Last week, Adriana Filstrup published “Our Neighborhood”, a virtual exhibit about Louis Armstrong’s relationship with the community of Corona, Queens featuring many samples of Armstrong’s writings about the place he called home for the last 28 years of his life. Still, one of our most frequently asked questions is “Why Corona?” For the second installment of “Hanging With Hyland,” we asked Hyland Harris about the appeal of Corona to Louis Armstrong at a time in his career when he had enough money to live just about anywhere. Here’s his response:
Come back next Wednesday for another hang with Hyland!
There was also a Jewish population in Corona during Armstrong’s time there. My grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants who ran a candy store on the corner of 104th St. and Roosevelt Avenue from 1929 until 1965. There was a synagogue they attended. If memory serves, it was off 103 St. or Junction Blvd. I have no idea if Armstrong ever entered their store, but if he took the 7 train into Manhattan, there’s a good chance that he did as the store was literally under the 103 St. station.
Neither my grandparents or my mother ever mentioned seeing Armstrong. However, my grandmother’s taste in music ran to the Lawrence Welk show, so she was hardly aware of the jazz world. The store was open 20 hours a day, so my grandparents pretty much worked all the time. Had Armstrong come in, I doubt they would have recognized him.