Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I was the kid making the Egg Creams at the 40 thieves. I worked there for a few years in the very early 70s, just as Brighton was starting to change from Easter European immigrants who came there early in the century, to Russian immigrants who started moving there in droves in the 70s and 80s. During the day my boss, Leon, was a big tall crazy Russian who used to yell the name of his girlfriend ("Rifka") at the top of his lungs and scare the living daylights out of me. We would stand side by side on the corner and take money for the Daily News, cigarettes, and magazines. Then I'd have to duck inside and make the occasional egg cream for passers by.