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1971-1978 few details, house pictures, and our first two cars

Vega my first car (1972-1974) with Shubha

Timeline:

My first accommodation with friends was at 600 West, NYC. – 4 months
We rented a room with Patel in Lafrak City, Queens, NYC – for 3 months
Old picture in NYC after Krishna moved to USA
Rented – 241 Van Vorst Street, Jersy City – 1 year
Vega my first car (1972-1974)
Rented apt at 267 Webster Avenue, Jersey City. – 3 years
Nova – my second car (1974-1990)
Rented apt at 81 Romain Avenue, Jersey City – 1 year
Rented apt at 41 Romain Avenue, Jersey City – 3 months
First house – 1022 Charter Street, Piscataway, NJ – 1 year
Rented apt at Country Club Apartment, Merritt Island, Florida – 6 months
Second house – 1525 Dorasal Street, Merritt Island, Florida – 1 year 6 months (sold 1984)
Rented apartment at Putnam Blvd, Wallingford, Pennsylvania – 7 months
Third house – 18 Smokerise, Hopatcong, NJ – 5 years
Fourth house – 78 Lambert Place, NJ – 37 years +

Snapshot of my 1971-1978 detail.

1971 October – After arriving in NYC I stayed with my friends (Subal Sarkar, Asim Mazumder, and Karunda) in NYC. I took a trip to the Hudson River by boat (circle line) for a few hours. This is my first leisure trip to see NYC skyline from the river. One day I went to Rockaway Park, Queens, and took my first ride on a roller coaster.

https://www.getyourguide.com/hudson-river-l158494/cruises-boat-tours-tc48/

1971 December – First trip at Xmas holiday. Got a $50 check from Jerry, my boss the owner of Elevator Associate. Amit Ray, Manoj Bhowmik, his wife, and Krishna went to Canada, Montreal, during a massive winter snowstorm. Manoj was driving. It was my first experience of a snow-covered road. Manoj passed away many years back.

1972 – Moved to 41 Vanvorst Street, Jersey City. Same apartment complex with Prafulla, Ganga, Anup Deb, Bardhan da, and Kamal Adayta. It was near Grove Street Path station. Walk to Shop Rite for a weekly bazaar for only $10. Krishna started work at a bank, 3 3-minute walk from home. We were close to the Hudson River, so walked to the riverside and watched Macy’s fireworks.

1972 – Vega was my first car. Prafulla, Ganga, and Anup Deb went on a joy ride to Parkway South. We went past the Atlantic City exit, and down further south until we saw palm trees and other coastal area trees

1972 – A ride to Bethlehem. PA. overlooking Lehigh Valley to see the city. This time Ganga De drove us.

1972 – September Krishna started with Jersey City State College.

1972 – We went to Washington DC with Asit Ghosh, and we met Swapan Chaudhuri, Gopen Dash, and others.

1972 – September NYC Durga Puja at Columbia University,
https://www.ecdpanewyork.com/about.php

1972 – November Prafulla was admitted to Jersey City Hospital for a double vision on Thanksgiving day.

1973 March – Moved to 265 Webster Avenue, Jersey City. I started my MSEE as a part-time student at Stevens Tech, Hoboken. I got my degree in 1976.

1973 August – Attended BE College reunion on 12th August.

1973 June – I helped Shibu Sarkar to move to my next-door apartment. He had a vintage car. I had to go with him to bring his household stuff from Debu Shome’s house in Wayne. While returning we got stuck on the bridge at route 1/9 (Pulaski Skyway). That was my first experience of how hazardous it can be with a car breakdown.

1973 August 26, Shubha was born. Nanda Chakrborty’s husband Prabir Chakraborty came to help us on the first day. It was a very hot summer next-door neighbor helped me to set up a window air condition unit. His wife Ceil helped us to take care of Shubha. A few kids around our neighborhood used to come and play with Shubha. Some notable names are Karan, Teresa, Stanley, etc

1973 October NYC Durga Puja at Columbia University, then Budus was only 2 months old. Krishna met Gouri Dutta.

1973 November – A trip to Amish village PA with 3 months Shubha. We didn’t have a car seat for the baby. We stayed overnight in a small motel. This was my first trip in my first car Chevrolet blue Vega.

