Just a Kid from Cat's Alley:
A Remembrance and Memoir
By: Chris Fleck
The sound of my Mom’s voice the morning she called to tell me my grandfather had passed was unfamiliar to me. Her tone was vulnerable and somber. The sun had barely broken when I got off the call. Unable to rest, I stood outside on the deck. The neighborhood was still. Only the chirp of a few birds pecked through the cool March air. I stared, but focused on nothing. In thought, I contemplated the news that I had just lost my Pop Pop, a man and grandfather who had an undeniable impact on my life that began before I could remember.
Memories flooded. One clearly stood out. It was an interaction I had every single time my Pop Pop and I saw each other. For the rest of my days I’ll remember the feel of his scruff rubbing against my cheek when he kissed me hello and goodbye. It might have made me squirm as a young boy, but I grew to embrace this scratchy il salute (Italian greeting) as I got older.
Ted Cuttitta showed great love and compassion. The admiration and pride he had for his family was unconditional and generous. What I think he enjoyed most in life was spending time with his family that meant so much to him. Sharp and clear minded, Ted—until his final day—provided comfort, advice, and support to all of those he loved.
Before I walked back into the house that morning I thought of my Pop Pop’s lively smile. It was genuine, almost innocent even at 91 years old. That memory provided me peace of mind during that very uneasy morning. I will use that lasting vision as a sense of comfort whenever I think of my Pop Pop. The world met that beaming smile the morning of December 20, 1926.
Just A Kid From Cat’s Alley
A Great Depression-era baby, Ted’s early life began on Dennet Place in the Carrol Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Known as Cat’s Alley or “that street with the little doors,” the neighborhood at the time was mostly occupied by first- and second-generation Italian-American families. Born to Frank and Francis Cuttitta, Ted was one of six children. In age order, the Cuttitta children included: Francis, Paul, Tito (Ted), Joseph, Salvador, and Anthony. In 1898, Frank immigrated with his family from Godrano, Italy to New York when he 10 years old.
The Cuttittas and the Dennet Place neighborhood were tight-knit. The families that lived there may not have known it, but they were the roots that established branches of generations that would come to define America in the 20thand 21stcentury.
Life was simple, but orderly. Frank worked. Francis cooked, cleaned, and tended to the house, errands, and six kids. This was a time when neighbors were neighborly. On stoops mothers would chat about their husbands and the events of the day while kids played stickball and hop scotch in the street, jetting to the sidewalk when a car passed by.
Ted reminds of us of that first house he grew up in.
“We lived in a four room apartment with eight people. The five boys slept in one bed and my sister slept in a room the size of a walk-in closet. We didn’t have showers or bathtubs in the apartment in Cat’s Alley so we had to go to Columbia Street, a public bath, which was about a mile from the house. We would go down there to take our baths and clean up.”
As the Great Depression ravaged New York City and the nation, families struggled. The Cuttitta’s lived modestly, but were not as bad off as other neighborhood families at this time.
“I was very fortunate. My father was able to work throughout his whole life. A lot of people didn’t have jobs at that time. We were very fortunate that he always had a paycheck coming in. He was making like $30 to $35 per week. In those days that was a decent salary. He was a machinist. He worked on a landing area in Brooklyn until he was 70 years old before he retired. When my father came here he must have gone to school because he learned to read and write English.”
Ted was a good kid with a close relationship with his father, mother, brothers and sister. Although she only spoke broken English ,Ted would sit with his mother, Francis everyday and just talk. He was also very close with his older brother, Paul.
“My family and I were very close. We all stuck together. I was very close with my father. He had a different personality. A good personality.”
Ted’s dedication to hard work—a trait that guided him his entire life—started when at a young age. He held a number of jobs so he’d have a little walking money in his pocket. He remembers having a shoe shine box he would take out with him and when he earned the $0.10 that would cover a double-header movie and a few pieces of candy he’d head on home.
From shining shoes Ted transitioned to more arduous side job that taught him the ethics of true manual labor.
“Another important thing that I did was work very hard. When I was a teenager I used to work on a horse-driven ice truck. In those days people had ice boxes not refrigerators. I use to carry 25 pound blocks of ice up to people apartments, going up three, four, five flights of stairs.”
The Army Was Good Him
As a middle school student Ted remembered the day Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese fighter pilots. The Pearl Harbor attack on December 6, 1941 prompted the U.S. to join World War II. As the war waged on Ted left high school to join the Army in the spring of 1945.
After basic training and 16 weeks of field and infantry training at the former U.S. Army Post Headquarters in Fort McClellan Alabama, Ted was deployed to Germany. Fortunate for Ted, before arriving the Germans had surrendered and World War II had come to its climatic ending.
“When I got to Germany they put me in the signal corp. I had mechanical ability so rather than keep me in the infantry they put me in the signal corp. And then they shipped me to Berlin, Germany in the Army of Occupation. So I was in Berlin for a whole year. That was very exciting. And what I used to do I used to work on teletype machines at general headquarters in Berlin. I had an excellent job there. And I loved it. The Army was good to me and I liked it very much.”
In December of 1946 Ted was discharged and headed back to Brooklyn.
Ted’s time in the Army incited a great sense of pride for his nation and all servicemen who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. It also instilled a fascination and interest in military history—its causes, effects, and the outcomes that shaped world history. As an adult Ted was always reading military biographies or watching war or battle documentaries. His connection to the U.S. military was personally re-engaged in 2001 when his grandson, Nick, enrolled in the Marine Corps.
It is only fitting that he elected to be buried at …
“The End Of A Good Time,” MomMom says jokingly