Sign of the Times: Sixty-Year-Old Gowanus Business Closed
It has been there for 60 years, but no longer. A GL reader emails to say that the Italian Grocery at the corner of Third Avenue and President Street is no more:
The Italian grocery on 3rd avenue and President, that has been family owned and run for 60 yrs, has closed for good as of this past Friday. I spoke to the owner Caroline and she told me that it has just become too much for her to handle and that the business just isn't what it used to be. She said that most of her business was from the neighborhood factories and a lot of them have closed. I guess it's just an unforeseen circumstance of gentrification. I'm really going to miss getting my breakfast and coffee there in the morning. Caroline was someone who has seen the area's ups and downs and had quite a few stories and opinions to share.Will the Salumeria space down the street be converted into a boutique next?
On the same note, I understand that the owner of Canal Bar, next door, is interested in setting up a cafe in that space. Mind you, these are fairly solid rumors.
Labels: Gowanus
posted by rsguskind at 9:05 AM
4 Comments:
yes, all gentrification's fault. Not that manufacturing has been closing and leaving all the USA for decades.
Not that things evolve. Become obsolete.
Just blame those rich newcomers.
11,01: weak attempt at sarcasm, sharpen your rhetorical skills or at least talk about BROOKLYN, or is that asking a lot too much? likewise, there's more to the story than thus far told, but that also has a lot to do w/running a small family business. this IS sad news, however-- i have loved that shop from for the last 30 + years. i take it 11,01 doesn't know its geographical significance to BK (or "USA") history either?
re: salumeria, you know that is NOT an old business, correct? it's opening-- eight or nine years ago-- was a mystery THEN (bc Italian-American South BK had been in decline for decades) & its quick closing was also odd but after a while, you learn 3rd Ave IS mystery... (& was, the amazing history of which is almost totally unwritten to date.)
you know also that the building just in on the east side at 3rd & Carroll was a knitting mill until 1999 or so, right? i used to make deliveries there when i was a kid working for my uncle* & ...
wwib
It's the loss of factories more than anything else. My mom—rest her soul—worked in a sweat shop on Carroll Street across from the church in the 1980s. I walk over there sometimes and realize that as bad as the area is now, it was worse then. And at least the old school Italian business owners made that little pocket of a neighborhood decent in their own way.
Truly the end of an era.
I'll blame the newcomers, and state that the owner of Canal Bar is a douche.
Post a Comment
<< Home