$pit

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which ones did u frequent during ur schoolkid days?

i remember how i used to often (like day in and day out) just show up to homeroom in the morning to be counted for attendance.. then help out a bit on the farm (yea, i went to john bowne), then just dash out the front door past the sec guards and walk for miles and miles all over main street, queens blvd, northern blvd, woodhaven blvd & roosevelt ave checking out the lfs and most often coming home with at least one bag of fish hidden from my folks in my bookbag..

it started out with like bag of feeders for a dollar, to guppies mollies and swords from WOOLWORTH, to damsels from ace pet shop on northern at main and the other smaller korean(?) owned pet shop on main the one u had to go downstairs to get to, then i started working during high school and there i'd buy arowanas, snakeheads, oh and by the time i was attending nyu i was frequenting the manhattan petshops but i dont remember any of them well as they didnt seem oldschool or have much character compared to the queens ones, but were more like 'petland discounts' type but on 4th street or 2nd ave heh.

oh but i did like coral aquarium on roosevelt in queens, i'd almost every get off the e/f/r and walk home from 74th (when i ran outta $ to spend on crappy campus housing). the lady at the register (connie? or something like that) was always so helpful and so were her big boys at coral aq. looking glass on kisseena wasn't bad for fw and some sw coral/inverts, and they had a decent rept selection too.

the worst petshop i ever been to in the area was 'everglades' on northern around 80th st.. i was assigned by my hs counselor my first work 'interview' there and the old man/owner was a total pervert to say the least; by the time my guidance counselor started an inquiry they were under new management/ownership though and the new owner was decent but they never got into saltwater and, it was such a run down pet shop always so good thing cuz the livestock would have just kept perishing; i mean the old owner and the conditions there wreaked of of all sorts of 'abuse'!

oh and whatever happened to Larry from Ace?

and the other Larry(?) from the big petshop on woodhaven? my memory's a bit cloudy but i kinda remember bein told that both went to work for saltwater wholesalers.

anyways, are the lfs i mentioned like coral aquarium on roosevelt or lookin glass on kissena still around?

and what about fish town usa? they used to have such good deals there but it took me a while to realize most of the livestock i'd get there for cheap would die no matter how much TLC i gave acclimating.. and the middle age lady (by now) that works there seem to be totally nice some days and really mean others, which i'd never experienced from lfs employees til her,, wonder if she's still there.

i'm rather shy so i dont talk much with the staff nor the fellow customers but there had been times there were fellow reefers trying to strike up a conversation while checking out the livestock but i was so bashful.. and back then there wasn't manhattan reefs there was just that simple irchat for reefs from where i bought my 1st tank with a builtin overflow.. the guys name was john g. i think; i wonder if he's still reefer?

oh and what about lfs yall visited back then when u was a schoolkid? are those still around? i'm in my 30s already but can imagine its a healthy mixed diverse crowd here on mr & reefs.com!
 
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Paul B

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I was born in Brooklyn near the Aquarium but grew up in Flushing. At the time I went to grammar school in 1953 there were no fish stores or pet stores that I remember. They did sell some fish across the street from Flushing High along with sports equipment I think. I got my fish from Woolworth. Most of them were ten cents and I would go to Main Street with a string, a fishing weight and bubble gum to collect change that people would drop down the subway grates while getting on the bus. Thats how I got most of my money in those days. I always had a fish tank as well as many turtle enclosures. Eventually, probably in the late 60s Fish Town opened and In the very in the 70s I helped them start their salt water tanks.
 

ssminnow81

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There was a store on nostrand Ave near Quentin road in Brooklyn.
That was probably a once a month trip with my dad on Sunday mornings. Late 80's early 90's I think
Anyone remember that place?
 

Widdy

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Coral Aquarium on 75th and Roosevelt is still there. Did the Woolworth's goldfish/guppy run as well... I think the one I went was on 82nd between Rooselvelt and 37th Avenue. Was a nice trek to the library nearby there.

Thanks for the nostalgic moment.
 

$pit

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I was born in Brooklyn near the Aquarium but grew up in Flushing.

I got my fish from Woolworth. Most of them were ten cents and I would go to Main Street with a string, a fishing weight and bubble gum to collect change that people would drop down the subway grates while getting on the bus. Thats how I got most of my money in those days. I always had a fish tank as well as many turtle enclosures. Eventually, probably in the late 60s Fish Town opened and In the very in the 70s I helped them start their salt water tanks.

born near the aquarium (and coney isle)? lucky u! looking back, woolworth fish (and a pair of keets/budgiets) were the sweetest deals as were their lil bonsai trees!

fishing for money below main street subway grates to buy fishies.. how memorable!

i didnt realize fish town was around since even during the hippies days.. my parents met during the aftermath of vietnam war in asia my dad was in the army ordered to evacuate relief efforts after nixon bombing the crap outta vietnam/cambodia/laos but fell in love at a stopover in british rangoon and thats how i came to be.

