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HI, MY NAME IS MIKE BARKAN AND THIS IS PART OF A PROJECT BY THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CONVERSATIONS ON THE HUDSON.TODAY WE'RE TALKING TO JODY GALEN HAYWARD.
SO, WHEN DID YOUR PARENTS MOVE TO HASTINGS? MY PARENTS MOVED TO HASTINGS IN 19 56, 7.
THEY BOUGHT THE HOUSE AND TOOK A YEAR TO RENOVATE.
SO I STARTED FIRST GRADE HERE AND HAVE ALMOST LIVED HERE THE WHOLE TIME SINCE.
WHY DID THEY MOVE TO HASTINGS? DO YOU KNOW? YES, I DO.
MY FATHER WAS DOING A RESIDENCY IN THE BRONX.
HE WAS A DOCTOR AND THEIR BEST FRIENDS FROM CLEVELAND, OHIO HAD MOVED TO HASTINGS.
SO WE WOULD COME UP FROM RIVERDALE EVERY SUNDAY AND SPEND SUNDAYS IN THIS IDYLLIC, WONDERFUL LITTLE VILLAGE.
AND MY PARENTS BECAME GOOD FRIENDS WITH ALL OF THEIR FRIENDS.
AND AS SHOCKING AS THIS WILL SOUND, HOUSING AND TAXES WERE EXCEPTIONALLY LOW IN HASTINGS.
AND IT WAS TOTALLY AFFORDABLE TO MY PARENTS.
MY FATHER WAS STILL ESSENTIALLY IN SCHOOL, SO THEY COULD BUY A HOUSE, THEY COULD RENOVATE IT, AND WE COULD LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER
WHO, WHO WERE YOUR PARENTS FRIENDS? MY PARENTS FRIENDS WERE NAMED THE SARBIN.
MY PARENTS BOTH GREW UP IN CLEVELAND AND MY MOTHER KNEW LYNN SARBIN SINCE SHE WAS 10.
AND HER SARBIN, WHO WAS HER HUSBAND AT THE TIME, WAS ALSO FROM CLEVELAND.
BUT THEY BECAME FRIENDS WITH ALL THE PEOPLE WHOSE CHILDREN BECAME MY FRIENDS.
THE NETHER COTS, THE PECKS, THE DREYFUSS, THE RINS.
ALL OF THESE PEOPLE WERE INTERESTING, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL, JUST TERRIFIC PEOPLE.
AND YOUR DAD WAS INVOLVED, UH, IN, IN A NUMBER OF THINGS.
BUT ONE OF THEM THAT WAS BASED ORIGINALLY IN HASTINGS WAS, UH, THE, UH, HASTING CENTER.
HIS PRACTICE WAS IN NEW YORK CITY, GOT BORED WITH THAT.
HIS FIRST BOOK WAS ABOUT THE WAR RESISTORS OF THE VIETNAM WAR.
THE BOYS THAT WERE NOT CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS AND WERE NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT ANTI-WAR, THEY WERE OPPOSED TO THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
AND THEY WILLINGLY WENT TO PRISON.
SO THIS BOOK WAS HIS INTRODUCTION TO A WHOLE DIFFERENT AREA OF LIFE, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, MORAL VALUES AND ETHICS.
AND IN 1969, A LOT OF SCIENCE WAS OUTSTRIPPING THE LAWS THAT WE HAD.
SO MY FATHER AND DAN CALLAHAN, ALSO FROM HASTINGS, HE WAS A PHILOSOPHER, GOT TOGETHER AND THOUGHT, WHO'S GONNA FIGURE OUT WHO GETS A AN ORGAN TRANSPLANT? WHEN IS SOMEONE DEAD? OR IS IT BRAIN DEATH? IS IT HEART DEATH? NONE OF THESE THINGS WERE ON THE BOOKS.
AND NO MEDICAL SCHOOL HAD AN ETHICS COURSE.
SO ALL OF THIS WAS KIND OF A BRAVE NEW WORLD.
AND THEY GOT TOGETHER FIRST IN THE CALLAHAN'S, I THINK, LIVING ROOM, AND THEN AT OUR HOUSE ON CIRCLE DRIVE.
AND THEY INVITED INCREDIBLY FAMOUS SCIENTISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, RELIGIOUS LEADERS, DOCTORS, UH, FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD TO A HUGE MEETING IN JUNE OF, I THINK IT WAS 1969, AND STARTED THE HASTINGS CENTER.
SO, UH, WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL OR GRADE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? SO FUN FOR ME.
I HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY AWARE THAT IT WAS, I EVEN KNEW AT THE TIME THERE WAS BULLYING.
THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF THINGS THAT YOU HOPE PEOPLE ARE ADDRESSING NOW THAT THEY WEREN'T AS CONSCIOUS OF FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE IN THOSE DAYS.
BUT I HAD A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE GROWING UP HERE.
UH, THERE WERE SOME ODD THINGS.
WE WEREN'T ALLOWED TO WEAR PANTS TO SCHOOL EVER, INCLUDING MY SENIOR YEAR, WHICH WAS 19 68, 69.
UM, WE GOT TO PAY A DOLLAR EVERY SPRING FOR A CHARITY.
IT WAS SHAWNEE CAMP AND BEVERLY AIR WAS THE PERSON, I'M SURE YOU'VE INTERVIEWED HER, MAYBE YOU HAVEN'T, BUT SHE WAS THE PERSON WHO WAS AFFILIATED WITH THAT.
AND FOR $1, THE GIRLS COULD WEAR SHORTS ONE DAY.
IF YOUR SKIRT WAS TOO SHORT, BOYS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO WEAR BLUE JEANS.
UH, THE AFOREMENTIONED LYNN SARBIN WENT IN AND COMPLAINED, BRINGING TWO PAIRS OF PANTS, SAYING, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE KHAKI PANTS AND BLUE JEANS?
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SO, UH, WE COULDN'T WEAR SNEAKERS ALL DAY.THERE WERE A LOT OF ODD THINGS THAT FEEL VERY ODD NOW THAT WE JUST ACCEPTED.
AND I THINK ONE OF THE BEST THINGS GROWING UP HERE WAS THAT, I HOPE I'VE GOT THIS RIGHT.
FROM SEVENTH GRADE TILL 12TH GRADE, ALL THE GIRLS HAD GYM TOGETHER.
SO YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BECAME FRIENDS WITH MANY, MANY PEOPLE THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE NECESSARILY BEEN EXPOSED TO.
BECAUSE IN ADDITION, IN SEVENTH GRADE, THEY KIND OF STARTED TRACKING.
SO IT WAS CONCEIVABLE THAT YOU WOULD BE WITH THE SAME 25 KIDS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS THAT HAPPENED.
BUT BECAUSE OF GYM, YOU HAD FRIENDS OF ALL DIFFERENT STRIPES.
OH, AND WE ALSO HAD TO WEAR GYM UNIFORMS. WE HAD TO CHANGE INTO
AND NO GIRL EVER TOOK A SHOWER.
IT, IF YOU WANTED TO, WE WERE GRADED IN GYM.
SO IF YOU WANTED TO RAISE YOUR GRADE, THE RUMOR WAS YOU COULD TAKE A SHOWER AND THEY MIGHT KICK YOU UP A NOTCH.
BUT YOU WERE GRADED ON, WE HAD WRITTEN TESTS IN GYM AND WE HAD, WE WERE GRADED ON THE CLEANLINESS OF OUR GYM UNIFORMS AND OUR BEHAVIOR AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO LOTS OF THINGS WERE DIFFERENT THEN.
IT IS STRANGE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
I THINK THE BUS MAYBE WAS UP TILL SECOND GRADE, BUT EVERYBODY WALKED.
SO WE WERE ALL WALKING TO THE BIG SCHOOL.
UM, I'M SURE PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED THIS TO YOU, WE HAD THOSE DUCK AND COVER DRILLS DURING EARLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
WE HAD STATIONS THAT WE WERE TO GO TO OUT IN VARIOUS POINTS OF THE VILLAGE, WHERE SHOULD A BOMB BE DROPPED ON HASTINGS? OUR MOTHERS WOULD COME AND GET US AND TAKE US HOME.
I MEAN, IT WAS DIFFERENT TIMES.
AND WHAT, UH, EXTRA ACTIVITIES DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH WHEN YOU WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL? LOTS AND LOTS OF ACTIVITIES.
IT SEEMED LIKE MOST PEOPLE DID SOMETHING.
ALL THE GIRLS WERE ON SPORTS TEAMS OF ONE NATURE OR ANOTHER.
AND WE HAD AFTERSCHOOL ACTIVITIES.
AND ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT SCHOOL ACTIVITIES OR JUST LIFE ACTIVITIES? NO SCHOOL ACTIVITIES.
I THINK I DID SOMETHING WITH, UM, THE YEARBOOK.
I PROBABLY WAS WITH HONOR SOCIETY, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND DID YOU GO OUT FOR CHEERLEADING? I WAS A HUDSON AT
I DON'T THINK THAT WAS AS GOOD AS A CHEERLEADER, BUT I LOVED IT.
AND WE HAD REALLY STRANGE UNIFORMS THEN TOO.
