Picture Of The Day: Crossing Henry

Taken a few evenings ago on Henry Street, just as the sun was setting.

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Pretty Rude Parking Job By One Of 76th Precinct's Finest

For many years now, the 76th Precinct on Union Street between Henry and Hicks Street has maximized parking in front of the precinct house by pulling their marked (and unmarked) cars at an angle half-way onto the sidewalk.

I think it's safe to say that no one in the neighborhood has a problem with this. We all understand that parking in Carroll Gardens is difficult and that the police officers need to have easy access to their cars.
However, it would appear that one of the 76th Precinct finest may have pushed the envelope just a wee bit.

A PMFA reader sent me the photo above showing a silver vehicle , with an NYPD sticker and the words "Fresh Gem" in big letters on its windshield, parked right at the intersection of Union and Henry Streets, blocking the crosswalk.
The reader writes:
"There is a cop that has taken to parking in the crosswalk of Henry Street & Union Street.
I noticed it about 2 weeks ago and it seemed entitled and rude. But this evening I realIy got mad as I watched an elderly woman navigate the intersection. She couldn't roll her walker down the ramp and was forced to circumvent this stupid car which it completely blocking the ramps and the crosswalks.
This "Fresh Gem" car should not be rendering this corner impassible.  There is a NYPD sticker in the window. It is very clearly not a squad car, not that one of those should be parked there either."

Apparently, this has been going on for two weeks. The car is is parked there when the reader comes home at about 5 or 6 pm. Things have most probably been a bit busier for the 76th Precinct because of Hurricane Sandy and the resulting power outages in Red Hook. But blocking the sidewalk crossing never seems like a great idea.
Has anyone else noticed this car?




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Moonstruck: When Cher Walked Into Camareri's On Henry Street Twenty-Five Years Ago

(stills from the movie Moonstruck) 

I remember the day Cher and Nicolas Cage came to Carroll Gardens to film a scene for the movie "Moonstruck" as though it was yesterday.  This was back in early 1987,  and unlike today, film crews and big movie stars were a rare sight in the neighborhood.   So, there was much excitement about the fact that Cher and Cage had been sighted at Cammareri's, an old fashioned family-owned bakery that made the best bread in the neighborhood.  It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed.

The "Moonstruck" scene was filmed in the bakery's storefront and in the basement at 502 Henry Street.  It focused on the first meeting between Loretta Castorini (Cher) and Ronny Cammareri (Cage), the brother of the man she agreed to marry. 

One of the residents who caught a glimpse of the goings-on that particular day was John Khoury, author of Go Sit On Your Own Stoop, a wonderful memoir of growing up in South Brooklyn in the 1970's.

Khoury recently recollected the day on his site.  He writes:

After learning that Cher was in the movie, I walked over to the corner of Henry St. and Sackett St., where the giant lights stood and began watching the fascinating process of movie making. Fascinating because I never saw anything get done,  yet I know the movie did get released and won awards and was popular. I stood for hours on end across from Cammareri’s Bakery, waiting for a glimpse of Cher. That never happened. The only person of note I saw was a guy named Tony, who used to work in Nino’s pizzeria. Tony had aspirations of being an actor and I think he either wormed his way onto the set or was invited as an extra. Either way, the only thing I saw him do that night was lean against a doorway, talking to some other guy I didn’t recognize, while the crew ran around and did stuff.  

They were both in white shirts and pants and both looked like they were trying too hard to look cool. If leaning against a doorway doing nothing was considered acting then there was a star on every block in the neighborhood back then. I eventually got bored and tired, went home and never stopped to watch the filming again. 

When the movie was released I, of course, went to see it. I was really interested in seeing the neighborhood more than anything else. So imagine my surprise when Nicholas Cage appears in his first shot and I instantly realize that he was the other nobody hanging out in the doorway with my friend Tony! 

