Vanderbilt Cup Races

Last Tuesday, I had a wonderful meeting with students of the Stewart School in Garden City who are researching the Long Island Motor Parkway. As shown in this 1960 aerial looking east, the Motor Parkway was directly north of the school and was parallel to Stewart Avenue. Among the images that we discussed were these two from Garden City:

The Long Island Motor Parkway bridge over Clinton Road is approximately 500 feet north of the Stewart School. This bridge was one of only two in Nassau County with three openings; the other was over Westbury Avenue in Mineola. Note the sign indicating the entrance to the parkway via the Garden City Lodge. The image is courtesy of Ron Ridolph.

Elizabeth Ernst, wife of the toll collector, is shown here outside the lodge in 1935. The Ernsts purchased the lodge, approximately 100 feet east of the Clinton Road bridge, when the Motor Parkway closed in April 1938. It was their home until the 1970s.The image is courtesy of Walter McCarthy.

Below is feedback from the Stewart School students:

“Thank you very much for visiting me and all the other students here at Stewart School. I enjoyed your presentation and I am reading my copies of your books already. You helped my group and me, and I hope you can come back soon!” –T

“We all enjoyed your presentation on the Long Island Motor Parkway. We thank you for your books and photo from 1938, and we all think it’s really cool that you bought that car and actually are going to be riding it in public streets. I hope to see you soon!” –S

“I was very thankful you came on Tuesday! Without you, we would hardly have any reference sources on Willie K. Your books and website were our #1 resources! Thank you for all of your time and effort!” –Y

“The power point you put together was really good! Your books are also very helpful and informative. The pictures were cool. How did you get that much information? It was really good! Thanks for all those things you brought in and showed us. You were very helpful with our research! Thank you for coming and helping us out so much. I can’t thank you enough!”-C

“Thank you for showing us a presentation about the Long Island Motor Parkway! I enjoyed the pictures you showed us and the maps. You showed me a lot about the building of the parkway. I thought it was really cool how you bought that car in Belgium and how it is “street legal.”-C

“I was very interested in what you had to say yesterday. Your power point was very well put together. I just wanted to say thank you for the presentation, the aerial picture, and the books. It was also really cool how we found our school on it. Thank you so much and I’m really looking forward to your next visit”.-C

“The presentation was informative. It was really cool to see our school, the Motor Parkway, and the bridge on Clinton Road on the aerial view. You have already helped us with our research! Thank you for coming, and I look forward to you coming again!”-Z

“I am very thankful that a professional like you was able to come and teach us about the LI Motor Parkway. The artifacts that you brought with you were amazing and priceless. I am very interested in the map you gave us, Id like to find out what all the things were. You gave us so much great information on the toll lodges. I’m looking forward to your next visit.” - A

“The presentation was very informational and helped me and my class so much for our research. I was really interested to see that you bought that car in Belgium and that you were going to drive it around!!! Thank you so much for the books and that map. I thought it was so cool to see how our school looked on that map. Thank you so much for coming and I hope you can visit us again! “- A

“Mr. Kroplick- it was awesome how you bought that car in Belgium and now you are going to drive it! I was interested in your presentation and how we could see Stewart School in the aerial photo! Your website is great, and I can’t wait until you come again.” -J

“Mr. Kroplick- it was so great finally getting to meet you. I can’t believe you were able to bring in some of the primary documents! I also think it was amazing that you bought a car in Belgium that won the Cup races twice! I love reading your books they are so interesting and neat. I can’t believe that I was reading such an amazing book and then got to meet the author. I hope I get to meet you again!”-J 