WE HAD WHITE SHIRTS, BEANIE CAPS, WHITE SHORTS, AND FELT GREEN AND YELLOW SUSPENDERS.
AND WERE THERE ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL THAT YOU GOT INVOLVED IN? TONS.
MY FRIENDS AND I, WE DID HORSEBACK RIDING, YOU KNOW, NOT, OBVIOUSLY NOT IN HASTINGS.
THERE WERE AT LEAST FOUR BOWLING ALLEYS ON CENTRAL AVENUE.
IN FACT, AT ONE POINT THERE WERE MINIATURE GOLF COURSES ON CENTRAL AVENUE.
SO WE DID BOWLING, HORSEBACK RIDING.
THERE WAS ALWAYS A WONDERFUL ART CLASS AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER.
UM, I'M TRYING TO THINK WHAT ELSE WE MIGHT HAVE DONE.
I GUESS THAT WAS SORT OF THE MOST ORGAN.
EITHER MODERN DANCE OR BALLET OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
I TOOK PIANO FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS.
I WAS QUITE A SERIOUS PIANIST AT THE TIME.
SO IN, WHEN YOUR PARENTS MOVED HERE, UH, IT WAS BASICALLY POLITICALLY A REPUBLICAN TELL? TOTALLY.
AND THERE WERE, UH, SOME VERY STRONG ANTI-COMMUNIST FEELINGS AMONGST SOME OF THE CITIZENS.
UH, SOME OF THE TEACHERS WERE, OR PEOPLE THAT WANTED TO BE IN POSITIONS OF, OF GOVERNMENT WERE BLACKLISTED BECAUSE THEY HAD LEFTIST LEANINGS.
DID DID YOU GET A SENSE OF ANY OF THAT FROM YOUR PARENTS? YES, BUT THEY HAD A GROUP OF VERY LIBERAL, LIKE-MINDED FRIENDS.
BUT WE ALL KNEW THAT ALL THE REPUBLICANS WERE, I MEAN ALL THE MAYORS WERE REPUBLICAN.
AND IT WAS A VERY, VERY CONSERVATIVE TOWN.
AND I HATE TO SAY THIS, BUT UH, MY FAMILY WAS JEWISH, NOT RELIGIOUS, BUT CULTURALLY JEWISH.
AND MANY NEIGHBORS ON CIRCLE DRIVE DIDN'T SPEAK TO MY PARENTS AT FIRST.
UH, I'VE HEARD THAT WE WERE, HASTINGS WAS RESTRICTED UNTIL THE EARLY FIFTIES.
BRONXVILLE DEFINITELY WAS, UH, IT WASN'T, I I ALWAYS LOVED MY CHILDHOOD, BUT THERE
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WERE CERTAIN ELEMENTS THAT WERE A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE IF YOU WERE THE ONLY JEWISH GIRL IN THE GRADE, WHICH I WAS AT SOME POINT.IT WAS, UH, WE DID TAKE OFF THE JEW JEWISH HOLIDAYS AND NO ONE ELSE DID.
OBVIOUSLY
AND WE HAD SCHOOL PRAYER WHEN I FIRST GOT HERE.
LITTLE THINGS MADE YOU JUST FEEL SORT OF DIFFERENT.
AND UH, AS FAR AS THE CONSERVATIVE NATURE OF THE TOWN, BY THE TIME I WAS NINE OR 10, THEY PROBABLY ALREADY HAD A DEMOCRATIC MAYOR.
I THINK MAYOR WOODARD WAS ELECTED THEN.
AND THAT STUFF DIDN'T REALLY IMPACT ANY OF US.
HOWEVER, DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, THERE WAS A HUGE DIVIDE HERE.
AND I DO REMEMBER THAT WHEN THE STUDENTS WERE KILLED AT KENT STATE, MY MOTHER, WHO WAS BANKING IN THOSE DAYS AT THE BANK ACROSS FROM WHAT IS NOW THE CHASE BANK, WAS TALKING TO THE TELLER.
AND THE TELLER SAID THAT SHE THOUGHT THAT ALL KIDS WHO WERE ANTI-WAR SHOULD BE LINED UP AND SHOT.
AND MY MOTHER THAT DAY PULLED HER MONEY OUT OF THE BANK AND MOVED ACROSS THE STREET.
SO THIS WAS HASTINGS SAVINGS ALONE? IT MUST'VE BEEN, YEAH.
THERE WERE QUITE A LOT OF ITERATIONS OF BANKS.
THE CHASE BANK STARTED OUT AS COUNTY TRUST AND THERE WERE ALL DIFFERENT ONES.
