19 December 2011

A Corner in Flatbush


This building at the corner of Church Avenue and Rogers Avenue is interesting enough in contemporary terms, since it is the home of Nio's Trinidad Roti Shop, a restaurant of some local renown. One Nio Badall founded the Trinidadian eatery some quarter century ago.

But I am more interested in what the building was before that. The sprawling, two-story, brick, corner edifice is so obviously an old structure—with its peaked cornice, oval window and decorative lintels—that one imagines it was a significant local landmark going back as far as one hundred years, if not more.

Alas, I have found out nothing about this building aside from the fact that it was a restaurant back in 1935. Anyone out there have any information?

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8 comments:

  1. Adrian12/20/2011 5:33 AM

    Nio's has (or at least had) a lunch truck in lower Manhattan.

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  2. Anonymous12/20/2011 7:32 AM

    I'm far from an architectural expert, but it's my impression that the building looks to be from the early part of the 20th Century or possibly the very late 19th. Something like a range from 1895 to 1915.

    Peter

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  3. Helen12/21/2011 4:20 PM

    This was my husband's neighborhood many decades ago. He's remembering the NE corner as "The Hut" - a restaurant - the SE corner as a Bar, the NW corner as probably a funeral home, and the SW is less memorable but maybe a pharmacy.

    We SO enjoy reading your blog!!

    Helen

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  4. Helen again12/21/2011 4:58 PM

    I just realized that I was vague when you're looking for specifics - sorry. My husband's timeframe would be the 1950s and into the 1960s.

    Helen

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  5. Brooks of Sheffield12/22/2011 12:57 PM

    Nice haul of information, Helen. Thank your husband. So the Roti place was a bar, huh? I bet at one point they took boarders on the second floor.

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  6. Unknown7/10/2014 8:20 AM

    this location was a bar named Gilmores. My grandfather John Mulroy was bartender in the 60's I have a photo if you like, but can't upload it?

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  7. Anonymous10/20/2016 2:39 PM

    The funeral home (mentioned above) was Kennedy's. This is the corner where Holy Cross church is - I grew up and continued working (on that block, in fact)there until relatively recently.

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  8. Anonymous3/19/2017 11:24 AM

    My grandfather was the Gilmore that owned that bar. I found a picture of it in the Historical Society website and requested a copy of it. I have not received a response yet.

    ReplyDelete

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