This photo was taken some time in 1976 along Grand Avenue during one of Maspeth’s famous Gay Nineties Parades. It was a rainy day, but that did not put a damper on the festivities at all. Mayor Abraham Beame served as Grand Marshal and walked alongside Peter Chahales, the “Mayor of Maspeth” who owned the Spartan Diner, seen in the background. Also in the distance stood the Elmhurst Gas Tanks, torn down in 1996 to make way for Elmhurst Park. The School of Heroes now stands on the former site of Finast Supermarket. (Finast stood for First National Supermarket and later was rebranded as Edwards and now is Stop & Shop.) Attendees of the parades fondly recall antique cars, costumes, clowns, floats, and wooden nickels passed out by stores to children who could in turn cash them in for admission to a movie at the Maspeth Theater. Do you recognize anyone else in this photo?
