Back in the day, when I was kid, not only were there no restaurants on "The Avenue" there were none of the boutiques and niche-market stores that give it its current flavor.
There were no Starbucks (Plaza Drugs), there were no Barnes & Nobles (a parking lot for the hospital), there were no Sushi restaurants (Danny's Candy Store and others)...there was nothing!
There were two Bohack markets and an A + P (Now Key Food and Dagostinos) and a few bodegas.
The absolute first restaurant on "The Avenue" was Szechuan Delight. They used to be located on the opposite side of the street next to the original Pino's before they moved next door (a pizzeria is not a restaurant).
Szechuan Delight rented the site of Keiton Cleaners (sp?) after they had a fire. I remember people were shocked to see a Chinese restaurant on the avenue and to be honest the atmosphere sucked. I liked the food, but the place still smelled like smoke when they opened.
The one thing there were lots of on The Avenue was bars. In no particular order there was City Lights was on the corner of 1st and The Avenue; The Iron Horse on 2nd and The Avenue; Ryan's on Garfield; Minsky's on 3rd; The Coach between 1st and Garfield; Moonies between Carrol and President; The James between Union and Berkeley; The Gaslight on the corner of Union; and others that I can't remember now.
As a rule there was a bar on every corner and sometimes another one in between. The good ones like Ryans (now The Appletree grocery strore [which is NOT a bodega] ) opened at 8:00 a.m. for the old timers and didn't close unil "last call" at 4:00 a.m.
And Ryan's, like Farrell's (which sadly used to be located on 9th Avenue in Windsor Terrace--a neighborhood with some balls--but somehow without having to move is now located on Prospect Park West in the South Slope), used to serve "taps" which were waxed paper quart containers that you could take outside and drink on the corner and shoot the shit with people as they walked by...and all the time enjoy a cold--well, luke warm--beer (I think it was Miller High Life on tap, oh well, you can't have everything)!
So there you have it...The Avenue...back in the day...before there were stroller nazis, before there were panhandlers, before there was anything other than bars and the Fifth Street Boys and then the Savage Nomads and the Crazy Homicides out past 16th street...but we didn't go there...not unless we had to...not unless we wanted to rumble.
steve Cylon
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1263
Mon Jun 26, 06 7:57 am EST
Back in the day there was small pox and turburculosis and you could...Oh, so what the heck is your point? I'll take the Barnes and Noble over a parking lot any day and if I want my beer lukewarm I'll head over to England. We coud use a few cool bars on The Avenue, I'll grant you that, but I can walk to 5th Avenue and there they are, along with some top restaurants and some great sandwich shops.
As for the Fifth Street Boys, didn't the Warriors take them down a while back?
Drano Meow Wars Veteran
Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1559
Mon Jun 26, 06 8:24 am EST
Turn, turn, turn.
linusvanpelt Jockin my Mercedes
Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 394 Location: Center Slope, between 4th and 5th Avenues
Mon Jun 26, 06 11:19 am EST
On behalf of all stroller-pushing yuppies, allow me to apologize for having ruined Park Slope for daytime drunks and youth-gang members throughout the neighborhood.
Carol Street Newbie
Joined: 08 May 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Where else? Carroll Street near the park
Mon Jun 26, 06 4:42 pm EST
I remember the days of "the Avenue". I didn't live in Park Slope back then but I was up here all the time...and I gotta say I don't miss the insanity of that section of 7th Avenue on Friday and Saturday nights (and Sunday afternoons). Although stroller-lock, yoga mat toters, and cell phone yacking teens strung out on coffee can be annoying, its better than having to walk through puke, blood, and broken teeth and dodging punches in front of all the bars. I was a skinny hippy kid (would have probably fit right in with the kids now with the addition of a few tattoos and piercings), but it was pretty easy to get picked on by some crazy drunk stumbling home on 7th. I had a girlfriend who lived on Third street and she wouldn't let me go home and make me stay over if I hung out with her too late (which wasn't all that great...she lived with her parents, and I had to sleep in the bunk bed in her 5 year old brother's room...like I said, this was a long time ago-I think the kid must be around 40 now!) Plus, that area north of Union and west of 7th was like a war zone! If you made it past the crazy drunks, you'd end up getting mugged on any of those blocks like Sterling, St. Johns, etc.
Amazing how they moved Farrell's from 9th Avenue in WT all the way to PPW in the South Slope...thats an amazing feat!
