Grace Banks Interview 08/09/2025
Photo by Randi Rosenbaum
Grace Banks Interview Transcript:
NATASHA: Hello, I am Natasha Fearon and I'm here with Grace Banks at the Park Slope Old Timers Reunion at 4th Street and 6th Avenue on Saturday, August 9th, 2025. Can you please spell your name for me?
GRACE: G-R-A-C-E. Grace, Banks. B-A-N-K-S.
NATASHA: What is your relationship to Park Slope or to Brooklyn?
GRACE: I was raised on 4th Street in the '60s. Then I left like what that was in the 80s, like '83, '84. I went to school in Park Slope. I went to PS 77, that was on 1st Street. Then I went to 321 on 7th Avenue. Then I went to 51 Junior High School. And my relationship as far as Park Slope, oh it was very amazing. We had block parties, we had cleanup parties. As a matter of fact, my sister still– one of my sisters still has a Daily News picture with us on 4th Street on the front page for doing the big sweep. And it was a beautiful time of growing up. We used to play skelly, hopscotch, one, two, three. We used to go to the pool down in Redwood. We used to play football, I mean baseball. Some of the girls would play baseball, but football, the guys used to do the football, ride our bikes around. We've had scooters with the, how should I say that? With the first, with the two wheels, we used to skate. We had skates, we used to skate. Oh, I said Skelly. Hop Scotch. It was a fun time, a beautiful time.
NATASHA: Do you have a particular powerful or important memory of Park Slope or Brooklyn that you'd like to share?
GRACE: Going to the concerts in the neighborhood up on 9th Street.
NATASHA: Why did you decide to come to the Park Slope Old Timers Reunion?
GRACE: My closest friend, John Lee, started it so I wanted to see some of the old faces that I haven't seen, oh, forever.
NATASHA: What are some things you think more people should know about Park Slope or Brooklyn based on your own experience?
GRACE: Oh, it's a beautiful place to grow up in.
NATASHA: What are your hopes for the future of the neighborhood and Brooklyn?
GRACE: I hope it keeps the good work up. It came into, it was amazing then. Now it's even awesome. Awesome.
NATASHA: Thank you.
GRACE: You're welcome.