SO WERE, ARE THERE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES THAT YOU REMEMBER OF BULLYING OR ANTISEMITISM THAT YOU EXPERIENCED? I DON'T REMEMBER ANTISEMITISM, BUT BOYS IN MY GRADE TOLD ME THAT PEOPLE WOULD CALL THEM NAMES.
AND I'M NOT GONNA USE THE NAMES 'CAUSE I DON'T LIKE THEM, BUT NO ONE SAID ANYTHING TO ME.
UM, HONESTLY, SOME OF MY KIDS' FRIENDS WERE CALLED THINGS HAVING TO DO WITH BEING JEWISH AND WERE VERY UPSET BY THAT.
SO IT EVIDENTLY CARRIED ON SOMEWHAT TO THE NEXT GENERATION.
THE BULLYING, SADLY, I DO REMEMBER THAT.
AND THERE WERE ALWAYS THREE OR FOUR BOYS AND MAYBE ONE GIRL WHO WERE, I WOULD SAY SEVERELY BULLIED.
SO DID YOU, OH, DID YOU GO TO THE CINEMA IN HASTINGS? WE CONSTANTLY, WE LOVED IT.
MY SISTER AND I WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT THEY USED TO HAVE A RAFFLE AND IF YOU WON YOU'D HAVE TO GO UP AND GET A PRIZE.
AND BOTH OF US WERE SO SHY THAT WE PRAYED, WE WOULDN'T WIN.
WE COULDN'T IMAGINE GOING ON STAGE.
ALSO, THE MOVIES CHANGED EVERY WEEK.
I GUESS THEY CHANGED ON WEDNESDAYS AND MY MOTHER AND HER FRIEND WOULD GO WHENEVER THE MOVIE CHANGED THAT NIGHT.
THEY WENT TO THE MOVIES EVERY SINGLE WEEK.
AND DO THEY HAVE SPECIAL SHOWINGS ON THE WEEKENDS FOR KIDS DURING THE DAY? THEY MUST HAVE, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THAT.
THEY'VE HAD TO HAVE, IT WAS FUN.
AND DID YOUR KIDS HAVE A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY WENT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE GRADE SCHOOL HERE? TO BE HONEST, I DON'T THINK THEY HAD AS GOOD AN EXPERIENCE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN THAT BAD BECAUSE ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS IS MOVING BACK TO HASTINGS AND I'M ECSTATIC ABOUT THAT.
I WOULD SAY THAT I HAD JUST, IT WAS JUST A WONDERFUL TIME.
PARTLY WE HAD SOMETHING LIKE 150 KIDS IN OUR GRADE.
WE HAD, I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST CLASSES.
SO YOU HAD A VERY WIDE ARRAY OF PEOPLE TO BE FRIENDS WITH.
YOU KNOW, YOU WEREN'T, AS I SAID, YOU WEREN'T STUCK WITH THREE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN YOUR READING GROUP OR WHATEVER IT WAS.
AND WAS THERE A SENSE WHEN YOU WERE IN SCHOOL OF A DIVISION IN THE COMMUNITY BETWEEN PEOPLE THAT LIVED UP THE HILL AND PEOPLE THAT LIVED DOWN? CERTAINLY I WAS KNOWN TO BE FROM THE HILL AND I THINK, AND THIS IS SORT OF A REFLECTION OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, I THINK I WAS LESS AWARE BECAUSE I WASN'T THE ONE DOING WITHOUT, AND TYPICALLY PEOPLE WOULD COME TO MY HOUSE, BUT I HAD FRIENDS WHOSE HOUSES OR APARTMENTS I NEVER WENT TO.
UM, I HAD FRIENDS WHO LATER TOLD ME THE REASON THEY DIDN'T HAVE ME TO A SLEEPOVER, WHY THEY CAME TO MY HOUSE EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT WAS, 'CAUSE THEIR MOTHER WAS DRUNK ALL THE TIME AND THEY DIDN'T WANT ANYONE TO SEE THAT.
UM, I THINK THERE WERE HUGE DISTINCTIONS AND I THINK I WAS MARGINALLY AWARE OF THAT, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IS UNFORTUNATE IN CERTAIN WAYS, BUT IT ALSO MEANT EVERYONE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HANG OUT TOGETHER.
ONE THING I DID WANNA TELL YOU ABOUT OUR CHILDHOOD THAT AGAIN, MY SISTER REMINDED ME OF BECAUSE WE LIVED ON CIRCLE DRIVE AND SUGAR POND WAS BEHIND THE HOUSE.
ALL OF OUR FRIENDS WOULD COME OVER EVERY, WHENEVER THE SKATING SIGN WAS UP AND WE'D PUT OUR SKATES ON IN THE HOUSE
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AND WALK DOWN THROUGH THE WOODS IN OUR SKATES AND THEN JUMP ONTO THE POND.PROBABLY HORRIBLE FOR THE SKATES, BUT TOTALLY FUN.
