Fifth Avenue Flowers

Blooms on Fifth—Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, that is—holds down a nice little storefront. Not an unique one; it's obviously a twin to the building to the right. But, unlike it's neighbor, it's managed to hold on to more of its original two-level storefront.

The store's website doesn't tell you much about the site's history. (What is it with florist websites, by the way? I have noticed over the years that they are uniformly anonymous and nondescript and offer nothing in the way of business history, even when the business is very old.) However, there is a line saying "Blooms on Fifth, Ltd. has been proudly serving the Brooklyn area for over 83 years." At this location? With that very-modern-sounding name? It doesn't say. But there's a chance that Blooms has inhabited the three-story brick structure since the 1930s. There was indeed a florist here in 1965—a gentleman named James Daniel—according to a New York Times account.

From Hearty to Quaint

This is the Park Slope storefront on 9th Street that used to contain Catene, the Italian sandwich shop that specialized in calamari heros, and closed in 2012 after 46 years in business. Judging by the cute exterior, it looks like the next tenant will be a little less rough and ready. Cute storefront. But I miss the old, brazen, red sign.

Jackie's Fifth Amendment, Classic Brooklyn Dive, to Close

Mars Bar. Holiday Cocktail Lounge. Blarney Cove. O'Connor's. Now Jackie's Fifth Amendment.

Another timeless, irreplaceable dive bar has found the new New York inhospitable to its kind. Jackie's, located on Fifth Avenue and 7th Street and armed with one of the best bar names in the history of mankind, is one of tony, stroller-ridden Park Slope's last regular, old man bars. I will pour its last bottle (it doesn't serve any beer on draft) on Sept. 14.

The bar has been in the same family since the 1950s. "The owner's health is deteriorating," a bartender told Gothamist. "It's going to be taken over by the pharmacy next door." He added, quite correctly, "It's a shame to see these kind of bars leave the area, because once they're gone they're gone forever."

The bar was called Costello's in the 1960s. Why it changed its name (but remained in the same family), I do not know. If Jackie's had a signature, it was the cheap buckets of ponies. It served no food, not even pretzels, but a spacious room in the back hinted that there might have been hot lunches in the past. Last time I was there, they still had a rotary phone and an 8-track tape. (Photo courtesy of Eater.)

A Taste of Bay Ridge in Park Slope

I was surprised the other day, walking down Fifth Avenue in the South Slope, to spot a familiar blue and yellow awning I had been used to seeing in Bay Ridge. It was unmistakably Leske's Bakery, a Swedish icon from the southern edges of Brooklyn which, after briefly closing in 2011, was bought by new owners and reopened. Now, it seems, the owners are intent on expanding. This new outpost is the first of what a clerk told me the owners hope will be a few new Leske's around the city. It's a nice turnaround for a classic Brooklyn business that very recently was on the brink of extinction.

The layout inside is very similar to that of the Bay Ridge store, with the counter and shelves of delicacies to the left as you walk in. I had a black and white cookie, and an almond danish, both of which were fresh and delicious. (I'm not a fan of the iconic black and white city, but I will agree with what others have said, that this is the best example in the city.) I had been unaware of the Leske's tradition of serving free coffee from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. every day, but apparently this is so.

A Perfect Storefront: Leopoldi Hardware

I haven't done one of these "A Perfect Storefront" features in a long while. But as I passed Park Slope's Leopoldi True Value Hardware on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, I thought it certainly justified an entry.

What is it about old New York hardware purveyors that makes them want to take up every inch of facade space of the building they occupy? I see it again and again, most notably with the sprawling Bruno Hardware in downtown Brooklyn. It's a very 19th-century urge. I count six signs of various styles here. I guess the fact that Leopoldi didn't go beyond the second floor should be counted as a sign of restraint. Still, despite the riot of colors and fonts, the overall feeling is very harmonious, very lived-in. The cloth awning helps soften the effect.

The place has been serving Park Slope since 1966. Currently, there are three generations of Leopoldis working in the store.

O'Connor's, Classic Brooklyn Dive, Closes—for Renovations?

What happened?

