St. John's Hill
Saint John's Hill was the steep incline where 159th Street ran up from Saint Ann's Avenue directly to Eagle Avenue.
It was so steep vehicles never used it. The nuns climbed it daily to get to the convent from the school. Some years
ago, St. John's Hill was featured in a New York Times item. A local politician noted that it was impassable and used
it as an example of how bad the Bronx streets had deteriorated. His complaint seemed rather false since the hill, because
of its steepness, had never been used for vehicular traffic even when I was a boy. I remember as a teen-aged grocery
boy once pushing a fully loaded pushcart up this hill partly out of laziness and partly for the challenge. I did it
only one time but never repeated it. I don't remember ever risking it on a bike.
It was a dangerous wonderland for sledders when it snowed. Saint Ann's Avenue crossed right at its foot, a busy avenue
with a trolley car and frequent truck traffic. The bigger kids would set up an unofficial safety monitor system on the
avenue to warn if trucks or a trolley appeared. I don't remember if there were ever any accidents but near misses were
frequent. Although most parents in the neighborhood had issued strict prohibitions against sledding on the hill, it
was always mobbed with sledders after a snowfall. A sled often would travel the full block to Brook Avenue after
hitting the straight-away across Saint Anne's Avenue. We all risked our necks on this hill despite our parent's
stern warning. My brother Joe badly cut his leg while using a sheet of tin as a make shift sled on this hill.
He was brought home by friends, more terrified of parental justice then he was of the stitches at the clinic.