AND OF COURSE THE SHACK WAS THERE WITH COCO AND A FIRE AND IT WAS JUST A, IT WAS REALLY FUN.
DID YOU EVER SWIM IN THE HUDSON DURING THE SUMMER? NEVER.
THAT WAS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE HILL AND THE VILLAGE.
I WOULD SAY THAT MOST OF US WHO DIDN'T LIVE IN THE VILLAGE WERE BIZARRELY UNAWARE OF THE HUDSON RIVER.
ABSOLUTELY STRANGELY UNAWARE OF IT.
RIGHT NOW, AS A GROWNUP, I GO DOWN TO THE RIVER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
I WANNA HAVE A DRINK BY THE RIVER, I WANNA HAVE DINNER BY THE RIVER.
IN THE OLD DAYS, IT WASN'T A FIXTURE OF OF MY EXPERIENCE OF THE TOWN.
WHEREAS MY GIRLFRIENDS, A LOT OF 'EM SWAM IN THE RIVER AND YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT IT.
DID YOU, WHERE DID YOU HANG OUT IN THE VILLAGE? OKAY, THIS IS GONNA SOUND STRANGE AGAIN.
I WASN'T ALLOWED TO HANG OUT IN THE VILLAGE.
THE WALL WAS THERE, CUP AND SAUCER WAS THERE.
BY THE TIME I GOT TO HIGH SCHOOL, MY MOTHER WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN WHAT I WAS DOING ANYWAY.
SO OF COURSE I WENT INTO CUP AND SAUCER AND OR WENT TO THE CENTER AND GOT FRENCH FRIES.
BUT THE IDEA THAT I WOULD GO DOWN TO THE VILLAGE AFTER SCHOOL AND NOT GO HOME AND DO MY HOMEWORK WAS ANATHEMA.
THERE'S NO WAY THAT WAS HAPPENING
BY THE TIME HIGH SCHOOL CAME, ALL BETS WERE OFF.
YOU COULD DO WHATEVER YOU WANTED.
SO WHERE DID YOU HANG OUT IN HIGH SCHOOL? I HUNG OUT IN DOBBS FERRY.
THERE WERE A LOT OF KIDS THERE, A LOT OF BOYS, A LOT OF, THERE WERE A TON OF BARS IN HASTINGS TOO, FOR THE MOST PART.
I HA HUNG OUT AT THE BARS IN TARRYTOWN AND SOME IN DOBBS, SOME IN HASTINGS.
I THINK WE COUNTED ONCE THERE WERE 21 BARS.
AND IN THOSE DAYS GIRLS COULD DRINK AT, ANYONE COULD DRINK AT 18.
SO A GIRL OF 15, IF YOU MESSED UP YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE A LITTLE BIT, YOU COULD GET INTO ANY BAR YOU WANTED TO GET INTO.
SO I HAVE TO SAY THAT WAS FUN TOO.
SO WHICH BARS AND HASTINGS DID YOU? DORSEY'S WAS MY, THE ONE I HUNG OUT AT.
THEY WERE VERY NICE AND THEY LET YOU IN AND IT WAS VERY PLEASANT.
I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE HUNG OUT THERE.
AND WHAT ABOUT PIZZA? DID YOU GO TO ANY PIZZA PLACES? I DID NOT.
AND THAT WAS ANOTHER, THAT'S JUST ME.
I KNOW THE PIZZA PLACE WAS HUGE AND A FRIEND OF MINE YESTERDAY WAS SAYING, YOU GET PIZZA FOR 15 CENTS A SLICE.
BUT I DON'T KNOW, WE JUST, I DIDN'T FOR SOME REASON FRENCH FRIES AT THE CENTER.
THAT WAS A BIG THING FOR ME AND MY FRIENDS.
DO, DO YOU THINK THE VILLAGE HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS THAT YOU'VE BEEN HERE? I KNOW THAT THE FEELING AMONG MOST PEOPLE FROM THE OLD DAYS IS YES, CERTAINLY IT'S MISSING THE STORES THAT PEOPLE COULD SHOP AT IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE CARS OR IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE WHEREWITHAL TO GO INTO THE CITY AS MY MOTHER DID, TO TAKE US SHOPPING.
UM, I THINK THE CULTURE HAS CHANGED AND THE VILLAGE REFLECTS THAT.
AND OBVIOUSLY IT'S THE TAXES ARE OUTRAGEOUS.
YOU CAN'T MOVE BACK HERE TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, UNLESS YOU HAVE A HOUSE, A FAMILY HOUSE THAT YOU CAN MOVE INTO.
