Hey guys,
I was doing work in Long Island and had a free day on the way back to Newark Airport. It suddenly hit me that I could go to Bath Beach (now Bensonhurst), where the Horwitz family grew up. What a blast! Thanks to Gary for helping me out on Moe/Shemp's birthplace. Here are the places I went to, and the pics I took:
1) The address where Shemp (confirmed by birth certificate) and probably Moe were born. It's now an apartment complex, but I'm showing it to you anyways!
I imagined that Sol would be spending all his days in the local synagogue, so I went to the various synagogues near the address above but could not find one that was old enough. I really wanted to envision where it was that he was endlessly spending his time. Had I done my homework in advance, I probably could have found the name out, gone there, and taken pics of that as well.
2) Moe built 4 homes in the 1925 - 1928 time frame, as you all know. He bought the land for $12K and I think he spent $40k on construction, and you know what happened next. 2 of these homes were demolished in 2003 and an apartment building was put on top. Two still remain. Here are pics of those 2 homes. One of them (the 2nd pic) has a garage on the side that I am pretty sure was not built by Moe. It looks like an add on and the construction materials don't match.
3) Here is the grammar school that Moe and Shemp went to - PS 163. Note that what is now called PS 163 is around the corner, and I went there first. Seeing it was far too new, I went inside, and thankfully a lady behind the desk knew the story. This was a new school that is now called PS 163. What was PS 163 in 1908, which is when Shemp probably graduated (and in 1911, which is when Moe probably graduated), both educated guesses on my part, is now called PS 748. This where Moe's deportment was atrocious and Shemp didn't graduate, his mother did!
For the record, here is what is currently noted as being PS 163 in Bensonhurst and it is NOT the same as the PS 163 that Moe and Shemp went to:
4) This is where Moe went to high school for 2 months, then dropped out. I surmise that Shemp dropped out at the same time (would have been his 2nd year I think), but I don't know that for sure. Others on this board know better than me. By the way, this high school was in the most ghetto place I have ever been in my life. I did not dare get out of the car and I took my watch off and hid it before rolling down the window to take a picture!
