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Posted by: Miriam (mdomino@att.com) on 6/08/1998@09:22hrs:
Excerpt taken from Sunday's Advance. The article included pictures of the Old Mill and Charlie's don't have a scanner so I'm unable to post the photos. Enjoy
Miriam
Memories with Mike Azzara
REMEMBER COSMO'S, CHARLIE'S 'S AND BACCI'S?
If Nat "King: Cole's record of "Too Young" was getting lots of play on the juke box in the Polar Cave when you were in your teens, chances are you about 60, give or take a couple of years. If, however, "I Had the Craziest Dream" by Henry James was drawing the nickels at the Old Mill in Grasmere, when you were in high school, it's a good bet you're receiving monthly social security checks. You youngsters in your early-to mid 50's grew up listening to Jo Stafford's "You Belong to Me" in Cosmo's Drive Inn. About that time you were also subjected to hits such as "Venus" and "All Shook Up:, ringing down the curtain on the era of swing, big band, beautiful melodies and brilliant lyrics.
Many of the those diners, "charcoal havens" and "drive-ins" that became hangouts for several generations of Island youths didn't last much longer. Gone are Bacci's, Cosmo's, Marty's, Ja-Net's, the Old Mill, and perhaps a dozen others. Even modest little places like Charlie's Drive-In on Richmond Ave. in Greenridge, not far from Al Deppe's, had their loyal followings. You could get a burger at Charlie's but the emphasis was on seafood, especially shrimp and soft-shell crab.
It took a whole strip mall to replace Cosmo's, but it lives on the collective memory of everybody from Rosebank to Dongan hills who came of age in the 1950's. Cosmo's was owned and operated by the Primiano family. Brothers Carmine and Johnny named it for their father. The Primianos were in the business of foundation construction and the back-up plan in 1952 was to convert it to a warehouse/garage for construction equipment if the restaurant didn't pan out. A couple miles south, Bacci's Charcoal Haven had been opened in 1950 by Ascanio Paoli and his wife Matilda and Matilda's brother Albert Bacci. The Bacci-Paoli family and the Primianos were friendly rivals but their respective customers were so loyal that it wasn't unusual to hear heated arguments over who had the better hamburger. For residents of Grant city, New Dorp, Oakwood and environs, the summer of 1978, produced a crisis. A fire destroyed the rear half of Bacci's in June and it was closed until mid-November. A whole summer without Bacci's. It was unthinkable. A little more than a year later, we would have to learn to do without it forever. Since it was sold, the Hylvan Blvd. Site has been known as Hedges, Enza's and currently, Bistro. Gone too with places like Bacci's and Cosmo's was the personal touch. All the regulars at Bacci's knew the short-order cook, a guy who grew up in New Dorp AND PLAYED WITH THE New Dorp Queens when the team played in as semi-pro football league.
Charle LaGanga, of Todt Hill, a manhattan stockbroker, lived on Cromwell Ave., Dongan Hills. Would walk to Cosmo's whenever he had 80 cents in his pocket. It was my home away from home. Everyone from the neighborhood hung out there, Jackie and Anthony Miceli, the Besignanos, Boobie Trimarche... the list goes on.
When we started this column, we had expected to discuss Marty's on New Dorp Lane, Stechmann's on the old Richmond Ave. In Port Richmond, the Jolly Trolley on clove road, Ann's Sugar Bowl in Sunnyside and a few others. But here we are, running out of space and we've only scratched the surface once again. We promise to get more of those places we remember fondly in a future column. If you hung out in a place we've forgotten or never knew, how about sharing those memories with us and our readers. Photos of them would be appreciated. Send to Memories, Staten Island Advance, 950 Fingerboard Rd., Staten Island N.Y. 10305