Karl and his Cam are Back

By on November 21, 2011 12:03 am in Arts and Entertainment, brooklyn bridge park, Events, Fun, movies, Video

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Mr. J. returns with video from some weekend events and locales: the Danish Christmas Fair; the Brooklyn Women’s Exchange, where he watched potter Drew Montgomery at work; the perhaps suddenly chic Cranberry’s; the now-padlocked Tobacco Warehouse; Brooklyn Bridge Park and Jane’s Carousel. He finishes with an extended, annotated clip from Sweet November, a 1968 movie (not to be confused with a more recent one with the same title) starring Sandy Dennis and Anthony Newley (photo) and featuring some vintage Brooklyn Heights scenes. Did Spector’s pharmacy once occupy the space now taken by City Chemist, as the opening scene suggests? Video after the jump.

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  • Clarky

    What’s with the Exorcist music, Karl? Is the Women’s Exchange really that scary?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8rDttfcv7I&feature=related

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    haha, The song is called “Tubular Bells” from Mike Oldfield. I have about 30 songs of his on my “movie song” database. He makes great music. Nice catch on the “Exorcist Theme”. Absolutely no connection to “Women’s Exchange”, which by the way, has some excellent Brooklyn themed merchandise. Did I ever mention that I love Brooklyn Heights?

    Does anyone know how long that lot, on Pierrepont and Columbia Heights, was empty prior to Eichner’s Residence being built? Not sure, but I believe the BHA got a concession to restrict Eicher’s design to conform to the shape of original structure as shown in the film.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Claude,

    With respect to Spector’s, I was under the impression that it was where the Ann Taylor is presently. Not sure though. Was there really a Spectors? I think I remember a movie site location expert once saying that they generally try to rename business that are in the path of the camera shoot for legal reasons.

  • AEB

    Karl, or others: where was the meat market? Or was i just a mock-up for the film?

    Thanks.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    AEB,

    Look at the 3:53 point in the attached film and you will see the meat market:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRnF8jHRyEk

  • Bornhere

    (Kleinman-) Spector’s was on the corner where Ann Taylor is and then moved to where Crumb’s is now; and there was a butcher shop where Corcoran is. There was also a reminder of, I think, “Key Food II” on Montague, from when Key was split into two stores — it was reconfigured as a produce store for the movie (I actually don’t remember the Key division being there that early, but maybe someone else can recall for sure when that happened). The brief glimpse of the old Chinese restaurant (now Radio Shack) was great.
    (Thanks for including the scenes of the real waterfront, Karl!)

  • http://j lois

    Thanks for the tour, Karl. I checked out both venues of the Danish Church Fair – they had their lunch at Plymouth’s Hillis Hall this year, as opposed to Zion where it had been for several years. (reason ???)
    A friend who accompanied me commented that they had never seen so many gorgeous blonds in one place! Crowded, but interesting.

  • http://j lois

    Regarding the three questions posed, 1. There used to be THREE Drug Stores on Montague Street: Spectors on the NE corner of Montague Street & Henry, Kleiman’s in the middle of the block, and Plymouth Pharmacy (originally on the NW corner of Montague & Hicks til the moved diagonally across to the SE corner). There were also THREE meat markets: NW corner of Montague & Henry (now Corcoran), Hicks & Pineapple (now Pet Shop) and one on Henry near Orange Street that closed mysteriously one morning when a bag of money was found outside.

  • http://j lois

    Re. the house on Columbia Hts – there was a beautiful brownstone on that corner that was torn down (before landmarks). I remember that, during the 70s, it was a garden (similar to the one on the corner of Columbia Hts & Clark). In the 70s or early 80s, the lot was purchased by Eichner and, after much back and forth over the design, the current (tootsie roll house) was built. I believe I have a picture of the original house – I will look for it.

  • Bornhere

    Lois — There was also THE meat market on Clark and what was then Fulton. Great place.
    I remember Plymouth, but I don’t remember it moving to the SE corner — wasn’t the Promenade there at that time?
    Love the memories!!

  • AEB

    Thanks, Bornhere and lois. Imagine–THREE butcher shops!

