When I was a child we spent summers in the Catskill Mountains in the house my grandparents had bought in Fleischmanns NY in the 1930’s. It was well maintained by my grandfather and the sons-in-law, and it housed the extended family as well as boarders. We sold it in the early 60’s.

Going back to refresh idyllic childhood memories was a disheartening experience. The house is dilapidated and surrounded by trash. Everything made of wood is rotting, windows are broken, and the interior is filled with junk. Some of the walls are missing sheetrock. People are clearly living there, but they may be vagrants.

The barn still stands as it was, but it is also filled and surrounded with junk. The yard that used to seem expansive and extend forever up the hill is closed in with trees and feels claustrophobic.

Many of the buildings on the main street in Fleischmanns are still maintained and are in use, although some are derelict. The library is still open, there are some nice B&Bs, and there is a grocery store. There is evidence of the presence of Lubavichers, Hispanics, and blacks. Business is bad, though; many houses and stores had “for sale” signs, and the owner of “Griffen’s Corner Café” told me that he had had enough and fantasized setting fire to the building with him inside it. I tried to be encouraging, but Fleischmanns is a dying town. On the other hand it has been dying for 30 years and is still hanging on, so maybe the last chapter has yet to be written.


Here is a picture from the 1950's of Eric and me, with our great-grandparents, on the steps of the Fleischmanns house.
Here is a picture of Marina and me, on those same steps, fifty years later.
--Lenny