An amazing book to read to see what that area of Brooklyn was like in the late 1950s (I was alive, but just a little kid, and not in Brooklyn yet) is Eugene Richards' "Brooklyn Gang: Summer of 1959" which took place in various neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Not really a "gang", but more like a group of friends from 17th St and 8th Ave. Really wonderful photos.
The Fifth Street Boys Guest
Mon Jun 26, 06 11:48 pm EST
100% on the money...St. Johns and Sterling were war zones...walking down to 4th Avenue could get you killed...south of 9th Street at your own risk and add to that drunks stumbling around all over the place...yes, it is true the "good old days" they weren't too good...but I didn't say good old days, I said "back in the day."
Just offering some history...no point here folks...
The Fifth Street Boys Guest
Tue Jun 27, 06 3:45 am EST
Wow, I checked out Brooklyn Gang: Summer 1959 by Bruce Davidson on-line and the cheapest copy is $199 and the most expensive is $3500 (signed by the author).
Somehow this made me feel like I may never see this "wonderful" book. But it is good to know that books about white gangs in Brooklyn in the 1950s can command such high prices.
I might have to write one myself...
Carol Street Newbie
Joined: 08 May 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Where else? Carroll Street near the park
Wed Jun 28, 06 6:03 pm EST
Thanks for pointing out "Brooklyn Gang" was Bruce Davidson and not Eugene Richards...I'm having a lot of those senior moments lately...must be from the beatings I took back in the day...
The Fifth Street Boys wrote:
Wow, I checked out Brooklyn Gang: Summer 1959 by Bruce Davidson on-line and the cheapest copy is $199 and the most expensive is $3500 (signed by the author).
Somehow this made me feel like I may never see this "wonderful" book. But it is good to know that books about white gangs in Brooklyn in the 1950s can command such high prices.
Back in the day, when I was kid, not only were there no restaurants on "The Avenue" there were none of the boutiques and niche-market stores that give it its current flavor.
There were no Starbucks (Plaza Drugs), there were no Barnes & Nobles (a parking lot for the hospital), there were no Sushi restaurants (Danny's Candy Store and others)...there was nothing!
There were two Bohack markets and an A + P (Now Key Food and Dagostinos) and a few bodegas.
The absolute first restaurant on "The Avenue" was Szechuan Delight. They used to be located on the opposite side of the street next to the original Pino's before they moved next door (a pizzeria is not a restaurant).
When was this? I moved to the Slope in '75 and remember Danny's and Al's Toyland and quite a few restaurants like Ding's, Snookies and Villa Guilia. Did the 69ers come after you were here? How about that ice cream shop on 7th by 7th? It was owned by a Greek man who had pictures of airplanes on the walls. Hell! I think the only place left in it's original spot besides Smiling and Pino's is the coffee shop on 9th street and 7th.
Szechuan Delight rented the site of Keiton Cleaners (sp?) after they had a fire. I remember people were shocked to see a Chinese restaurant on the avenue and to be honest the atmosphere sucked. I liked the food, but the place still smelled like smoke when they opened.
The one thing there were lots of on The Avenue was bars. In no particular order there was City Lights was on the corner of 1st and The Avenue; The Iron Horse on 2nd and The Avenue; Ryan's on Garfield; Minsky's on 3rd; The Coach between 1st and Garfield; Moonies between Carrol and President; The James between Union and Berkeley; The Gaslight on the corner of Union; and others that I can't remember now.
As a rule there was a bar on every corner and sometimes another one in between. The good ones like Ryans (now The Appletree grocery strore [which is NOT a bodega] ) opened at 8:00 a.m. for the old timers and didn't close unil "last call" at 4:00 a.m.
And Ryan's, like Farrell's (which sadly used to be located on 9th Avenue in Windsor Terrace--a neighborhood with some balls--but somehow without having to move is now located on Prospect Park West in the South Slope), used to serve "taps" which were waxed paper quart containers that you could take outside and drink on the corner and shoot the shit with people as they walked by...and all the time enjoy a cold--well, luke warm--beer (I think it was Miller High Life on tap, oh well, you can't have everything)!
So there you have it...The Avenue...back in the day...before there were stroller nazis, before there were panhandlers, before there was anything other than bars and the Fifth Street Boys and then the Savage Nomads and the Crazy Homicides out past 16th street...but we didn't go there...not unless we had to...not unless we wanted to rumble.
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