Sea Gate Remembered

Book excerpt: Today, gated communities abound in our nation. But what was it like living in one 100 years ago? Author Arnold Rosen describes life in New York?s first gated community (the gate was erected in 1898) in his book, SEA GATE REMEMBERED. As the pages turn, this book tours you through the generation?s coming of age in the 1930?s and 40s—the games we played, the stores we shopped, the schools we attended and the somber war years. So much of the many privacies beyond the gate are revealed by the author and ex-Sea Gaters who spent their youthful years beyond the wired fences at the southwestern tip of Brooklyn walled off from Coney Island next door and extending to the rest of North America. Arnold Rosen, author of twenty books on computers and office technology, grew up in Sea Gate where his father owned and operated sideshows and amusement rides beyond the fence in Coney Island. Now professor emeritus at Nassau Community College, Rosen graduated with a BS degree from Ohio State University an an MS degree from Hunter College after serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. The author lived in Sea Gate from 1932 to 1952 and now has come ?full circle" to retire in another gated community—Sun City—Hilton Head, South Carolina.