Memories of St. George Hotel Pool

By on November 19, 2006 11:03 am in History, Landmark Preservation

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The Brooklyn Eagle has a wonderful story this week about the glory days of the St. George Hotel, most notably its salt water pool.  The piece was written by Dr. Howard B. Moshman, a long time resident and neighborhood dentist.

111606134047.jpgBrooklyn Daily Eagle: How It Was…: The huge hotel pool varied in depth from 3 feet to 10 feet, with a waterfall at the shallow end, three diving boards at the deep end, a 10-foot-high board in the center, and low boards on either side of it. The St. George pool was the place to go in the winter, when Coney Island and its adjacent beaches appealed only to members of the Polar Bear Club.

My trips to the indoor pool were generally with my childhood pal Malvin Guralnick. I would walk north on Henry Street where I lived at number 309, to Pineapple Street, then east over to Fulton Street. Malvin lived in one of early nineteenth century storefront buildings on the west side of the street, above his parents’ stationery/candy shop. In the 1960s that whole area was razed and supplanted by the Cadman Plaza housing development, and the street renamed Cadman Plaza West.

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  • http://BrooklynHeightsBlog Wm Fitzpatrick

    Part Three
    A wowan ran the Mott Laundry. She recruited me,when I was an eight grader,by casing the Schoolyard on Middagh St
    I would put in two hours on Fridays and four hours on Sat
    for the magnificient sum of .50 cents One of her big customers was Patricia Murphy was ran the Candlelight Rest. Being
    exceptional hard time i always made the delivery with orders:
    No money,no laundry.What a way for a 12 year old to enter Business life. Patricia moved on to Manhasset and fro what I heard, did very well.
    No one mentioned Mr Hoyt`s Drug Store, Fulton St just below Middagh.
    end of part three

  • http://BrooklynHeightsBlog Wm Fitzpatrick

    Part four
    Another missing spot/ Marrones Drug store. Fabulous family.
    Cranberry and Fulton St. On Cranberry,close to Marrines,
    Mr Finas Barber shop. His son later founded the famous
    Fina Silversmiths. The new Seventy One Club was located
    on the corner of Cranberry and Henry St. Benny Orowitz
    ran the place. Diagonally across from the Seventy One Club.
    and a few doors off the corner was famous watering hole
    for locals.It was called Al`s Bar and Grill, run by the Alyward
    Brothers who were two super Gentlemen. Many of the World
    problems were solved in that Institution.
    At age 86 I1m calling it a night. Hope it brings back a few memories.

  • benita berman

    Great memories, Wm. Thank you so much for sharing. Could you clear up the locations and differences betweeen the coffee shop, the pool fountain room and the counter at the drug store on the corner of Clark and Henry. As I’ve mentioned before, my sister always went to the drug store counter for a BLT, but I have a strong recollection of eating chicken chow mein with my friend at a counter (they don’t serve that at most drug stores), and I don’t remember the fool fountain room. How did you enter these eateries? Also, do you remember the observation room above the shallow end of the pool?

  • benita berman

    Also, Wm – do you remember the history of the present Noodle Pudding space now between Middaugh and Cranberry – west side of Henry? Was it always a restaurant? What kind back in the 40’s? Were there other restaurants on that side of the street up closer to the St. George – maybe between Cranberry and Pineapple?

  • Harriet Kovel

    My mother, Reba Fischer Kovel, used to swim at the St. George Hotel and belonged to the Dragon Club swim team. Does anyone remember her? She is anxious to reconnect with anyone – she is now 93 – so I guess this would have been in the 1930’s – whenever the pool closed.

  • joanne coppola

    My grandfather was the owner of the barber shop in the
    St. George Hotel in the 1919 -1920’s Albert Parente//

  • Joel McEachen

    In answer to Benita’s questions on coffee shops, I discovered the St. George website last night and wrote some answers but they haven’t appeared. My uncle was asst manager of the St. George from the early 30’s until he died in 1970, with a few switches to the Towers and Bossert hotels nearby but always returning to the St. George. He lived at 136 Hicks St, another aunt lived at 11 Monroe Pl. but moved to 8 Clark St. Another lived on Remsen moving to Joralemon. I spent many a weekend and vacation there, going all over the hotel, swimming free, taking tour groups to the Egyptian roof, eating there, during college at Rutgers I and frat brothers would come up and ‘do’ NYC on a weekend, staying in a comp suite at the St. George – from 1947 to 1959.
    The corner drugstore was labelled “St. George Pharmacy”, I’ll post a picture I took of the corner c. 1953. The counter ran along the Henry St. side, it was indeed a lunch counter and soda fountain. The “Fountain Room” in the St. George off the pool arcade/entrance was a nice counter restaurant which served full meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Remember, most of the rooms were single no bath, so the Fountain Room was a nice, full-service counter restaurant for the many long-term residents. I do remember a “Plymouth Coffee Shop” just barely, was it down Henry St. past Pineapple? I never went there, but I did eat in the Fountain Room and it had full, simple, economical meals. My favorite was Seaford’s at the SE corner of henry and Pineapple. They had spare ribs which I loved, my uncle often took me there. And Patricia Murphy’s just south of Clark on Henry, west side. I guess it moved to the island , another in Yonkers which I went to during grad school up there.
    I’ll write more on the Tower banquet rooms, there was a large ballroom, then at the top of the elevator (only 3 of the 5 went to the top) was the Egyptian Roof, but up some stairs was the Tower Room, a small room but with large windows and a sweeping view of the NY harbor and lower Manhattan. I would go up there sometimes but the height always made me nervous (although I later flew in the Navy.)
    Joel Mc.

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