Disciplines

Jewish Studies

Abstract

Jeffrey Gurock’s parents, his father, originally from Harlem and his mother from Brooklyn, were among the first people to move into Parkchester when it opened. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a bookkeeper. Gurock was born in 1949 and lived in Parkchester until he married in 1974. After living briefly in Cincinnati, Ohio, he returned to the Bronx and has been living in Riverdale ever since.

Gurock remembers Parkchester as predominantly Irish Catholic with many Italian and Jewish children. No Hispanics or African Americans were allowed to move in until 1968. While he recognizes this segregation now, Gurock says it was unknown to him as a child and many people were Civil Rights supporters, with few ethnic tensions between the different groups in the neighborhood. It wouldn’t be until playing lacrosse at City College that he witnessed racial tensions. He describes some nastiness during the desegregation of Parkchester, but no major protests. Generally he liked playing sports as a kid and was involved at the synagogue. His parents kept a kosher home and he attended Ramaz, a private Jewish Day School, on scholarship. His family had a summer home in Danbury, Connecticut.

Gurock attended City College for 38 dollars a year and credits that experience with meeting his wife and close friends. He went on to get a PhD in American Jewish History and has since been a professor at prestigious universities such as Yeshiva, Harvard, Yale, and Hebrew Union College. He has also published many books, including one on Parkchester. Gurock reflected on what it means to write about things he himself experienced from the perspective of an historian. He says he still loves Parkchester and his Jewish experience there.

Keywords: Parkchester, Riverdale, Orthodox, synagogue, Ramaz, City College, Columbia, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, race, Lake Waubeeka, history

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