The Ditmas Park Word: Robert & Shelley Cherry On Their Green Oasis, A Changing Neighborhood & More
From new transplants hailing from places across the city, country and globe to residents who have lived in our area for decades, our neighborhood is home to an amazingly diverse collection of people. This interview is part of our “The Ditmas Park Word” series, in which we’ll get to know some of our wonderful neighbors who make our community what it is today. For our latest addition, we interviewed neighbors Robert and Shelley Cherry.
If you are walking in Fiske Terrace, the site of a beautiful garden at East 17th & Glenwood Road may make you stop you in your tracks. This lovely green oasis has been 35 years in the making, lovingly tended to by Robert and Shelley.
How long have you lived in the neighborhood? Shelley: We have lived here in Fiske Terrace for 35 years.
What prompted the move to our neighborhood? Shelley: Robert was working as a professor of Economics at Brooklyn College, and then I got a job there as a professor of Audiology, so it made sense to move to this neighborhood.
Where did you leave prior to here? Shelley: Prior to living here, we were living in New Jersey. I’m originally from the Bronx. Robert: I grew up in Brooklyn around Highland Park and Sheepshead Bay.
What kinds of changes have you seen in the neighborhood during the past 35 years? Robert: The Flatbush Development Corporation did a great job of stabilizing the neighborhood by working on tenant organizing and the repairing of buildings. Shelley: There were a lot of young families with children when we moved here but now many of the children have grown and moved away. But now I see that once again young families are moving in.
Do you consider these positive changes or negative changes? Shelley: I can’t believe what the houses are selling for now. It concerns me because I wonder about how people can afford to live here now.
What do you like about the neighborhood? Shelley: It was a great place to raise our kids. It is very quiet, stable and green. Spring is my favorite time of year in the neighborhood. Robert: It is convenient to get to Manhattan by subway and to get to my job at Brooklyn College.
What is missing in our neighborhood? Shelley: I would love to see more restaurants, in particular a French place, and a better supermarket.
Finish this sentence: Fiske Terrace is… Shelley: A lovely place to live. Robert: And the people are friendly and neighborly.
Do you have favorite restaurants in the neighborhood? Shelley: AmThai Bistro on Church Avenue. Robert: Pablo’s on Newkirk and the pizzeria San Remo on Cortelyou Road is incredibly good. Also the restaurants on Newkirk Plaza are great places for basic, good ethnic food. There is now a Turkish restaurant/take-out place where for $7 you get a large portion of rice and chicken or lamb with salad; there is a Caribbean place where you can get great jerk chicken, oxtail, or stewed chicken, and a Mexican restaurant that has great and reasonable food.
What is the neighborhood’s best kept secret? Shelley: The neighborhood does not have any secrets; everyone knows each other’s business. Robert: Most people are unaware of how green a neighborhood can be in Brooklyn.
[pullquote]It was meaningful to me that my kids were exposed to people of different backgrounds. They developed an appreciation for people of different cultures. They learned not to stereotype people or be afraid of a cultural group that was different than their own.[/pullquote]
We live in a very diverse neighborhood, how meaningful is that to you? Shelley: It is very important to me; I do not want to live in a place where everyone looks like me. It was meaningful to me that my kids were exposed to people of different backgrounds. They developed an appreciation for people of different cultures. They learned not to stereotype people or be afraid of a cultural group that was different than their own. Robert: It is remarkable, the variety of stores and restaurants a person can find on one block.
What do you think of Brooklyn’s newfound popularity? Robert: I think it is very good for us. The opening of the Kings Theatre is exciting, and I’m grateful to Marty Markowitz for making that happen.
What is your profession? Robert: I have been a professor of Economics at Brooklyn College since 1977. Shelley: I’m retired from Brooklyn College, where I was a professor of Audiology.
What do you like about your job? Robert: There is a certain vitality at Brooklyn College because of the student body, which is made up of a lot of first-generation college attendees from immigrant families. Shelley: My field was the science of hearing and hearing disorders, and I loved working with patients and sharing my knowledge with students. It was a great career.
Tell me about your garden. Shelley: When we first moved here there was a small garden, and we kept expanding it through the years. I think that now we have over 1,000 varieties of flowers and plants in our garden. We lost two trees during Hurricane Sandy so prior to that our garden was very shady, and we had shade-loving plants. We were sad to lose the trees but now we are able to have more flowering plants.
What kind of time commitment does it take to maintain the garden? Robert: It takes an hour or two every day to maintain the garden.
Do you have advice for other gardeners? Shelley: I like to do a lot of experimenting in the garden by taking cuttings and plantings and moving them to a new spot to see if they will grow. If you plant something and it does not grow, or if a plant does not make it through the winter, don’t cry about it — just plant something else. I like to have a lot of perennials. I stay away from tulips bulbs because the squirrels like to dig them out of the ground. Robert: There are a lot of trees in our neighborhood, so you have to pick out the right plants that will work with the amount of sunlight that your garden receives.
What was the best compliment that you ever received about your garden? Shelley: A professional gardener once asked to take photos of our garden because he could not believe that a professional gardener did not live here. I think that it is interesting that people hire professionals to tend their garden because they are fearful of making a mistake. But they should know that you can plant something, and it might now look like anything for the first two years and suddenlym in the third year, it will look great! And sometimes if a plant is not happy in one place in the garden, if you move it to a new spot, it can thrive.
Is there a philosophy that you try to live your life by? Shelley: I try to treat everyone like I want to be treated. And if everyone did that it would be a better world. Robert: It is important to be authentic.
Where do you hope your next vacation will be? Shelley: We are looking forward to a planned trip to the Bahamas.
What was the last great book you read? Shelley: The Buddha in The Attic by Julie Otsuka, which begins in early 1900 and is about mail-order brides from Japan coming to California. Robert: Neal Gabler’s An Emipre Of Their Own, about the Jewish movie moguls.
What do you like to do in your free time? Shelley: I take courses at Brooklyn College through Brooklyn Lifelong Learning, which offers great courses in art, literature, etc. for retired people.
If you know someone you’d love to see featured in this series, let us know! You can email us at editor@ditmaspark.com.