UM, I DON'T THINK IT'S CHANGED AS MUCH AS PEOPLE THINK, BUT SURE IT'S IT.
THERE WAS A FACTORY EMPLOYING 70% OF THE TOWN WHEN I GREW UP.
SO OF COURSE THE POPULATION HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY IN THAT SENSE.
AND IN YOUR ADULT LIFE IN HASTINGS, I KNOW THAT YOU AND DENISE ARE VERY INVOLVED WITH THE SCHOOLS AND STUFF.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? DENISE ROSENBERG AND I CAME UP THROUGH THE PTSA WE, SHE WAS ACTUALLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE WHOLE PTSA, I THINK I WAS PRESIDENT OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL OR OR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
AND WE IDENTIFIED A NEED IN HASTINGS WHEN THE BUDGET WAS, IS FUNDED BY PROPERTY TAXES.
AND WE HAVE NO MANUFACTURING, WE HAVE NO EASEMENT FOR THAT.
SO MANY, MANY THINGS IN THE SCHOOL BUDGET HAD TO BE ELIMINATED AND TAXES JUST KEPT RISING.
SO A FEW LOCAL COMMUNITIES WERE STARTING NON-PROFIT FOUNDATIONS WHERE YOU WOULD SOLICIT FUNDS FROM PEOPLE AND THEN FUNNEL OF THE MONEY BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.
SO WE COPIED DOBBS FERRY AND BRONXVILLE, WHICH WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL FOUNDATIONS.
AND WE ESTABLISHED THIS 5 0 1 C3 HASTINGS EDUCATION FOUNDATION.
PEOPLE DIDN'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHAT A FOUNDATION WAS.
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ELITIST.WE HAD TO POINT OUT THAT WHERE ELSE CAN YOU GIVE MONEY AND IT'S GONNA GO TO ALL THE KIDS.
PART ONE OF OUR RULES WAS YOU COULD NOT GIVE MONEY AND DESIGNATE IT FOR YOUR CHILD'S CLASS.
IT, THESE WERE GRANTS THAT HAD TO BENEFIT EVERYONE AN ENTIRE GRADE, WHATEVER.
SO WE ARE NOT INVOLVED ANYMORE, BUT IT'S STILL VERY SUCCESSFUL.
NOT VERY WELL KNOWN IN MY OPINION.
I THINK IT NEEDS MORE PUBLICITY, BUT IT, WE'VE GIVEN OVER $2 MILLION SINCE 1997 TO THE SCHOOLS.
AND I THINK MOST OF THE GRANTS HAVE BEEN TERRIFIC.
IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I'M VERY PROUD OF AND DENISE FEELS THE SAME WAY.
AND ARE, ARE THERE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU'RE, THAT YOU ARE INVOLVED IN IN THE VILLAGE? NOT CURRENTLY.
I ACTUALLY DID A LOT OF VOLUNTEERING IN YONKERS BECAUSE I FELT THERE WAS A NEED THERE.
BUT RIGHT AT THE MOMENT I'M JUST DOING FAMILY STUFF.
I'M NOT ACTIVE IN ANY OF THAT.
SO DID YOU HAVE FAVORITE TEACHERS IN IN SCHOOL? YES.
I HAD A COUPLE OF VERY FAVORITE TEACHERS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, MRS. DREWS, WHOM EVERYBODY IN HASTINGS KNOWS WAS FANTASTIC AND THE KINDEST WOMAN EVER.
I HAD A BEAUTIFUL FOURTH GRADE TEACHER WHO BROUGHT HER GUITAR AND SANG FOLK SONGS TO US AND INTRODUCED US TO ALL KINDS OF POETRY.
AND IN HIGH SCHOOL, OF COURSE, EVERYONE LOVED MS. LLOYD FOR WHOM THE LIBRARY IS NAMED.
AND IN FACT, I'M PRETTY SURE THAT MS. LLOYD SPILLED THE BEANS TO MY CLASS ABOUT THE MIRACLE SLASH ROSENBERG KIDS BEING SHIELDED AND RAISED IN HASTINGS AFTER THEIR PARENTS WERE EXECUTED.
SHE WAS VERY, VERY LIBERAL, VERY ANTI-WAR AND A REAL, REAL INSPIRATION FOR US.
UM, MR. RITNER ALSO KIND OF A FIREBRAND GREAT GUY.
HE WAS, WE HAD HIM FOR HIS FIRST YEAR OF TEACHING, CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE HOW YOUNG THESE PEOPLE WERE.
AND I WOULD SAY THAT MY MOST FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE WAS THE TWO YEARS I HAD, UH, THE, WHAT DO YOU CALL IT? HONORS ENGLISH CLASS WITH MR. ASHMAN, WHO WAS THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERAL.
