My first pool hall experiences

S

Secaucus Fats

Banned
I grew up in the city of Yonkers, NY ( South Yonkers, to be precise). The very first pool hall I ever set foot in was Lad and Lady Billiards at 354 South Broadway.

You couldn't get into Lad and Lady without a parent or guardian if you were under sixteen, so at 14 my friend Arthur and I would bribe one of the old guys to act as our "guardian".

Lad and Lady opened in 1963 at a time when pool was trying once again to re-position itself as a wholesome family activity.

I came across some pics and articles about the poolhall recently and I figured I'd share them with you. Who knows? Some of you may have even played there at some point or another in time.

BTW, I wonder if Pete Murnak is somehow related to Jim Murnak the cue case maker?

The Lad and Lady is long gone now, but it still lives on in the memories of those who played there.
 

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9BallPaul

9BallPaul

Banned
If it opened in 1963, it was among the generation of pool halls that sprouted across America in the wake of The Hustler. I'm happy to say that the best of this generation in Denver remains open today, but all the rest have closed. It formerly was called Family Fun Center but today it's known as Pete's (of no free water fame!).
 
B

budonahog

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think it is kind of cool how everyone back then dressed to play pool. Nice tie and jacket gave a nice appearance to the sport. Thanks for the post, I like old pics like this.
 
S

Secaucus Fats

Banned
Found these old newspaper clippings..

Wonder if any of the old timers here knew Mr. Bear?

BTW the tournament was held in May of '64.

Charlie "The Bear" Calise's legal problems heated up in September of '64 and much, much worse would follow. Calise was involved in mob activity and as the result of a dispute over loan sharking on July 7, 1974, Anthony “Tony Plate” Plata , the boss of Calise, had him murdered allegedly on orders from Aniello "Mr. O'Neill', "Neil" Della Croce. Charlie Calise was found dead, lying head down in the back seat of a car with two bullets through his eyes, two through his ears, and one in his mouth--the classic underworld symbolism for a man who saw too much, heard too much and talked too much. As a final indignity, Calise's shirt was pulled to his armpits and his trousers to his knees. On May 15, 1979 Dellacroce was arrested on suspicion for the murder of Calise. Anthony "Tony Plate" Plata was to serve as a witness against him. Dellacroce sent wiseguys Willie Boy Johnson, John Gotti and Ruggiero to Florida to murder Anthony Plate in August 1979. Tony Plate "disappeared" after having left his hotel. Dellacroce was then set free.
 

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DJSTEVEZ

DJSTEVEZ

Professor of Human Moves
Silver Member
I remember the incarnation of Lad & Lady when it was "upstairs" near the theatre in Southwest Yonkers. It was thee action room in Westchester.
Then came the 40 table room inside Sports Time in Elmsford, followed by Family Billiards in Yonkers, then Cafe Billiards in Yonkers and Executive Billiards in White Plains

Honorable Mentions go out to Side Pockets (George Hodges place at the top of Central Avenue in White Plains) and to Post Billiards, also in White Plains, which was located in the bowels of Post Bowling alley.

All but Cafe & Executive are long, long gone. Sports Time has "repurposed" the space which used to hold their 40 table room and they left a few tables in a smaller room. -

Think about it, the greater White Plains area used to support well over 100 tables at one time. Z-
 
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M

maha

from way back when
Silver Member
almost every town other than the smallest ones had a poolroom. it was easy to open one, not much up keep, and reasonably cheap to start up.
and all had some kind of action if you werent a road player.
 
kor b

kor b

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I grew up and still live near Lansing, Mi.
I came of age in the early 70s and at that time we had a couple good rooms in town. Now, we have nothing.
 
His Boy Elroy

His Boy Elroy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't know how to post links to YOU TUBE videos. There is, however, a 14 minute video over there called..........Pool halls: "Golden opportunity" Brunswick corp 1963; with Willie Mosconi.......The title says it all. It's interesting.
 
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barrymuch90

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is a fun topic. For me my first experience was basically with two rooms. At around 14 I was introduced to the poolrooms and I don't remember by who or why but eventually I started to really enjoy going and so started my love for the game. I have a cousin the same age from the next town and we e always been close and at the same time super competitive. He also loved pool and at that time picked up the game a million times faster than me and also played prolly 10 times more often then I did. We had two rooms within a 10 min drive from my house. There was Chris Riley's Comcord Billiards that was the bigger more packed room with about 15 tables a jukebox and almost always a waiting list. Then there was royal billiards that was basically a hole in the wall has about 7/8 tables and that's it no food no music just pool. At that time royal was owned by a younger Italian guy who took a liking to me n my cousin and would treat us good and always make us laugh but he was t the most professional and many times we went to play when they were supposed to open at 12 only to wait hours til the guy Eventually showed up. Needless to say he didn't own it to long and Royal has switched hands many times and is actually still open and it really hasn't changed much at all. Now to the other room Riley's Concord Billiards. This was truly MY first poolroom. By the time I was 17 I had become a regular and ultimately got a job working there a couple shifts a week. I can honestly say there weren't too many great players and I didn't actually learn a ton of great pool but it was the best most fun pool room ever and we all loved that place and would go n hang out every free mi ute we had. Sad to say Riley's closed down by the time I was 19 n I was forced to move on but I'll never forget Riley's and all the great guys that were there and all the fun times we had. I doubt I'd still be into pool the way I am today if I never had that experience. So I'll say thanks to both rooms for planting the seed In me!!!
 
claymont

claymont

JADE
Gold Member
Silver Member
Barry, remember the pictures on the wall of the pool room Royal is named after? Mike's dad was a permanent fixture there. That's the place I started playing pool at the age of thirteen. The kid I was hanging around with had an older that was a regular so we were allowed in. Didn't take long before I was going there on the weekends by myself. I watched President Kennedy's funeral on the little black and white TV Shorty had there. I was in tenth grade. Place closed up a few years later due to a teenage gang(Thin Gang) that was hanging out there. Made Shorty's prime business untenable from that spot. Saw a lot of good pool played there, especially one-pocket. It was closed by the time I got back from overseas, which was about January '70.

barrymuch90 said:
This is a fun topic. For me my first experience was basically with two rooms. At around 14 I was introduced to the poolrooms and I don't remember by who or why but eventually I started to really enjoy going and so started my love for the game. I have a cousin the same age from the next town and we e always been close and at the same time super competitive. He also loved pool and at that time picked up the game a million times faster than me and also played prolly 10 times more often then I did. We had two rooms within a 10 min drive from my house. There was Chris Riley's Comcord Billiards that was the bigger more packed room with about 15 tables a jukebox and almost always a waiting list. Then there was royal billiards that was basically a hole in the wall has about 7/8 tables and that's it no food no music just pool. At that time royal was owned by a younger Italian guy who took a liking to me n my cousin and would treat us good and always make us laugh but he was t the most professional and many times we went to play when they were supposed to open at 12 only to wait hours til the guy Eventually showed up. Needless to say he didn't own it to long and Royal has switched hands many times and is actually still open and it really hasn't changed much at all. Now to the other room Riley's Concord Billiards. This was truly MY first poolroom. By the time I was 17 I had become a regular and ultimately got a job working there a couple shifts a week. I can honestly say there weren't too many great players and I didn't actually learn a ton of great pool but it was the best most fun pool room ever and we all loved that place and would go n hang out every free mi ute we had. Sad to say Riley's closed down by the time I was 19 n I was forced to move on but I'll never forget Riley's and all the great guys that were there and all the fun times we had. I doubt I'd still be into pool the way I am today if I never had that experience. So I'll say thanks to both rooms for planting the seed In me!!!
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