I knew that times were a-changing over at O'Connor's, the 81-year-old Fifth Avenue dive bar. The Park Slope fixture had been bought by a new owner, who was slowly "improving" the old tavern, adding televisions, a big back room,  a food program and a rooftop addition meant to house a beer garden. It was all very un-O'Connor's. The appeal of the bar had always been its old-world decrepitude and timeless feel. There was a wonderful silence to the place and, if you didn't like quiet, a great juke box.

Well, now, it's just plain closed, according to Here's Park Slope. Apparently, work has reached such a point that the joint has to close down in order to complete it. The staff has been let go and the phone lines shut down. If it does reopen, expect a cleaner, more respectable bar. In short, a different bar. Hopefully, the owner won't touch the old bar and booths.

The Bar That Replaced Timboo's

Timboo's, one of the last great dive bars of Park Slope, was recently supplanted by a new joint called Skylark, run by the same people who operate Abilene, a bar in Carroll Gardens.

I was sad to see Timboo's go. I checked out Skylark the other day to see how much of the old place they had left intact.

Read more »

Is Garry Jewelers Open?

A question I ask myself fairly often—at least every three months, and certainly whenever I walk down Fifth Avenue in Park Slope—is "Is Garry Jewelers open?"

Open for business, I mean. Not just open right now. Every time I've walked by—or ridden the bus by—this old jewelry store (founded in 1951, sez the sign), the roller shutter has been down. I've never seen anyone inside. Not an employee, not a customer.

When I've asked around, people tell me that the store is still a going concern. Michael Garafola, the owner, just opens when he feels like it. His neighbors accept packages for him.  But still others told me they had been trying to reclaim repaired jewelry from the store for months, even years.

Lately, though, it's seem more closed than usual. There's too much dust in the window displays. I can't imagine Garry's is going to roll up that shutter any more.

Garry Jewelers was run by Ralph S. Garafola until his death in 1999, after which his son Michael took over. I'm assuming Garry was an Americanization of the name Garafola. Apparently Michael had heart surgery at the end of 2008, and he opened the store less often after that.

"The Palace of Trade" Returns to New York

I had a meal recently at a newish Park Slope eatery named Talde. The food was good. But what really caught my attention was the woodwork surrounding the bar, lining the windows and demarcating the partition between the barroom and the dining area. So ornate and particular and exotic. It seems too well-crafted to be new. Could it be a reclaimed relic?

Read more »

Fifth Avenue Pizza Sign Gone

The old-school Fifth Avenue Pizzeria closed back in 2008. But the owners of the the slice joint, and the landlord, left the sign up for several seasons for the visual pleasure of passersby. It was a simple sign, one of those white and red jobbies that I'm sure the Coca-Cola company paid for by the hundreds back in the day. But it always made me smile.

Now it's gone. Someone has rented the place, and construction is underway. The place has been gutted and the signage removed. This won't be one of those places that leave up the old sign, to be uncovered decades later. Alas.

Pop-Up Soup In Park Slope

Last summer, a friend of mine suggested, as a way to stave off depression while writing this blog, that I rename is "Found City" and write instead about great new things in New York, rather than the great old things New York was losing.

Well, I'm not changing the name of the blog, or it's mission. But he had a point. Not everything old was good. And not everything new is bad. I never insisted on any notion of the kind, though many have assumed my thoughts went along those lines.

So, here's the Soup Bowl. Something new and good. It's a pop-up store, temporary taking the place of Uncle Louie G's ice cream. It opened this month and will only be around until Louie G's returns in the spring. But I hope they stick around longer. It's a good place, and the owner, Richard Gussoff, is terribly friendly and earnest. He told me he gets up early every morning to go to the City's various greenmarkets to get the ingredients for his soups. Selections change every day, and can include such interesting things as Squash Lobster Bisque and Baby Carrot Asparagus. Prices are much more reasonable than chains like Hale and Hearty.

Soup Bowl is at 321 Seventh Avenue, near the F train stop.

Strange History of an Old Sign

Recently, I posted an item about how the old Park Slope sign for the Regio Bakery has been taken down and replaced by an awning for the new Little Buddy Biscuit Company.

