What Made the Night Centers So Attractive to Bronx Youth of the 70's

 

by Principal Paul Cannon of PS 140

What made the Night Centers so attractive for youths during the 70's is that they were organized and definitely structured around homework, intramural games that were no less spirited than ABA or NBA games in our young minds,evening snacks, ( a treat was chocolate milk)‎ arts and crafts ( occasionally a cool custodian would venture off and challenge the BOE rules around access to shop classes and resources for us during our nightly stays), and definitely mentoring sessions around avoiding drugs and gang banging. In fact, I recall gangs ( Savage Skulls, Young Immortals, Baby Aces, Black Spades, etc) getting their only real lessons in "staying alive" at those centers: They would check their weapons at the door( mostly pocket knives), adjust their attitude towards authority and their peers, and flow with the program. While I would never condone gangs and the ills associated with them, they operated on a very different level from today's misinformed youths that glorify being part of madness without a cause. Gangs back then settled matters for the most part with knuckles and occasionally knives and homemade objects. They also had a degree of respect for babies, elder folk and definitely the disabled. And if you were a kid with hope, promise and a good head on your shoulder, they'd be the first to steer you away from even the most remote thought of following their footsteps.

Lastly, and when a village certainly raised the community (Morrisania in particular) ‎let's not forget about the beat cop who looked like us and felt compelled to do his job to the highest of expectations!! He had a rapport with everyone vested in the neighborhood, especially those educators who also lived in the hood and understood the importance of giving back. As for the night center hours, I recalled Monday through Friday from 6 pm to 10 pm. ( and if you were a great athlete ,( mostly ball player) they person in charge would keep it open a few extra minutes.
Thanks, Mark and keep up the fight because like everything--the world and times are just a revolving circle.
Keep it "old School" with a new school flavor for sure!
Respectfully,
P Cannon( AKA -"The Mayor of the South Bronx")