There was a store on nostrand Ave near Quentin road in Brooklyn.
That was probably a once a month trip with my dad on Sunday mornings. Late 80's early 90's I think
Anyone remember that place?

not me i hardly ever trekked over to brooklyn, as seemed too far to walk or ride into, but perhaps theres mores brooklynites on mr than queensfolk to chime in about that joint!

Coral Aquarium on 75th and Roosevelt is still there. Did the Woolworth's goldfish/guppy run as well... I think the one I went was on 82nd between Rooselvelt and 37th Avenue. Was a nice trek to the library nearby there.

Thanks for the nostalgic moment.

which library was that? i dont remember there bein a woolworths on 82nd/37th.. but then again maybe that was a bit before my time or cuz we didnt move from bayside to jax till the mid 90s when i started hs. glad to hear coral aq is still there! cuz roosevelt has changed so much and not for the better - last time i was on roosevelt there were johns advertising 'masajes' from their hookers on like every block.. and overall, every yr i revisit nyc it seems like 100X times even more crowded/congested than even the previous one, too bad its all on manhattan & long islands, unlike nj.

In the late 60's and early 70's there were a number of Ed's Aquarium in the NYC area. The NYC ones closed down a long time ago, and I think the last few on LI are gone now too.

ahh... long island! my last couple years in nyc i moved from forest hills to holliswood (last eastmost stop on the queens subways lines was/is 179th st jamaica?) which was close to floral park and was a neat locale cuz some of that town was zoned queens and some of it in the even quieter/cleaner nassau... there was the county farm nearby (in bellerose?) where chickens/roosters would seemingly oftentimes escape their coops and end up in the streets on/near/along hillside ave.. sometimes spotted even crossin that big busy road! :bigeyes:

oh and it used to be fun to walk from john bowne hs into the qns botanical gardens thru to the flushing side of the flush-corona park behind what is now home depot, all the way along gcp and past the marina restaurant and bowery bay(?) thru to home in jax! wonder if thats still possible or they closed that long pedestrian route by now?

oh and there was an awful, awful adult movie theater i had to walk by on my way from my 1st job to my other job at laguardia airport (theater that was like on astoria blvd & around 94th? across the street from like a topless bar and near a burger king) where all sorts of perverts would be flashing privates from their cars and trying to grab pedestrians on the street by a surprise hellow or arm around the shoulder to do God knows what indiscretions in there.. yuck is that still there or has the community finally gotten them shut down?

there was a live poultry place off northern blvd on like 112th st (not far from the brazilian buffet) that would sell 'easter' chicks, ducklings and bunnies, as well as guinea pigs to eat as the local central/southamericans seemed to find them quite a delicacy.. is that still there?

and used to be a lil pet shop on junction off roosevelt where they had quite alot of fw tanks plus 100s of bettas out on folding tables in practically plastic shot glasses for like a dollar and hamsters and rabbits in tanks all over the place for cheap too.
 

Widdy

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which library was that? i dont remember there bein a woolworths on 82nd/37th.. but then again maybe that was a bit before my time or cuz we didnt move from bayside to jax till the mid 90s when i started hs. glad to hear coral aq is still there! cuz roosevelt has changed so much and not for the better - last time i was on roosevelt there were johns advertising 'masajes' from their hookers on like every block.. and overall, every yr i revisit nyc it seems like 100X times even more crowded/congested than even the previous one, too bad its all on manhattan & long islands, unlike nj.

Oops library is on 81st street. https://goo.gl/maps/XIvT3

Bayside to Jax? I was trying to do the opposite about 10 years ago, from Jax to Bayside. But anything I could afford I would be embarrassed to invite friends and family over.

Jax is crazy lately. Visited my parents this past weekend for Father's Day and found out their neighbor just sold their dilapidated 2 family house for $900k after listing it for 1 week. Full cash, no mortgage needed.
 
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$pit

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is roosevelt field mall still decent?

green acres mall has changed so much.. i would never go back there after experiencing first hand about a decade ago a sort of zimbabwe/'3rd world' version of 'running of the bulls' whether in the mall or out on the parking lot, even during any random weekend, not just the holidays. and wasn't it like back in 2008 a walmart employee got trampled to death by 200 people during black friday?

does ur lfs have black friday sales? now that i wouldnt worry about being trampled to death at cuz its a hobby few endeavor, luckily
 

$pit

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Oops library is on 81st street. https://goo.gl/maps/XIvT3

Bayside to Jax? I was trying to do the opposite about 10 years ago, from Jax to Bayside. But anything I could afford I would be embarrassed to invite friends and family over.

