A Good Sign: Eagle Cheese

In Gravesend, Brooklyn

Graveyard of Shame

Want to do something for the City? Call this number, and tell Parks and Recreation to take care of its historical treasures.

This sign in on the iron fence that surrounds the historic Gravesend cemetery. It dates from 1643, the year Gravesend, one of the original settlements that went on to form Brooklyn, was founded. The town's founder, Lady Moody, a London widow, is supposedly buried in there somewhere.

The graveyard is in deplorable condition. It's not enough that its surround by a patchworks of ugly houses, auto body garages and garbage filled lots. The grounds are overgrown, the grass not mowed for months. Maybe it's never mowed.

Read more »

Lester's. Lester's. Lester's.

Look at this Midwood department store. Would you believe this no-frills, local department store was part of a thriving New York chain that has outlets in Manhattan, Long Island and Westchester?

It is. Lester's was founded in 1948 and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this store, which owns the corner of Avenue U and Coney Island Blvd., was the first. The signs are just too damn old. The look is so mid-20th-century-non-chain-local-department-store. (Which is a thing, believe me. I can recognize it a mile away.) Lester and Lillian Kronfeld were the founders and the chain is still family owned.

Read more »

A Good Sign: Harold's for Prescriptions

I don't think I've ever encountered a drug store with a name as unusual as Harold's for Prescriptions, in Gravesend, Brooklyn. What did Harold think he was trading in? Perfume? Ladies' hats?

It's a wonderful name, whatever the reason for the curious syntax. There's a nice corner entrance, but you're not supposed to use it. Lovely awnings on either side of the entrance you can use.