The other interesting thing about seeing the movie recently was to watch the background in certain shots. In these brief snippets you can get a real feel for life in the neighborhood at that time. The first thing I noticed was graffiti on a parking meter, in front of the Rex Theater, which is now the Court St Cinemas. But the biggest eye-opener was seeing old women walking around with their shopping carts. It felt like they were contantly roaming the streets back then, like ‘The Warriors’ , only with canes and curlers . There were very few young families at the time and there were certainly no throngs of young, single, career-minded people. The neighborhood was comprised mainly of families that had been there forever and I don’t know, maybe it’s because people exercise and eat better now but God, everyone seemed so old back then, even though they were probably only in their 30s or 40s.

So much has changed in the neighborhood.  Cammareri stopped baking at this location in the 1990's.  Many still miss their great bread. Today, movies and TV shows are being filmed in Carroll Gardens all the time, and stars are spotted in Carroll Park.

But I am sure others still remember catching a glimpse of Cher on Henry Street back in 1987.

John Khoury and I  would love to hear from anyone who was there that day.

Below is a  scene of Loretta Castorini and Ronny Cammareri's  first encounter filmed in Camareri's basement.

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When Met Food On Henry Street Was Pilgrim Chapel

Architectural drawings of Pilgrim Chapel

A photo of the 1930's

photo above, Courtesy of Rick Luftglass

Oh, you know how much I love to learn about the history of our Brooklyn neighborhood. 

Reader and friend Rick Luftglass shares my passion. A while back, he sent me some truly interesting information about the Met Food on Henry Street at the corner of Degraw Street. He also passed along a great architectural drawing from the 1870's and an amazing photo of the 1930's

Here is a bit of background info of the chapel from www. nycago.org, a historic organ web site****

The Pilgrim Chapel began as the Columbia Mission, established in 1845 or 1846, when a few active Christians began a Mission in Freeman's Hall at the corner of Amity and Columbia streets in South Brooklyn. The neighborhood was inhabited mostly by foreigners, many of whom were Irish Catholics. As the Sunday-school was established and prospered, a few benevolent gentlemen purchased three lots of ground on Warren Street, between Hicks and Columbia streets. On this ground, a chapel was erected that could accommodate 400 to 500 persons, and it was completed in November 1852, free of debt. The cost of the land and chapel was about $9,000. Over the next few years membership increased and on March 20, 1854, a church was formed. Financial support for the Warren Street Church was provided by Plymouth Congregational Church and the Church of the Pilgrims, in addition to contributions from members. In 1876, the Church of the Pilgrims assumed charge of the mission, and it was renamed Pilgrim Chapel.

On July 10, 1878, the cornerstone was laid for a new building on Henry Street at the corner of Degraw Street. The site consisted of four lots and measured 100 feet square. J. Cleveland Cady (1837-1919), the prominent architect, designed an Italianate-style building with a tall tower that had an exterior of Philadelphia pressed brick trimmed with Belleville stone and terra cotta. The auditorium had a high ceiling with open timbers, and was lighted by a continuous clear-story in which were windows filled with rolled cathedral glass of beautiful designs. There were 15 rooms grouped around the auditorium, all having direct light, ventilation and heat. When the Sunday-school rooms were opened into the auditorium, there was a capacity of 1,200 people. The new Pilgrim Chapel was formally opened on December 15, 1878.

The Church of the Pilgrims merged into Plymouth Congregational Church in 1934, but it has not yet been determined when the Pilgrim Chapel was disbanded.

Rick Luftglass writes: 

Notice that the building structure/shape is exactly the same as it was then – the main church building and the one-story extension on the left, which at the time was the Sunday School and is now the entrance to the Met Food. The only structural difference (that is, aside from the bricking in of the windows and stucco/cement on the 1st floor, which was already done by the 1930 photo) is that today there’s an air conditioner duct where the steeple was. It’s also possible that the steeple was never built, since this was the architectural sketch and the steeple isn’t on the 1930 photo. No way to tell, though.

Also attached are the 1930 photo of the building. The description on the back of the 1930 photo says that it was a garage at the time, and was previously the Oriole Theatre.
Does anyone out there know when the building was turned into a supermarket?