1973 – We went to Maryland and Washington DC with Roma and Sabayachi, We met his relative Tapu.

1974 April – Small gathering for rice ceremony of Budus. Our friend Bachaspathi gave rice to his mouth. Gouri Dutta, Bipul da, and many others attended the party.

1974 June/July – A trip to Ohio by Vega. Coming back this car gave me a lot of trouble. I had to change the engine oil every week after that trip.

1974 – I purchased my second car 1974 Chevrolet Nova, it traveled with us all over USA which ran 195K and it was disposed of at Paramus.

1974 August – 1st birthday of Shubha. only with American kids nearby.

1974 – We met many new Bengali people, a few names I can still remember like Amiya Sur, Asha Sur, Boykunta, and Misra, they were from other colleges. Satya Roy, Ramen Chakraborty, Amitava Sen, Asit Roy, Debashish, Chanchal Chakraborty, Mukti Chakraborty, and many others. We started planning for a Durga Puja. But settled for Saraswati Puja.

1974 – Sabayachi and I went to see US Open tennis at Forest Hill, Queens, NYC. Once Ed Koch, was canvassing for NYC mayor, he got elected a few years later.

1974 – A day trip to Niagara of Pennsylvania (Bushkill Falls). But no comparison to Niagara Falls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushkill_Falls

1974 – We drove to Canada to see Niagara Falls and stayed on the Canadian side. This time baby Shubha 9 months old rode in a car seat. This was our first long trip. We took an elevator down to the base of the falls after walking underground tunnel. I was holding Shubha tight while riding the boat underneath the falls. It is the most thrilling experience of a lifetime. We walked around the top of the falls, we simply were amazed by the beauty. We went to see a big screen movie seeing the history of daredevil efforts to drop from the top of the falls down to the river below. Visited a wax museum.

A trip to Bear Mountain with Biman Maitra, my friend from BEC.
Few more trips to Bear Mountain Park.

1975 January – We first met Tanu and Prabhat Dutta.

1975 February, Swarasti puja.

1975 – A day trip to Asbury Park with Mom, Prabhat, and Tanu Dutta with Shubha, and Tanu’s son Rana. I can close my eyes and see Budush and Rana riding toy cars.

1975 August – 2nd birthday of Shubha. only with American kids nearby.

1976 June – Moved to 81 Romain Avenue, Jersey City.

1976 August We celebrated the 3rd birthday of Shubha. It was a huge gathering. One day with American kids.

1976 September – Big gathering with Indian friends.

1976 – September First trip to India. At that time we lived in Jersey City. I left my wallet ($1500) on the car dashboard overnight. Luckily nobody noticed. That would have stopped our travel to India.

1977 – Started planning for 2nd Saraswati puja, but aborted due to a violent incident that would never be erased from our mind. That is still a mystery. One day we came to know that two of our friends (Amiya and his wife Asha were murdered). The entire Bengali community in Jersey City was afraid. Was it an attack by robbers? We gathered the next day to discuss how we can protect ourselves. We didn’t know that the murderer was present at the meeting (?). The next day we heard that Misra was arrested for the crime. We were shocked by the incident. I heard later he was convicted and went to jail for years. We were all saddened as we all knew that three individuals. Misra didn’t have any money to hire a lawyer for his conviction. I heard both parties’ mothers passed away after hearing about the incident.

1977 – June – moved to 41 Romain Avenue, Jersey City.

1977 – September – moved to 1022 Charter Street, Piscataway, NJ. This was our first house.

1978 – Trip to Laura Cavern with my father who came to visit us at Piscataway, NJ.

My father’s first visit for a month while we were at Piscataway. He was very happy that we made the right decision to migrate USA.

Pictures: