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From 1964 to 1974, I lived in a brown-bricked apartment building near the corner of Palmetto Street and Cypress Avenue in Ridgewood, New York. The Mathews Brothers built 650 of these 6-unit buildings, sometimes known as Mathews Flats, early in the 20th century. I lived with my brother and sister and our parents on the second floor of a five-room [...]
It was quite an operation. Lookouts on walkie-talkies patrolled the roofline, and a scout on a bike pedaled up and down the block, combing 7th Street between Avenues B and C. A guy in a ski mask stood guard at an open window on one of the apartment building’s upper floors, ready to service the growing line on the sidewalk [...]