Thanks for sharing these facts and photos with everyone, Rick!


*****Sources used by www. nycago.org :
"A New Church in Brooklyn," The New York Times (Dec. 16, 1878).

Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (Feb. 18, 1911) of E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings organ, Op. 915 (1878); courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.

"Pilgrim Chapel Anniversary," The New York Times (Dec. 11, 1893).

Stiles, Henry Reed. History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Brooklyn: pub. by subscription, 1863.

Van Pelt, William T., comp. The Hook Opus List, 1829-1916 in Facsimile. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1991.

Photos:

American Architect and Building News (Nov. 2, 1878): original plan of Pilgrim Chapel by J. Cleveland Cady.

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Weird Little Memorial To The 'Gloved One' On Henry Street, Complete With Paparazzi Figures

How wonderfully weird...
And totally appropriate for the occasion, no?
This little windowsill memorial to Michael Jackson on Henry Street in the Heights includes, besides a picture of the 'King Of Pop' , a glittery glove, African sculptures, faded white roses and a number of little figures, including some brides, grooms and paparazzi with cameras.
Touching, in a creepy sort of way.




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Carroll Gardens Block Co-Named "Citizens Of Pozzallo Way"

Councilman Bill De Blasio

City Council candidate John Heyer

Community Board 6 member Joseph Igneri

credit: Katia Kelly on Vimeo.

After days of rain, the sun broke out just long enough for a wonderful ceremony to honor the citizens and immigrants of Pozzallo in Carroll Gardens.

As of Friday afternoon, there is a new street sign on a stretch of Henry Street, between Union and Sackett Streets. The block has officially been co-named "Citizens Of Pozzallo Way" in honor of the Society Of The Citizens of Pozzallo. The Society was started in 1919 by immigrants from the Sicilian town of Pozzallo, Italy who formed an organization, to "promote fellowship and friendship amongst its members and to educate them to the American ideals in order to transition them to the American way of life and American citizenship."
Ninety years later, "La Societa Di Pozzallo" is still going strong and its members were visibly moved by the ceremony and by the speeches of local dignitaries.

Councilman Bill de Blasio, who had endorsed the street renaming, was on hand, as was Borough President Marty Markowitz Chief-of-Staff, Carlo Scissura, who gave his speech in fluent Italian. City Council Candidate John Heyer acted as master-of-ceremony.

The society had proposed the street co-naming as a collective tribute to the many immigrants who had come from the little Italian town by the sea and had contributed greatly to their adoptive country.
One of these immigrants was my friend and one-time neighbor Santo Matarazzo. He was a sculptor and one of the most interesting people I ever had the pleasure to meet.

When the big moment had finally arrived for the unveiling, there was just the slightest little snag. The rain-soaked paper sleeve which had covered the new street sign refused to be pulled away by tugging on a connected string, so John Heyer limberly climbed up the streetlight to help it along.

The ceremony was a wonderful reminder that citizens like those from Pozzallo made this neighborhood and this city great. Co-naming this stretch of Henry Street is a great homage and reminder for future generations of Carroll Gardens' Italian history.



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Before And After: Getting It Right On Henry Street

Before

After


(Photo credit: John Hatheway)

(Photo credit: Sebastian Fusco)

Reader Sebastian sent me the photo of this sweet little carriage house on Henry Street between 1st and 2nd Place. He writes:

"Not sure if you have ever seen this beautiful new carriage house on Henry Street but I feel like the owner did a wonderful job building this from scratch. The owner lives on the corner and this was a garage that she put a lot of effort into."

Yes, I couldn't agree more. It is just beautiful.
I had walked by this little jewel a few months ago when it was still in construction. I always wanted to stop by to see the finished result, so I was excited to see Sebastian's photos. The architect on this project was John Hatheway. His design not only enhances that block, it is respectful of the surrounding brownstones. .
I contacted John to get more information on this project. He sent along the 'before' photos of the old structure. Quite an impressive improvement, I'd say.


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