We’ve flashed back a few times before to Arnie’s Place.
The video game arcade horrified some adults, who thought it signaled The End of Westport.
But it was a formative, home-away-from home haven for hundreds of youngsters growing up in the 1980s.
At the center of it all was Arnie Kaye, a larger-than-life (both physically and metaphorically) man who tormented town officials, made sure his arcade (and adjacent ice cream parlor) were safe and clean for all kids, and had a knack for headlines. (Click here for one of several “06880” stories about Arnie’s Place.)
On Monday, someone posted a YouTube video about Arnie’s.
In just 2 1/2 minutes it covers all the key points, about Arnie and his controversies. There are vintage photos and videos of the interior, and of Arnie himself.
But it’s also very odd. Sure, Arnie once chained himself to Town Hall — yet the images shown have nothing to do with our building and cops.
Some of the video scenes of Arnie — while resembling him — don’t quite convey how big he really was.
It’s narrated too by one of those annoying AI voices.
Still, if you’ve got a spare moment, it’s worth clicking here or below. You’ll see a weird look, into a weird time in Westport history.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
At the time the Arnie’s Place controversy reminded me of “THe Music Man”. You could almost hear it in the opposition. “It’s gonna be trouble, with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Arnie’s Place.” I thought for sure some of the opponents were actually selling instruments and wanted to start a boys band.
Vineyard Osprey cam; https://www.massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries/felix-neck/programs-activities/birds-birding
Enjoy!
That is a weird video. Truth is Arnie was a good friend to the WPD. We loved him and he loved us.
I would routinely punch in my initials for high score on my favorite game. After watching me two kids who played the game too laughed. You’re BMF… bad mother f’er. That were shocked when I said no that’s actually my initials.
Every now and then while cleaning I come across an old Arnies token
We had several teenage kids of Arnie’s Place appropriate age. Every parent was scared to death of what might go on there. So we went as “customers” one night, and had a great time, along with everyone else!
Arnie and I both grew up in Queens and had lots to share when I went to pick up my kids. Arnie let them use his phone to call me then he’d give them free tokens to play while they waited.
He showed me his apartment above the store that had a huge hot tub in the middle of the living room. He was an engaging guy with a big heart who loved kids.
He broke up a fight in the parking lot one night by lifting both combatants two feet in the air and walking around with them. He made them shake hands and go back inside. Threatened to ban them. Strong guy.
Mr. Joseph, Arnie’s personal barber who worked out of the pool hall is still in town. He once showed me Arnie’s toupee.
In July of 1991 I was in early labor with my first child. It was a fun place to pass the time.
I was one of those teenage kids that went to Arnie’s right from the time it opened up. This was the Golden Age of Video Games which resulted in a national shortage of quarters. In Westport, the only other place to socialize and play video games (limited to 6 by P&Z) was Dairy Queen. Everyone in town thought that drinking and drugs would permeate into and around the arcade, but that never happened because Arnie ran a tight ship and wouldn’t put up with potential BS. He meant well and was very unselfish in putting the kids of all ages first. This had an impact on me at the time and later in life, allowed me to compete at the pro level. People just didn’t understand or get him. I’ll say this: that out of the hundreds of arcades I’ve been to, this was BY FAR the most elegant. It was almost like being in a Las Vegas casino with the wooden enclosures around and separating every single game (upright and tabletop), bright lights, red velvet carpeting and if you looked up endless brass ceilings. Very, very expensive furnishings for it’s time, let alone the cost of the 80+ games themselves.
Before Arnie’s there was a great arcade on the lower level of Bill’s Smokeshop, and then briefly there was a sad little arcade in the Angelina’s shopping center. Bill’s became a cheese store.
Yes, I do remember that arcade at Bill’s in Brooks Corner!! It was probably mid 1970’s and had a lot of B&W games. The one near Angelina’s in the Post Plaza was called Jem’s Amusements.
I remember that dilapidated house near the corner of Barbara Place and Old Road that Arnie bought and threatened to sell to a motorcycle gang to use as a gathering spot. The neighborhood went wild over that threat.
The P&ZC , on which I was a commissioner, treated that good man so badly, for so long that we all should have been recalled. How stupid we were and how vituperative toward one of Westports few human treasures. Shame, indeed, can be retroactive.
I was a Staples Inklings columnist at the time of the Arnie’s Place controversy, and I remember writing a jaded, eye-rolling column along the lines of, “In this town, it’s always something….” Which, I might add 45 years later, is sorta true!