  • Sheila bell

    Dear karl, boy you brought back memories!my older brother worked at Spectors on the corner of montague and hicks sts. When I lived on Monroe pl.Sweet November was being filmed in a brownstone on Pierrepont St. One day, coming out of my house, there was Anthony Newly resting on the steps! Very nice guy. Not too fond of his co-star,he was very chatty and I really didn’t know he was in the movie! Your pix of docks and promenade beautiful. Thanks so much.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/13189502@N02/ Eddyenergizer

    Thanks Karl, brings back a lot of memories…

    The meat market on Montague was there till around 1980…

    Before the “Key Food split” the space, now Starbucks, was an Associated supermarket. then it became the Key Food meat & produce market, sometime in the early 70’s…

    The Chinese restaurant where Radio Shack is, was not there till the mid- late 70’s, before that it was the Heights Restaurant…

    Yes Spector’s is ont the NW corner Montague and Henry, it then became an “import store” then Baskin Robbins…

  • since47

    AEB – I’m a little foggy here with the time frame, but I don’t believe the Heights had three butcher shops at once. There was Sal’s on Henry Street and Sam’s on Clark. When Cadman Towers was brewing, Sam moved from Clark and Fulton to Montague and Henry, and that was his last store in the Heights.

    And Karl, I too wondered about your use of the “Exorcist” theme while strolling around the Women’s Exchange. But as it was my first laugh of the day, I thank you!

  • AEB

    Thanks, since47.

  • Bornhere

    Eddy — You are amazing (and I think you’re right)!
    Now, for THE question:
    Before By George, what was on the NE corner of Clark and Henry? (I seem to recall some other eatery there in the mid-60s, but I’m not so sure — and I cannot recall what led up to By George.)

  • Gerry

    @ Born Here the Chinese place was China – Chile owners Chrstine and Earl lost the lease retired and moved to Flordia.

    They had the best $450 Lunch Special Menu – Beef and Broccholi large portions great service the Brooklyn Union Gas crowd ate lunch here most every day.

    And now we have Radio Shack….times have changed.

    Montague Street took a hit that it never recovered from when BUG left 195 Montague Street and moved to MetroTech and became KEYSPAN and now National Grid of Hicksville, NY.

    Back in the day over 1000 BUG employees with wallets were on Montague Street every day the neighborhood prospered.

    MetroTech never became the high end corporate and retail mecca promised in the early 1980s in fact like the National Grid offices the complex has a high vacancy rate lots of empty office and retail space.

    We were told that the Fulton Mall would be high end with Pottery Barn, Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor, and none of that came to be.

    BUG left Montague Street to become an anchor tenant only to become National Grid not even close to Brooklyn but England.

    Montague Street needed those BUG dollars more than England.

  • AEB

    …and thanks, Karl

  • Elmer Fudd

    I miss the ships too. Too bad the BBP people couldn’t get it together and save the waterfront history.

  • Bornhere

    Gerry – China Chili also had great tea and made New China Teacup look overlit.

    I think you’ve made a good point about the effect of the loss of BUG to Montague Street (and we haven’t even mentioned the baby chicks!!) — I never really thought about that before.

  • http://www.BrooklynHeightsFolkDancers.org Ballerina

    Hi Karl, I loved your video of the promenade-very playful and the photo of the house before the Tootsie Roll house. Too bad lit was not renovated and preserved. It was beautiful. I remember the meat market on Montague and Hicks which had all kinds of game.

    What about the building on Columbia Heights and Cranberry that was being renovated in the 1970’s and then there was an arson fire and the result is now a horrible modern building. There was a fire that raged on for days in the middle of winter and somewhere I have photos I took of flames shooting out of the windows and icicles all over the building at the same time. It was a spectacular sight.

  • Sheila

    I think the Patricia Murphy candlelight restaurant famous for it’s popovers was on Henry St near Clark St. The St. George hotel was still there in the 60’s as I took the subway to work in midtown there.

  • Andrew Porter

    I’m still waiting for PicaDeli to come back… Loved their pickles!