Vanderbilt Cup Races

Thanks to Sam I’ve enjoyed many, many hours of enjoyment reading about,learning about and experiencing the Long Island Motor Parkway on my own (i.e., by way of miles of travels on bike and foot, crawling through brush, putting up with thorn bushes, ripped clothes, etc.) but loving it all!  Sam’s website was invaluable in helping uncover a part of Long Island I never knew existed.
Thanks, Sam.  And thanks Howard for honoring Sam this way.

While I now live in florida, I fondly remember those many LIMP explorations we would do on friday mornings. Sam was such a powerful leader in the early days, and infused so many of us to work towards the LIMP preservation status that we have today. Thanks to Sam, and you too, Howard, for all the wonderful work you do,  -pat

A very nice way to commend Mr. Berliner. I became a huge fan of his website in the late 1990’s. You could see how very dedicated he is to the LIMP as a whole. His main website covers LIRR history and other areas of interest as well. I remember getting to meet him at the Bethpage library, Mr. Robert Miller was conducting a slide show for the LIMP. It was a good experience to talk to him and others with mutual interests.

Sincerely,

Brian D McCarthy

Howard, Art, Pat,and Brian (and so many others); thank you all so much for your kind words.  It’s been great fun and I’ve met and worked with great people.  It is so very rewarding to see the ongoing progress; keep it going!  Blame it all on Bob Miller, who I’ve known since around 1960; he inveigled me into attending an early lecture he was giving on some old road called the Motor Parkway.  What is NOT fun, though, is painstakingly restoring each of my 485+ web pages, although I’ve made some big advances here and there.  Of the ~50 LIMP pages, 10 are done and I’ll speed things up.  Better yet, I found an e-trove of old pix (including the first set in the tangle at BSP!) and think I can now retrieve the long-lost really old ones.  So, please bear with me; we’ll get there.  Sam, III

Sorry to hear of Sam’s passing. May he RIP.

Sam was a most interesting person who will be missed by many.  Besides The Motor Parkway, Sam was passionate about many aspects of his surroundings.  I would encourage others to view Sam’s many web pages, even if just to get an idea of the dedication Sam brought to his many passions and his desire to share his knowledge.  Thanks Sam for bringing so much to us.  RIP.

Here are just two of Sam’s sites to get you started.

http://sbiii.com/rr.html
http://sbiii.com/longisld.html

And I thought it appropriate to share these two items from Sam’s website at this time.

Although I physically never met Sam, I had plenty of emails with him over the past few years covering many topics. It was quite obvious how intelligent he was, and he certainly mixed in his personality/humor into most correspondence.

RIP SBIII

So sorry to hear.  Sam brought great joy and passion to his historical work.  It was both enjoyed and appreciated.

I first met Sam when he used to stop in to see Guy Roese in Mineola at Guy’s house at the corner of Garfield and Horton Avenues. and at the repair station that Guy owned on Jericho Turnpike that is now Randy’s Cleaners , opposite the north end of Chaminade High School. I recall him going to Guy’s house once and Guy and I were under a 1940 Cadillac model 75 formal sedan Guy just bought and he and I were putting an exhaust system on laying on the ground on our backs. Sam’s comment was :you guys will never give up” We would talk about pre WWII cars and his love of the Chrysler Imperial CG of 1931. All of this in the mid 1960s to early 1970s. SO sad to read of his passing, he did much to keep L.I. Motor Parkway history alive.

Howard, Sorry to hear about the passing of Sam Berliner. I first met Sam at my toll lodge book signing in 2004.  It wasn’t long before I realized after Robert Miller, he was the most knowledgeable person of the Motor Parkway. More importantly, he generously shared all that he had uncovered. I hope his web site continues to be available.

Condolences to the Berliner family. Very sorry to hear this. Sam will be missed by the many lives he has touched, and his works will always be remembered. Sam III
graciously shared his world experiences, and in return helped educate many with his demeanor. I’m going to miss this guy

Sam below at the Loco wheels, helping cleanup/restore #35 at the Eisenhower Park display in 1969.

RIP Sam. It was great working with you on my LIMP photo journal series 1999-2002. What a loss for our world and our cause

Very sad to hear about Sam’s passing
He definitely was one of the pioneers in chasing Long Island motor Parkway
RIP

Sam revered you in the same respect, Al. It was obvious that he enjoyed participating with everyone on Howard’s site here. He’d also let it be known if something was right or wrong, no mystery there : )    RIP Sam III

I haven’t had the time to visit the site this weekend and this is the first I’m hearing of this. Very sad news. Thanks to Sam I stumbled on the LIMP and his site about 13 years ago, which then led me to Art and Howard’s pages. Forever grateful to him for starting me down the Motor Parkway. His email correspondence and speaking to him at a LIMPPS meeting will always be a treasure for me.

Sam, When you meet up with Willie K, let him know we’re still down here keeping his Parkway and memory alive thanks to you!

This man’s site was the first place I ever went to get info on the motor parkway.  Sorry to hear about this. RIP.

Sam will be missed greatly. In addition to LIMP information,  His digital online LIRR history records, photos and descriptions provide excellent sources for those interested.  He always was willing to share his information..

I have this arcadia publishing Long Island Rail Road Oyster Bay Branch by David D. Morrison (2018) Came across this page and our late Sam was involved this? The top photo is something that Howard would know. In the Acknowledgements, Howard’s name is among the listed that was help for the author.

Thank you Sam Berliner for preserving all of the history about the LI Motor parkway. I’ve learned so much from this web site and have shared what I’ve learned with so many of my friends and family.You will be missed.God bless you and your family. Gene Perry

Incorrect information on the ‘Mackey lodge’ in the above photo. It wasn’t really a lodge, but a gatehouse for Mackay’s Harbor Hill estate. It has not been demolished and even may be restored in the future.

Since we’ve been made aware of Sam’s passing I was able to make contact with Sam’s widow who very much knew of his passion for the Motor Parkway (she also knew of Howard as Sam very often mentioned his name).  As the following e-mail indicates she very much misses Sam and was appreciative of my efforts to contact her to let her know how many people in our group Sam touched.  She and Sam’s daughter’s very much want to keep his website alive so that his legacy and vast knowledge can continue to assist others.  Hopefully that will be accomplished!

Dear Mr. Kleiner,

Heartfelt thanks for your contacting me and for sending the links to sites honoring Sam’s memory.  He lived a full life, with much courage and passion for his many interests and with love for his family. Even when he was already declining, he was volunteering at his church and supporting my ministry. I loved him immensely and his death has brought much pain and sadness. Knowing that he is remembered by others who knew him and who appreciate his work helps assuage that pain.

I will pass your email to Sam’s daughters.  I’m sure they will be grateful for it and for your generous offer to help us to keep Sam’s legacy alive.

Again, many thanks for your kindness.  Keep well and safe.

Very happy that you communicated with his family, Art. Along with his websites, they can also see that Sam’s knowledge, passion and humor lives on here, too.

Sam was a LIMP pioneer, along with a few other gents that we know so well (of course, Howard has taken it to another level). Sam and I spent many hours in emails back and forth when I discovered my dad’s photos of the North Hempstead Turnpike overpass. His emails were curmudgeonly with a large dollop of humor. He frequently pretended to be annoyed with me, but I knew he really wasn’t. His web sites, like his emails, were rambling. They were full of underlinings, redirects, weird mixes of fonts and colors, frequently funny, but always interesting and full of substance. I loved his description of himself on his sites as a “light-weight linguist and lay minister”. I’ll truly miss him.

Thanks for sharing, R I P Sam.

A very nice tribute to Sam, Mitch.