THAT WAS JUST A WHOLE OTHER EXPERIENCE.
BUT HE, I THINK I BECAME A WRITER BECAUSE OF HIM, BECAUSE HE TRAINED US UNBELIEVABLY WELL.
AND YOU HAD TO READ MASSIVE NUMBERS OF BOOKS IF YOU WERE OBEDIENT THE WAY I WAS.
AND PRODUCE A, AN ESSAY, A NONFICTION ESSAY, YOU KNOW, LIKE A, EVERY OTHER WEEK.
AND THEN THE OPPOSITE, EVERY OTHER WEEK WOULD BE A BOOK REPORT BASED ON THESE BOOKS WE HAD TO READ WITH CRAZY THEMES.
AND YOU JUST HAD TO SORT OF MATCH THE BOOKS TO THE THEMES.
IT WAS EXHAUSTING AND FANTASTIC.
AND I WENT TO QUITE A GOOD COLLEGE AND I NEVER HAD AN ENGLISH TEACHER THAT I THOUGHT WAS AS GOOD AS THIS EVER.
I IN FACT, CHANGED MY MAJOR BECAUSE IT WAS SO DISAPPOINTING.
SO HE WAS AN, AN UNUSUAL PERSON, BUT AN EXTRAORDINARY TEACHER.
I THOUGHT, WHAT, WHAT DID YOU CHANGE YOUR MAJOR TO? ART HISTORY?
'CAUSE I HAD NEVER HEARD OF IT.
AND I JUST LOVED THE IDEA THAT YOU COULD LOOK AT PAINTINGS AND GET GRADED FOR IT.
SO, SO DID YOUR KIDS HAVE FAVORITE TEACHERS HERE? YEAH, I DON'T THINK SO.
I ACTUALLY ENDED UP SENDING THEM TO PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR HIGH SCHOOL, WHICH WAS ODD BECAUSE I WAS STARTING THE FOUNDATION THEN.
AND I'M SUCH A LOYAL HASTINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL GRADUATE.
BUT YOU KNOW, EACH FAMILY HAS TO DO WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO.
SO WHY, WHY DID YOU DO THAT? COMPLICATED REASONS.
THE FIRST TWO JUST NEEDED TO GO TO PRIVATE SCHOOL.
AND THEN WHEN THE THIRD CAME ALONG, SHE WAS SO MUCH YOUNGER, SHE WANTED TO DO WHAT HER OLDER SIBLINGS DID.
SO WHEN YOU WERE HERE, WHEN WAS THE POOL OPENED UP? OKAY.
THE POOL, AS FAR AS I KNOW, PROBABLY DIDN'T OPEN UNTIL I WAS STARTING HIGH SCHOOL.
AND WHAT WAS INTERESTING, AND I REMEMBER MY FATHER SAYING THIS TO ME, WAS IT GOT VOTED DOWN AT LEAST ONCE BY THE VILLAGE.
EITHER THEY DIDN'T WANNA SPEND THE MONEY OR NOBODY UNDERSTOOD WHY WE NEEDED A POOL.
AND THERE WERE MEETING LOTS AND LOTS OF MEETINGS.
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EVEN WHEN WE MOVED IN, HAD A WEIRD LITTLE POOL THAT HAD BEEN A LILY POND AND THEN BECAME A POOL AND THEN BUILT UP.AND MY, I REMEMBER MY FATHER COMING HOME FROM ONE OF THESE MEETINGS AND SAYING THAT HE STOOD UP AND SAID, I HAVE A POOL AT HOME.
I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE A POOL.
EVERYONE DESERVES TO SWIM IN THE SUMMER.
WHY AREN'T PEOPLE VOTING FOR THIS? SO EVENTUALLY IT WAS PASSED AND IT BECAME, UH, JUST FANTASTIC IN HIGH SCHOOL.
EVERYBODY I BELONGED TO THE POOL, EVEN THOUGH I HAD A POOL.
YOU'D MEET YOUR FRIENDS THERE.
IT WAS SUPER, SUPER FUN AND VERY MUCH APPRECIATED BY EVERYBODY.
SO YOUR DAD WAS, WAS VERY WELL KNOWN.
DID THAT IMPACT YOU WHEN YOU WERE IN SCHOOL? WAS THAT DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH OR? NO, I HAD A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH MY PARENTS.
UH, IT, IT WAS INTERESTING THAT A LOT OF NEIGHBORS WOULD COME TO HIM.
HE WAS A PSYCHIATRIST AND A LOT OF NEIGHBORS WHO WERE HAVING, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A TON OF DRUGS IN HASTINGS AT THE TIME.