Jax is crazy lately. Visited my parents this past weekend for Father's Day and found out their neighbor just sold their dilapidated 2 family house after listing it for 1 week. Full cash, no mortgage needed.


yep, from apt to first house. my dad couldnt walk to the subway (into his job at NYPL lincoln center) from bayside like he could do from jax.

in general, even garbage houses in queens that are walking distance to the subway are worth close to a million, cuz of the rents ppl will pay as long as they can hop the subway into their six fig job in midtown or wall st/etc.

i remember on 9/11 i walked all the way from work park ave south up to the 59st(?) bridge then onto queens blvd & northern to get home to jax. i don't know how folks who were out of shape, elderly or had leg problems did it!

yeah, we did have a plain view of the two towers that morning.. i vividly remember walking in to work around 8am and seeing the twins in the horizon and then on the radio they announced one plane flying in and we ran out and saw one twin smoking then the other then one came down.. then the other.. then the spot was just smoke like they VANISHED *tears* and walking across the bridge home, could smell roasted... flesh =(
 

Widdy

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yep, from apt to first house. my dad couldnt walk to the subway (into his job at NYPL lincoln center) from bayside like he could do from jax.

in general, even garbage houses in queens that are walking distance to the subway are worth close to a million, cuz of the rents ppl will pay as long as they can hop the subway into their six fig job in midtown or wall st/etc.

i remember on 9/11 i walked all the way from work park ave south up to the 59st(?) bridge then onto queens blvd & northern to get home to jax. i don't know how folks who were out of shape, elderly or had leg problems did it!

yeah, we did have a plain view of the two towers that morning.. i vividly remember walking in to work around 8am and seeing the twins in the horizon and then on the radio they announced one plane flying in and we ran out and saw one twin smoking then the other then one came down.. then the other.. then the spot was just smoke like they VANISHED *tears* and walking across the bridge home, could smell roasted... flesh =(

That's the truth. There's not one inch of space in our communal backyard that school teachers don't want to rent to park their cars ever since 2 schools opened up a block away.

Yep, 59th/QueensBoro Bridge. My wife did the same walk that day. I was a contractor then and kicked off a lazy morning. Was still getting dressed when the first plane hit. I ended up sitting at Mark Twain (now Jax Diner) diner watching the cars with people piled on roll down Northern Blvd. I remember vividly, a lady jumped out of a truck she hitched a ride with, covered in soot asking me how she can get to Staten Island. I had no answer.
 

Clink51

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Coral Aquarium is still there and boy has that place TANKED (no pun intended). It all started after they got licensed to sell puppies. they have since lost that license
place is now expensive and everything in the tanks has Ick... also they sell 4 corals for maybe 8 times the worth. Place needs new management or a fish person to take over the tanks
 

$pit

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I ended up sitting at Mark Twain (now Jax Diner) diner watching the cars with people piled on roll down Northern Blvd. I remember vividly, a lady jumped out of a truck she hitched a ride with, covered in soot asking me how she can get to Staten Island. I had no answer.

epic memoires!

cant help but wonder how she and all others in her predicament (no pedestrian bridges to walk, or can't walk) fared..

i was just glad to be alive, and was devastated cuz entire companies' personnel were exterminated that day, and it all seemed rehearsed, even the breaking news hosts i mean how the heck can they say 2 minutes into the strikes that bin Laden is already behind it all.. ROFL cia must really think the masses are that flouridated already! :fishhit:

parking spots even in residential areas of northwestern queens.. practically extinct by now, eh?
 

$pit

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Coral Aquarium is still there and boy has that place TANKED (no pun intended). It all started after they got licensed to sell puppies. they have since lost that license
place is now expensive and everything in the tanks has Ick... also they sell 4 corals for maybe 8 times the worth. Place needs new management or a fish person to take over the tanks

aww shucks another lfs has gone to the dawgs then :arg:
 

$pit

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is coral aq layout still the same? like the fishroom on the left and the rest/most of the store to the right for small animals??

now u got me wonderin which lfs longislander is relocating his biz.. (and wonder where he will park?)
 

Clink51

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Its called Franklin Pet Center, formally Pet Barn, in Franklin Square. the gentleman's name is Manny. I used to love going there when i was into cichlids and sold off all of my fish to him when i decided to get out.
 

$pit

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the name rings a bell.. think i've been there matter of fact think i been while visiting fam & friends in nyc & li during thanksgiving around 2012.. is pet barn like on a big but quiet road and to the left they have fish tanks and to the right a bird room and canaries along the right wall? i bought a canary there for my late aunty that sang opera and loved canaries and i think the guy (maybe it was manny) was telling me to make sure not be out in the cold more than 20 seconds with the bird and to keep it close to my body under my jacket cuz it was already freezing cold out
 

$pit

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yep i was there to see the fish but swept away by the fancy canaries and got one for my birdlovin late aunty. pet barn seemed to be in the middle of nowhere with little to no pedestrian traffic... the opposite of coral aq. he could easily make like $1000/hr between selling fish, birds, puppies, kittens, & supplies on roosevelt & 37th thats a real congested hotspot

too bad its right under the train though, so gothamy gloomy =/
 

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