'50's/60's NYC Schools

[Fudbutter]

Questions for anybody who may have been around back then:

Several things about NYC schools "back in the day" came up today and it raised curiosity. Long Island didn't have any of this and I couldn't find much online so, I thought a couple of you would know.

1. 600 Schools

Wife says that they threatened you with this if you "misbehaved" but had no idea where or exactly what these schools were and never knew anyone who went to one. Was this a real thing?

2. GO Cards

This one the wife never heard of but I remember something about city kids getting into The Garden cheap if you had one. How did one get one and what else did it do?

3. JD Cards

Supposedly given to kids who were Juvenile Delinquents. An actual card? Urban legend?

 

[NewMFS62]

I remember hearing about the 600 schools, but didn't know much else.
Yes, I had a GO(General Organization) card. You got it if you had decent grades and did not get into trouble. My friend and I used ours to get into the old Garden for Hockey games. The card and 50 cents got you in. We sat in the side upper deck seats where you couldn't see anything closer than the faceoff circles unless you stood the entire game. We saw several games a year that way. Don't recall if there was a limit of number of games. Don't recall any other perks for having one, but it was over 60 years ago, so I might have forgotten.
Never heard of a JD card.

Later

 

[Fudbutter]

Imagine that. Ranger games for 2 bits.

I would have loved to see them on 49th St, I didn't get to go to a match until the first year of the new Garden. Did get to see a college b-ball doubleheader before they knocked down the old one (NYU played, that shows you how long ago that was). Don't remember much about it though.

Once they raized the old building, they made it a park and lock that I used for many years driving to work from Riverdale. Now it's high rise something or other.

When I first started working there was an older fellow who used to tell stories about see the Amerks at MSG "before the War". Betcha very few people know that there was another NHL team in NY.

So what else did a GO card do for you?

 

[NewMFS62]

So what else did a GO card do for you?

As I said, I can't remember - maybe admission to NYC museums? Not sure about movies or B'way shows.

OE: I just asked my wife. She remembers the card got her discounts at her high school's cafeteria and sporting events. She really wasn't into sports so she didn't really know Ed Kranepool who was a year behind her. She also went to Junior High with Al Pacino, and she remembers that he didn't "seem too smart".

Later

 

[TonyFtLaud]

The 600 schools were 12 schools intended for white disabled students, but after desegregation, they were used to segregate black and Puerto Rican students, keeping them out of white schools. They became the 75th district. I remember the teacher strike due to it. Largest teacher strike ever