Open Thread Wednesday

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  • Cranberry Beret

    A trip down memory lane (aka Henry Street):

    http://80s.nyc/#show/40.6985/-73.9926

    Fascati used to be bookended by Golden Nut chinese restaurant & Pastrami Queen – who knew? (Or remembers)

  • Jorale-man

    Very cool. If you click on Montague, there’s an article about the opening of the Burger King in the 1970s in the building where Banana Republic used to be. It describes how residents protested its opening and picketed the chain’s corporate offices. It’s hard to imagine people getting that worked up over Montague retail today.

  • CassieVonMontague

    Thanks a lot! That site will waste a bunch of my time.

    I also recommend the Urban Archive mobile app for location-based photos.

  • Andrew Porter

    This is totally wrong. Golden Nut and Pastrami Queen were already long gone when I moved here in 1968. I’ve commented elsewhere about how wrong the images on this site are.

    Meanwhile, the sales office for 70 Henry Street has a site. I’m impressed by how the Cadman Towers across the street have disappeared in the images here:

    http://www.70henrybk.com

    Apparently the building is actually surrounded by trees, no other structures visible. I wonder if there’s a door into Narnia from the place.

  • Andrew Porter

    Time for another old BH postcard. Here’s a photo of the Real Estate Exchange Building, 189 Montague Street. Click on image to see it in Cinemascope. That’s the edge of the old Brooklyn Academy of Music on the right, before it moved away:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/644281b3b7d73263a01898c47814f597f02d03f7dd8f4fa43710ef4ba2b7ccad.jpg

  • Cranberry Beret

    Well, the pictures don’t lie :)
    Those are clearly 1980s cars in the pics in front of Golden Nut & Pastrami Queen, not 1960s cars

  • Andrew Porter

    Okay, 1960s cars. But the restaurants were gone by 1968.

  • Cranberry Beret

    Not sure how to convince you. Notwithstanding your memory that says 1960s, how do you explain the pics with 1980s cars in front of those restaurants? (And yes they’re definitely 1980s cars, no question.)

  • JDF

    Gotta agree. Also, Fascati didn’t come along until the mid-70s.

  • Weegee

    Public records indicate Golden Nut (with the Fortune House d/b/a, too) as incorporating in 1982.

  • Andrew Porter

    Yes, here:

    http://www.buzzfile.com/business/Fortune-House-718-855-7056

    Not sure when the front became “Fortune House,” but it was definitely after 1968.

    I Googled “Pastrami Queen Brooklyn Heights” and found absolutely nothing.

    I have a photo from the BHS. Look at it quick before it’s taken down. Guess what it doesn’t show?
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b4043d6935f4e8809c990e6b8b42b82bba905f736e512fcae65e0033f44b6273.jpg

  • Cranberry Beret

    Based on the Mad Men-type in the hat, I’d say your picture was from early 60s

  • Bornhere

    Pam Pam moved from Henry to the corner of Montague and Henry before 1960. The point here is not that “Golden Nut” was gone by the time you moved to the Heights in 1968; the point is that is didn’t occupy that space until 1982-ish, as noted by WeeGee.

  • Mary Kim

    Speaking of Henry St., Fortune House was closed today and transformed to “Genghis Connie’s Too” for a shooting of the Netflix show Luke Cage. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a2a9339a4febd34782299adc9b762d5d5aafe6f49b78473407df917408983ece.jpg

  • AEB

    Fortune House is the restaurant version of the Undead. You’d have to drive a chopstick through its “heart” to get it to stop being its–well, to stop being. It will be around long after the planet has turned to ash.

  • Harvey

    I have a copy of “Brooklyn Heights Directory and Service Guide” printed in 1976.It lists Fascati and the Chinese restaurant next door was named Ho Ho Yo.On the north side of Fascati was Pine radio & tv repair and the Village Bike and Ski shop.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Andrew, you are mistaken, Pastrami Queen was in the early to mid eighties, I remember eating the sandwiches and one of my friends even worked there.
    Golden Nut only operated for only a short time under that name then changed to Fortune House.

  • Reggie

    I keep waiting for Andrew to comment, ‘Okay, you’ve convinced me.’

  • Andrew Porter

    So now Pastrami Queen was there in the mid-80s? How about Beastly Bite? When was that there?

    Here’s another photo from before my time in BH, showing stores on that stretch:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c7239782582575bbd9d786a802e56d39337e95c080770343f8cad6fe9c4fe9c9.jpg

  • Andrew Porter

    I have that too, except mine is copyright 1983. Neither of those restaurants is listed in it. On that block, it lists Parrish Pharmacy, 72 Henry; Lam’s Dry Cleaners, 74; Cadman Car Service, 78; Fascati Pizza, 80; Hong’s Grocery dba Plymouth Deli, 90.

  • Andrew Porter

    Millions for defense, not one penny for tribute! (Or, no, sorry, still not convinced.)

  • Andrew Porter

    Today, Friday, Joe Coffee Shop at the corner of Hicks and Pineapple has its opening. They had a soft opening last night. See:

    http://joenewyork.com/locations/brooklyn-heights/

  • Cranberry Beret

    Ok now that we’ve settled that Golden Nut & Pastrami Queen were Henry Street fixtures in the 1980s (right Andrew?), let’s get to more important matters:

    Just exactly which movies were playing at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema in these photos?

    http://80s.nyc/#show/40.6988/-73.9924

    Get out your magnifying glasses, the pics are a little blurry :)

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Yes Pastrami Queen was there in the 1980’s.
    How can you possibly still be saying those restaurants were gone by 1968 when the photo clearly shows Facati Pizza which opened in 1971? also as mentioned above some of the cars in the picture are clearly 80’s vintage?

  • Andrew Porter

    I remember when Fascati moved in.

    I think we have to agree to disagree. As a big fan of Pastrami, why didn’t I ever eat there? Maybe because it wasn’t there when I moved here?

    Nah…. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/582f49492effe6a68ea1aaf09e58861c6eb56846a98c6957db41719b7cb79c9f.jpg

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    As I recall, Pastrami Queen wasn’t all that good. Hebrew National on Montague was much better. Anyway you still don’t explain the presence of Fascsati Pizza, and Pastrami Queen in the same photo http://disq.us/url?url=http%3A%2F%2F80s.nyc%2F%23show%2F40.6985%2F-73.9926%3Ak8lWo1AlhWb2M6tgl8sPengE0y0&cuid=2145403

  • meschwar

    Maybe you did eat there, but don’t remember because it was 35 years ago?

  • Harvey

    I guess you have a revised edition. Mine is the original

  • Cranberry Beret

    So was this 1980s Brooklyn Heights Pastrami Queen a rip-off of the famous Pastrami King (from Queens!) or a branch? Ironically Pastrami King itself moved to Manhattan in the 90s and changed its name to…Pastrami Queen. Who knew cured meat could be so confusing?!

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    I haven’t a clue, back then Queens was like Mars to me.
    Now a days, I keep my cured meat perspective very simple, Katz’s, that’s all…