Happy Trails

America is a beautiful land. Many of us from Sheepshead Bay, in the generation that grew up in the ’60s and ’70s have dispersed throughout its far corners.

You travel around this country, take a rent a car and head off into some distant canyon or another shore. And no matter how far from New York, there’s bound to be a sign "Brooklyn Bagels," or "Coney Island Hot Dogs." That’s the biggest compliment there is. Other people complimenting our tradition, the way we grew up comparing their wares with ours from a distant era. Our neighborhood made its mark on American society. And we were loving the food as we were creating culinary history.

I’m doing this website because there was lots of passion in the Sheepshead Bay where I grew up. And it’s apparent from talking with old friends or reading remarks on the Internet that many people feel the same way. The nature of the late 20^th and now 21^st century has made us a society that travels. We go out into America, look for a good job and a pleasant place to live.

While our thoughts at an older age may turn sentimentally towards home or (a more accurate word) the "neighborhood," the space of time usually colors memories with pleasant thoughts. But beyond those thoughts, the empirical evidence remains these were pleasant experiences we shared. While all men and women will have their own unique memories, much laughter, music, passion and a good time could easily be found in something as simple as the company of friends talking while walking the sidewalks around the Bay.

You can go home again. It has beaches, fresh seafood, access to Broadway and ballparks, and hopefully this document bears out some interesting history.

Thanks for listening. All the best,

Ira Leitner — Sheepshead Bay HS Class of 1972

Introduction

Sheepshead Bay

New York Around 1600 and Brooklyn Names

Henry Hudson

Money in New Amsterdam

Sheepshead Bay Race Track

Geography and World Class Fishing

Going to the Ball Park

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