The wife of the owner of Little Buddy wrote in to tell me the curious back story on the Regio sign, which I had always thought looked a little odd.

Read more »

A Perfect Storefront: Park Slope Grocery and Convenient

This storefront comes right at you as you pass it on Fourth Avenue with a rush of letters, colors and lights. The goodies to be found inside are as equally extolled on the western and southern sides of the shop as they are at the corner. I do love a place that hawks the cardinal corner-store attractions of yesteryear: Candies, Sodas, Ice Cream, Cigarettes, Newpaper, Magazines, Cold Beer. All the easily had things you need to make you happy.

Details of the old facade are still visible around the door. But the most wonderful things about the storefront are hidden on the sides of the main sign.

On one side you have a giant image of the iconic New York "We Are Pleased to Serve You" cup. On the other, a one of a kind, homemade image of a giant Pepsi can, surrounded by lots of little, adoring cans.

Oh, and you can't discount the fact that Park Slope Grocery has made an adjective part of their name. They are a "Convenient" Store. Is that sort of like an Appetizing Store?

Bakery In, Bakery Out

This was 635 Fifth Avenue in the South Slope two years ago. Poor old Regio Bakery gave up the ghost after who knows how many years.

Read more »

Really Not Open For Business

I love the look of this shuttered old storefront on Fifth Avenue in the South Slope, but, Jesus, what tornado his this shop? It looks like it went through Hurricane Katrina.

Read more »

86-Year-Old Locksmith in Park Slope

I needed some keys made. So I stopped by a small locksmith on 9th Street in Park Slope that I've passed by a hundred times without a thought. Fifth Avenue Key Shop. Turns out the place has been in business since 1924. I never would have imagined it. But I guess key makers can be multi-generational as much as any other line of business.

The owner told me the business was founded on Fifth Avenue—hence the name. But they moved around the corner after a few years and have been there every since.

There are a few old pictures just inside the door. One shows that the shop used to be next door to a movie theatre. (It's a McDonald's now.) Alice's Beauty Shoppe was above. (Empty now.) A lawyer's office and Western Union Shop were on the other side.

Another picture shows that the layout of the store hasn't changed much over the years. Same low tin ceiling, too.

The new keys work fine.

Swinging '60s Crapitecture

My bike screeched to a halt when I caught sight of this fantastic piece of crapitecture on Eighth Avenue in the South Slope. It's crap, no doubt about it. But rarely have I seen crapitecture that apes the curved, groovy lines of 1960s office buildings. Fifty years ago, this would have soon been full of dentists and CPAs. Today, it will be filled by condo-ites.

O'Connor's Has an Awning Problem

Did the classic Park Slope dive O'Connor's lose its awning in the recent three-day blow that unleashed such wind damage on New York and its environs?

Walked by recently and all that was left was the skeleton of the awning. There's just a Tullamore Dew banner protected the poor old bar now. The naked front, however, resolved a nagging question in my head. It's now clear that there was no older, cooler sign hiding beneath the newish awning. Just some cinder blocks.

Below is how O'Connor's looked with the now absent awning.

Don't Come in This Church With No Messy Boots

The Immanuel and First Spanish United Methodist Church at 424 Dean Street in kinda-sorta-northy Park Slope is an old, old church. So old that it still has its old cast-iron boot scrapers outside the front entrance. Nobody, but nobody, has any good excuse for coming into the house of worship with muddy shoes.

The pile of bricks was built as the Swedish Methodist Church and dedicated May 19, 1872. No cars then. Or paved roads. But horses and dirt street and plenty of muddy boots. The Rev. Nels Eagle preached here in 1901 that President William McKinley should be expelled from the Methodist Church because he drinks Champagne.

Record and Tape Center Still There

In May 2009, we got the sad news that Park Slope's Record and Tape Center, a shop which has sat on Fifth Avenue near Ninth Street for 38 years, was being booted out by its landlord.

Then we got the happy news in June 2009 that the shop's 72-year-old owner Tony Mignone had found a new home just three doors down from its current spot at 439 Fifth Ave.

Well, here it is, January 2010, and the Center is still there, still selling records and tapes in the same scrappy fashion. Just don't push on the door too hard, OK?