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Book Highlights Celebrities From Forest Hills and Rego Park

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | November 19, 2014 8:29am
 A new book features more than 200 notable people from Forest Hills and Rego Park.
A new book features more than 200 notable people from Forest Hills and Rego Park.
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Michael Perlman/Facebook

QUEENS — Forest Hills, best known for its leafy streets and quiet living, is an unlikely celebrity hot spot, a local historian says in a soon-to-be-published book about the neighborhood.

Among the famous people who grew up or lived in the area, or who had strong ties to Forest Hills and Rego Park, were musicians who formed punk rock band The Ramones — graduates of Forest Hills High School.

In his book, "Legendary Locals of Forest Hills and Rego Park," Michael Perlman, a Forest Hills historian, features more than 200 notable people, including composer Burt Bacharach, singers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, and TV presenter Jerry Springer, who wrote the foreword for the book.

Bob Keeshan, an actor who portrayed Captain Kangaroo on the popular children's TV show, spent his childhood in Forest Hills, helping his father, who was a manager at a local store. Bess Myerson, the first Jewish American to be crowned Miss America, lived in Rego Park.

"I’m hoping to educate and inspire the public, and to make neighborhood residents more neighborly and more intrigued, considering their surroundings," Perlman said.

"Forest Hills and Rego Park have [an] immense amount of history so as a resident and preservationist I feel obligated to share that history and keep it alive for future generations," he said.

Perlman, whose book will be released by Arcadia Publishing early next year, also features Helen Keller, the first deaf-blind person who received a bachelor of arts degree, and actor Sid Caesar.

The book also describes several famous spots around the neighborhood, including the West Side Tennis Club and its stadium. The stadium used to host the U.S. Open, before it moved to the larger National Tennis Center in Flushing in 1977.

In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first African American to win a U.S. national tennis title there, Perlman said.

The stadium also held numerous concerts, including performances by Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

The historian included a number local businesses that have become well known among New Yorkers in the book, including Eddie's Sweet Shop on Metropolitan Avenue, known for its homemade ice cream, and Knish Nosh, a store specializing in knishes that opened in 1952.

The book will be available early next year. It will cost $21.99.