September, 2012 - The Nyack Villager

8 The Nyack Villager September, 2012
Remember the days?
by James F. Leiner
Memories of Liberty Street
School
Liberty Street School once rested
majestically on a small hill in the
south end of Nyack. Its lovely
green front lawn sloped gently
down to Broadway.
Built on property donated by Tunis
Depew, the school opened in 1851; additions
were added in 1867, 1909 and 1949. Originally
called the Nyack School it was the only
public school in the area, and housed all grades
until the end of 1929 when new junior and senior
High Schools opened on Midland Avenue.
High School classes occupied the top floor.
There was a pre-fabricated building on the
south side of the school housing what, at the
time, were called slow learners. On the southeast
corner, a building housed grade 3-D (advanced
students). Physical education was
handled either in the giant hall on the downstairs
floor or on the outside playground depending
on the weather.
Upper grades went to the Nyack YMCA on
Burd Street, where varsity basketball was
played. Varsity baseball and football were
played on “Doc” Bernard’s field located at his
Clarkstown Country Club. Students were separated
by gender, boys on the south playground,
and girls on the north. The yearbook
was called The Owl; the school colors were blue
& gold.
In the early 1930s the front lawn was sold for
a new post office and Liberty Street was extended
south from Depew to Hudson Avenue.
The Nyack School became Liberty Street
School.
Teachers stayed for a long time back then; to
many, Liberty Street seemed like home. Teachers
like Susan Blauvelt & Warren Templin
(English), Florence Slade (spelling and penmanship),
Winifred Davis and Geraldine Moffit,
(mathematics), Betty Ingersoll (history),
Evangeline MacLaren, (public speaking & dramatics)—was
she ever qualified for that subject!
Gertrude Goldstein and Bandmaster Arthur
Christman, (music), Solon Gordon, (printing
and mechanical drawing), Vivian Krumm and
Francis H. Campbell, (science), Ella Goodsir,
(bookkeeping), and Doris Newton, (geography).
In 1929 Kenneth MacCalman was the
superintendent and a former chemistry teacher,
A.W. “Mr. Ritt” Ritterhausen was the principal.
Before him principals were Homer J.
Wightman and Charles Warner.
Sports have always been a big part of education
and Nyack School was no different. The Nyack
coaches of the day included Harold S. DeGroat
(baseball, basketball & football), Thornley
Booth, (soccer), George Hobart
&, Harold Petersen, (basketball),
Thomas G.Ausbury coached
football and baseball. Phyllis R.
Clarke and Ruth Mosley coached
all the girls’ sports. Assistant
coaches included Sol Gordon,
(wrestling), Verner Cox, Warren
Templin (track & soccer) and
Francis Campbell, (tennis). All-
County athletes were plentiful
coming from Liberty Street including the
Geary, Lovett, Donovan and Theis brothers,
Louis Durkin, Louis Tillinghast, “Buzz” Fountain,
and Harry Rosenberg. Rosenberg was the
first in Rockland County to run 100 yards in
10 seconds—miraculous time in the 20s, considering
the type of shoes and the cinder track.
Also guys like Syd Bradshaw, Chris Kelly, Bud
Avery, Peck Artopee (yes, the street is named
after him), Fred Conace, Syd Miller, Pete (take
2 & hit to right) D’Auria, Dan Guilfoyle, Andy
Podraskie, Horace Tyrus, Harry Dropkin, Bill
Perry and Jack Rose. The girl athletes often remembered
are Betty Zabriskie, Dorothy
Blount, Betty Parietti, Hope Coffey and the
Speh sisters.
Academics were stressed—and paid off for
many of the students. Success came to many
including Sydney Bradshaw, former governor
of the NY Stock Exchange, Eddie Sauter,
arranger for many of the Big Bands during the
40s; Bill Smith, basso star of musicals like
Showboat and Porgy and Bess; Leonard Goldstein,
in charge of all U.S military bands in Europe
by the end of World War II; Rusty
Crawford, chairman of the board of Bowery
Savings Bank; John Bott, former editor of the
NY Post, William H. Hand, assistant to
Thomas Edison and later a successful inventor,
Homer Lydecker Sr., a successful businessman
and avid baseball fan, and Clifford Blauvelt,
vice-president of American Cyanamid.
Liberty Street would continue to be the village’s
only Elementary School until it was closed in
1968 after being declared unsafe by the State
Education Department. After settling a dispute
over the land with the Depew family heirs the
school was torn down in September 1977. The
property was sold to the Nyack Urban Renewal
Agency. Dozens of Liberty Street Alumni stood
watching the demolition with a tear in their
eye. “It was a very nice school at the time,” said
Pat Roy who graduated from 6th grade in
1953, as she watched the workers tear down
the school. “But, I don’t feel bad, it’s making
way for other things, Liberty Street served its
purpose in its time.” ✫
The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping
us all ‘Remember the Days.’