Just a Kid from Hell's Kitchen - In Remembrance of TC Murray

T. A. was married to Sarah Bradley. They unsuccessfully tried to raise a family. Their
one and only child, Andrew, died in his infancy as was so often the case in pre-War days
“Uncle Tom” and his wife, Sarah, were both very close to my Aunt Mary and Uncle
Buddy. Actually, he was my Aunt Mary’s first cousin – and Delia’s too. Often times the
Waldron’s and the Murray’s of East Orange would go on vacations together and would
visit each other at their respective residence’s in Rockaway or New Jersey. Delia, for
obvious reasons, was not part of their social circuit.
T. A. was a musically gifted individual, playing the piano and singing in the New York
chapter of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Glee Club. So too, was his brother, Charlie,
who was a society bandleader who played at the Stork Club in NYC and the Versailles in
Miami Beach. Charlie, who was single, died in 1943 while on leave from the Coast
Guard.
“Uncle Tom” had three other brothers, James, a former assistant District Attorney for
New York County (Manhattan), as well as Frank and John. Tom’s sister, Catherine,
married, a Brooklyn doctor and lived in the upscale Grand Army Plaza section of that
“outer borough.”
FAMILY PUBMASTERS
Uncle Joe Murray, opened a bar at 336 Main Street in East Orange where it thrived for
many years during the post-Prohibition era. In 1938, when East Orange celebrated its 75 th
anniversary, Uncle Joe wrote a pamphlet, When Grove Street was Whisky Lane, as his
contribution to the gala. After all, Pub master Joe Murray billed his emporium as A Place
That Is Different. Later in life he ran a liquor store near the Lackawanna Railroad Station.
T.A.’s brother, Frank, operated “Murray’s,” a restaurant and bar also on Main Street in
East Orange for many years. Located near Our Lady Help of Christians Roman Catholic
Church, it was once a setting for the many parishioners who did not take the pledge.
Today, it is the site of “Mr. C’s,” once reputed to be a gay bar.
There were other notable pub masters in our family. The elegant Murray’s “Roman
Gardens,” graced 42 nd Street near Broadway from 1908-1918. At the time, it was one of
New York City’s finest restaurants. It was a kind of place that the likes of Dolly Levi
would frequent. A mini-hotel of some twenty-four rooms was on the upper floors of the
restaurant. For some, it could have been an evening of wine, women and…Like so many
restaurants of the time, when Prohibition came, it folded.