D.C. area about taking the Cabin John Bridge to drive to Friendship Airport to catch a flight to Idlewild.
12
Car 54 where are you?
10
I can really identify. I have a lot of stuck thoughts like this, so I can imagine what it must have been like when the change first happened!
Tune of Edelwiess
Idlewild, Idlewild
That is what I still say now
I’m not dumb, so how come
I don’t say J-F-K now
Habits are strong and a change comes slow
Change comes slow, whenever.
Idlewild, Idlewild
J-F-K now forever.
Tune of Edelwiess
Idlewild, Idlewild
That is what I still say now
I’m not dumb, so how come
I don’t say J-F-K now
Habits are strong and a change comes slow
Change comes slow, whenever.
Idlewild, Idlewild
J-F-K now forever.
18
Thanks for reminding me of that lovely tune from the Sound of Music.
3
I called it Idlewild the other day by accident. Don't know where it came from, the long lost back reaches of my mind.
I first took a flight from Idlewild in 1960. Also, once I got to know the terminals and the interconnection roads, they change them. I would get totally lost today having not been there in 5 years.
I first took a flight from Idlewild in 1960. Also, once I got to know the terminals and the interconnection roads, they change them. I would get totally lost today having not been there in 5 years.
3
As long as we have the "Car 54" theme song and the Twilight Zone episode "The Odyssey of Flight 33," there will always be an Idlewild.
Rod Serling supposedly consulted with his brother Robert, an aviation writer, to come up with the dialogue n the cockpit and between the cockpit and tower in that episode. It seems to be quite realistic.
Rod Serling supposedly consulted with his brother Robert, an aviation writer, to come up with the dialogue n the cockpit and between the cockpit and tower in that episode. It seems to be quite realistic.
10
Take the A train!
4
John Fitzgerald Idlewild, for whom the airport was named, was never a president of the United States. His claims to fame were mostly negative. He never invaded Mexico, Cuba, Granada, Haiti. He never overthrew governments in Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, etc. He never sent us halfway around the world to kill people. I will happily continue to use the airport's original name.
7
And it's still the Interboro, 59th Street Bridge, Triborough Bridge and Tappan Zee Bridge to me too!
22
@Queens Grl: YEP! And it's still the Pan Am Building to me, no matter what it says across the top.
Same thing at Lincoln Center: I don't care how much money David Koch and David Geffen threw at those locations, in this New Yorker's mind those buildings will always just be the NY State Theater and Avery Fisher Hall.
Same thing at Lincoln Center: I don't care how much money David Koch and David Geffen threw at those locations, in this New Yorker's mind those buildings will always just be the NY State Theater and Avery Fisher Hall.
23
I stand corrected on the Triboro!
1
I feel the same way about National Airport in DC. They re-named it Ronald Reagan Airport, then some time after, it became Reagan/National Airport. After Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers they name an airport after him!!??! Crazy. At any rate, it will always be National Airport for me.
19
Yes, and when I tell reservation agents that I want to go to Washington National Airport, they often say, "I agree with you"
6
Where did the name Idlewild come from? Too lazy to google it.
2
sometimes i use the TAPPAN ZEE bridge, the TRIBOROUGH, or the 59TH STREET.
grrrrr.
and i too still refer to IRT, BMT, and IND.
grrrrr.
and i too still refer to IRT, BMT, and IND.
9
@petey: I *always* use Tappan Zee, Triborough, and 59th Street!
And yes, I also think of subway lines a IRT, BMT and IND. It's how I was taught when I was growing up here, and it has stuck!
And yes, I also think of subway lines a IRT, BMT and IND. It's how I was taught when I was growing up here, and it has stuck!
6
my parents only ever called them the IRT, BMT, and IND. at some point in my life i learned lines had letters and numbers!
3
YES!
1
And of course, 6th Avenue! The name was changed in 1945, some 16 years before I was even born, but I still think of it as 6th.
13
@valerie: It needs to be 6th Avenue - most people have no idea where "Avenue of the Americas" is. I try never to confuse tourists with that, if I'm asked for directions.
8
Yep, I'm 55-- Idlewild just outside my youthful memory, but IRT, IND, and BMT are still there. Here's another one that I never thought I'd have to explain to people-- mention the November 1965 blackout, and no one has any idea what you're talking about. Was just 4 and I remember the lights and TV flickering, then going out. And it was a big friendly party!
12
I still refer to the subways as BMT, IRT, and IND.
The Sea Beach, West End, Culver Line...
The Sea Beach, West End, Culver Line...
16
Well of course, you asked a cab driver! Car 54 where are you?
10
And the triboro bridge will always be the Triboro (not Triborough) bridge, not the bridge named after some carpetbagging guy from Cape Cod.
The Tappan Zee bridge should be named for the guy who helped clean up the river it spans: The Pete Seeger Bridge.
OK I'm done now.