I DON'T THINK SOCIETY AS A WHOLE WAS AS INTO THERAPY OR ANY OF THAT IN THOSE DAYS.
BUT THERE WOULD BE A PARADE OF PEOPLE COMING IN AND OUT.
NOT TO PAY MY FATHER, BUT TO JUST GET A NE A NEIGHBOR WITH EXPERT OPINIONS ADVICE.
SO IN THAT SENSE I WAS, YOU KNOW, AWARE OF HIS ROLE.
BUT, UM, MOSTLY THINGS WERE NOT IN HASTINGS THAT HE WAS DOING.
YOU KNOW, I WENT AFTER HE WROTE THAT BOOK ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR.
WHEN I GOT TO COLLEGE THAT YEAR, I WAS WELL KNOWN 'CAUSE EVERY BOY THAT WAS GONNA HAVE THEIR NUMBER UP FOR THE DRAFT HAD READ THAT BOOK TO SEE ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVES OF WHAT YOU MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT DO.
BUT, UM, I WASN'T, I DON'T THINK I FELT MY, OH, I WILL TELL YOU ONE THING, A GOOD THING.
WHEN I WAS IN SEVENTH GRADE, THERE WAS SOMETHING IN DOBBS FERRY CALLED COTILLION.
IT WAS RUN AT THE DOBBS FERRY WOMAN'S CLUB.
I'M CERTAIN YOU HAD TO PAY, BUT YOU HAD TO BE INVITED.
AND THE WOMAN WHO RAN IT, MRS. GROSS, ONLY INVITED PEOPLE WITH ADDRESSES THAT SHE DEEMED PROPER.
SO MANY, MANY OF MY FRIENDS WERE NOT INVITED TO COTILLION 'CAUSE THEY MIGHT HAVE LIVED ON PRINCE STREET OR THEY MIGHT HAVE LIVED ON SOUTH SIDE.
AND, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE EVERYBODY FROM THE HILL WAS GONNA GET INVITED.
SO I WENT, I, MY MOTHER WAS UPSET ABOUT IT, BUT FOR SOME REASON SHE LET ME DO IT.
AND I THINK MY SISTER MAY HAVE GONE, BUT BY THEN MY MOTHER HAD HAD IT TOO MANY OF OUR FRIENDS WEREN'T INVITED.
SO SHE STARTED A-P-T-S-A, I THINK IT WAS CALLED THE PTA BACK THEN BALL.
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE EVERYONE WANTED TO BALLROOM DANCE, BUT WE DID A BALLROOM DANCING CLASS.
SHE GOT A GUY FROM THE CITY TO COME UP AND SO MANY PEOPLE DID IT.
IT PUT MRS. GROSS OUT OF BUSINESS.
I MEAN, I'M SORRY FOR THAT LADY, BUT SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD THOSE DISCRIMINATORY RULES.
SO THAT WAS SOMETHING WHERE I FELT MY MOTHER HAD DONE SOMETHING QUITE WONDERFUL FOR THE TOWN.
SO WHAT, WHAT DO YOU, WHAT STILL KEEPS YOU IN HASTINGS? FIRST OF ALL, I LOVE BEING ON THE RIVER NOW.
I DIDN'T WANNA MOVE BACK TO MY HOMETOWN.
I THOUGHT IT WAS, IT WAS A STRANGE THING TO DO.
IT FELT, I HAD BEEN LIVING IN THE CITY AND I THOUGHT, WHY WOULD I WANNA MOVE UP HERE? I, MY FRIENDS AREN'T HERE ANYMORE.
BUT AFTER A WHILE, I UNDERSTOOD AGAIN HOW FUN AND WONDERFUL IT IS TO LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN.
I LIKE THE FACT THAT I CAN'T GO FOR A WALK WITHOUT STOPPING AND TALKING TO PEOPLE.
OR THE MAILMAN WILL GET THE MAIL FROM MY MOTHER'S HOUSE AND BRING IT TO ME OR JUST ALL KINDS OF THINGS THAT YOU CAN ONLY GET IN A SMALL TOWN.
YOU MIGHT GET IT IN YOUR APARTMENT BUILDING IN NEW YORK, BUT YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET IT EVEN ON THE WHOLE BLOCK OF YOUR APARTMENT.
AND THAT, I FEEL, IS VERY COMFORTING.
AND IT JUST REMINDS YOU OF WHO YOU ACTUALLY ARE.
IT JUST FEELS GOOD, I THINK, TO BE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY MIGHT HAVE KNOWN YOU WHEN YOU WERE SIX YEARS OLD.
THANKS FOR WATCHING AND WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.