A Carroll Gardens Life: Before It Was Paul Manafort's Investment Property, 377 Union Street In Carroll Gardens Was The Beloved Home Of The Macaluso and Gianquinto Family

377 Union Street between Smith and Hoyt Streets in February 2017

Paul Manafort's investment property at 377 Union Street in 2017

a sketch of the brownstone by Brooklyn Heights artist Robert Gruivel
commissioned by a member of the Macalusos and Gianquintos

Matriarch and Patriarch Gianquinto

Great Aunt Mary Gianquinto

Marriage of Joseph Macaluso and Angela GianquintoJoseph Macaluso with infant Joan and Dolores 1932Joseph and Angela Macaluso at the beach with their familyCarol Ashton, Dolores Kendal, Lois Khatchadourian, Joan Cuttitta, Joseph Macaluso.
Joseph Macaluso, Dolores, Carole and Joe 1940
Joan Macaluso Cuttitta's  prom 1940.
Dolores and Joan on their second prom.
Joan Macaluso Cuttitta with Great-Grandmother Katherine
The Gianquinto Cousins standing in front of the brownstone
Ted Cuttitta and Joan Macaluso wedding St. Agnes 1952
More cousins in 1960

Tedd Cuttitta, Joan Macaluso Cuttitta's sonAngela Macaluso in the parlorJoseph and Angela Macaluso
Four generations of the family at a get-together a few years ago
The Brooklyn Paper July 29-August 11, 1981
Angela Macaluso in her own words

In recent weeks, the circa 150 year old brownstone at 377 Union Street in Carroll Gardens has garnered national attention as one of Paul Manafort's  New York City investment property because of its rather questionable financing.
The current ownership of the building came to light a few weeks ago, when a Union Street neighbor told PMFA that Donald Trump's former campaign manager and high level advisor had left the house and its front yard in a rather sad state after renovation was halted a year-and a half ago.

Among the many comments left by readers on the post, one in particular caught my attention.  It was left by Cathy Fleck, whose family once owned this once majestic brownstone.
Cathy wrote:
"This story has another side which makes it more personal. 377 Union Street was our family's beloved home for generations. This is the home where my great-grandparents lived, where my grandparents raised five incredible children. My grandmother was meticulous with its upkeep. This home is where my cousins and I were taught our family's history through rich storytelling, rich food, and rich imaginations. This is the home whose walls still contain our love and our laughter. This is the home of the Macalusos and Gianquintos! This story is heartbreaking!"

Of course,  I immediately reached out to Cathy to learn more about her family and about its ties to 377 Union Street. In the process, I had the pleasure of not only communication with her, her sister Lois Cuttitta, but also with her mother Joan Macaluso Cuttitta, who was not only born in the brownstone, but was also married there.  At 85 years old, Joan is now the Elder of the family.

Joan and her daughters Lois and Cathy have keen memories of the family home.  The Macaluso and Gianquinto family bought the brownstone in the late 1920s, early 1930s.  Lois and Cathy's great-grandparents lived on the top floor, their great-aunt lived on the second floor, their grand-parents lived on the garden level.  The parlor, according to Lois, was used by everyone.

Joan remembers the height of the ornate plaster ceilings, the marble mantlepieces, the heavy parlor floor doors and the magnificent mahogany bar in the basement that had been left behind by a previous owner, when the basement had served as a speak-easy during the Prohibition.

"Ahh the parlor." Lois remembers. "I used to dance in front of that mirror by the windows as a little girl every time I was there. The chandelier is the original. Most of the pictures of people gathered were in this very room. Push button light switches, and how heavy the front doors were. I remember sleeping on a trundle bed in front of those massive windows in the summer with some of my cousins. Oddly enough, the smell of bus exhaust brings back the greatest memories to me (Bus exhaust! Can you imagine?). I also remember the sound of the banana man hawking his bananas as he pushed his cart down the street." 

As members of the family moved to the suburbs in the 1960s, grandmother Angela Macaluso kept the clan together. On Sundays, the family would gather at 377 Union Street. " There would be 20 to 30 people over for dinner in that house. On holidays, it would easily be double that," Joan told me.
"From 90 to 2, every age would join in.  My mother Angela would cook for all of them.  She made it look easy. It was all out of love."

All three women use the word 'love' often when remembering the brownstone and the family gatherings. "It was a magical place filled with love," Lois told me. "It was such a wonderful life.  The house was well lived in, but my grandmother kept it in pristine shape. We are all still connected to this house. That is why it was so disturbing to see its present condition."

Grandmother Angela was not only a great cook, she went to St. Agnes every day and swept the sidewalk in front of the house twice a day.  She also had time to write poetry and, in 1981,  recalled what it was like living in Carroll Gardens when she was a child in a Brooklyn Paper article.

The family sold the brownstone in 1989-90 after Angela's husband Joseph passed away. "The moment we sold, we regretted it," Lois told me.  "We still think of it as our house.  It was a true gift to have been given such an incredible family and a home so full of happy memories."

Joan, Lois and Cathy want people to look at 377 Union Street not as the unkempt investment property it has become, but as the beloved home it was for many generations of Macalusos and Gianquintos. Most of all, they would like people to know about all the love, joy, and laughter that was shared within.

I am so honored that the family has allowed me to share some of their photos and their stories about 377 Union Street with my readers.

One day soon, I hope to meet the members of the extended family in person, hopefully when they come back for a visit to Carroll Gardens.  When I do, I will take lots of photos, I promise.

 Photo of 2012 sales listing,  courtesy of Corcoran

 Photo of 2012 sales listing,  courtesy of Corcoran