Walking Tour - Retail Shopping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This tour was written in 1990 and since then virtually every store we mention has changed.  We will update this, but in the meantime, this is like walking into the past)

 

     Start your tour at the 59th Street subway station. As you exit the subway you will find yourself on 4th Avenue. Walk to 60th Street. The large red brick building to the south is one of the two Bay Ridge Tower buildings. They straddle the border between Sunset Park and Bay Ridge. The low-rise school west of 4th Avenue is P.S. 314. To the north you can see the slender, pointed spire of St. Jacobi Lutheran Church and in the far distance, the white, egg-shaped spire of St. Michael’s Church. Walk east on 60th Street until you reach 5th Avenue. Filling the expanse between 59th and 60th Street, on 5th Avenue, is the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. For more information on this church see our Tour of the Churches of Sunset Park.

 

     Fifth Avenue is a very important resource of the Sunset Park neighborhood. It has all the appeal and benefits of a typical Main Street of any U.S. town, except it comes with an international flavor and all the price benefits of competitive stores. For quick shopping, it is only one or two blocks away from most of our residents. You can pin-point the item you wish to purchase and be back home in just minutes. If your pleasure is a more leisurely, mall-type stroll of basic window shopping, 5th Avenue also fits the bill. While window shopping, you will run into friends and catch-up with gossip or spot an unexpected sale and purchase something you cannot live without but never knew you needed! Fifth Avenue is a useful shopping center for people in a rush, but it can also be a recreational, entertaining place for meeting friends or enjoying a walk.

 

     As you walk along 5th Avenue, you will notice the green and purple lamppost signs announcing “FAMA”. This is the Fifth Avenue Merchants Association. Our local merchants have joined together to advertise specials to the community and to make shopping on 5th Avenue a more enjoyable experience.

 

     Compared to other tours, our guidance for this tour will be rather limited. We assume most of you have developed your shopping, strolling or mall techniques to a level of expertise that we would only hamper with strong directions. Rather than return to the 59th Street subway station and thus retrace your steps, you can end your tour at the 53rd, 45th or 36th Street subway station. These stations are all located on 4th Avenue. Another alternative would be to take the 5th Avenue bus backto 59th Street (the bus actually stops at 60th Street). So begin walking north along 5th Avenue and enjoy our Main Street, U.S.A.

 

1) If this is a summer time tour, you may want to purchase a cooling ice cream treat at Maxim’s Ice Cream Parlor on the northwest corner of 60th Street. Sunset Park is not a community of “put-on-airs”, so you can comfortably stroll as you lick your ice cream.

 

2) Hot bagels, with cream cheese or butter are the perfect walking snack. Stop by the Hot Bagel Shop between 58th and 59th Street. How about one of their great knishes instead?

 

3) If a full meal or just steaming hot soup are for you, we can steer you in three directions: George’s for the finest in American cuisine (southeast corner of 57th Street), the Howan Restaurant for Chinese or Spanish (northwest corner of 58th Street) or the Mexican and Lebanese Restaurant (between 57th and 58th Street on the east side).

 

4) If you’re in the mood for a nice slice of pizza or a calzone, you can stop at Scotti’s Pizzeria which is between 56th and 57th Street on the west side of 5th Avenue.

 

     If all this eating is slowing you down, here is some “food” for thought. Fifth Avenue has a fine selection of “not-for-eating” stores. We have shoe stores such as Thom McCann, Fayva and Fabco, Martin Paint, electronics stores, variety stores, clothing stores (even specialized clothing stores catering only to children, only to men and only to women), jewelry stores, fruit stores, grocery stores, card shops and novelty stores. Did we mention pet shops? Even a pet shop!

 

     As you walk along 5th Avenue and cross the various side streets, give a look up and down the blocks. Most of our streeets have two or three stores adjacent to 5th Avenue. This could be the out of the way, secret store that has just the item you’ve been looking for.

 

5) On the northeast corner of 54th Street we have the flagship of the Anchor Savings Banks. The Classical Revival style limestone building, of monumental proportion, dates back to 1926. At that time it was the Bay Ridge Savings Bank. Anchor has been a cooperative friend of the community for many years. But what would you expect of a bank that has Bob Keehan (of Captain Kangaroo fame) on the Board of Directors?

 

     Citibank and banco Popular are also both located on 5th Avenue. Manufacturer’s Hanover is just around the corner on 4th Avenue and 51st Street.

 

6) Would any town’s Main Street be complete without a Woolworth’s? Of course not. And to prove 5th Avenue’s status as a Main Street, we have Woolworth’s between 53rd and 54th Street on the west side. Above the northwest corner of 53rd Street (stand on the east side of 5th Avenue for ease of viewing) you will see the masonry of the once heralded Heilbronn Store. You will notice the copper letters still in place just below the roof. This department store was such a fixture in the community that it was considered by many to be a tourist attraction. The first floor area of the former location of the Sunset Park campus of Touro College. The third floor is now a center for senior citizens.

 

7) Back when Brooklyn was a city and had its own Fire Department, Hook and Ladder Company #18 was located between 52nd and 53rd Street on the east side of a fairly rural Fifth Avenue. In fact, it was the first civic building constructed in the area. Today, Fifth Avenue has grown up all around the little firehouse and now Ladder Company 114 occupies the very same premises.

 

8) For us, the store that epitomizes the Main Street flavor of Sunset Park’s Fifth Avenue is Coleman’s Hardware between 50th and 51st Street. There isn’t a screw, a nut, or a thing-a-ma-jig that doesn’t have its very own drawer. Bring in what’s broken and Coleman will have the part to fit it. (For locals on this tour: Do you remember when Coleman’s had a sign on the cash register offering $5.00 if he forgot to give you a receipt?)

 

9) Have you given any thought to the ice cream treat that you passed up on 60th Street? Just in case you missed out on an ice cream treat at the start of our tour, you now have a second chance. Historic Seebode’s (between 49th and 50th Street), with its circa 1940 soda fountain, is just the place to satisfy that sweet tooth. Why not take a trip back in time and order an egg cream?

Additional Information:

 

     A tour of 5th Avenue wouldn’t be complete without mentioning some of the other stores and popular business leaders that have helped the community for years. How did they help Sunset Park? By sticking around when times were hard, even through black-outs and recessions. By offering the lowest prices possible for the best service imaginable. By hiring local kids to give them a break. And by caring for their customers like family! We would like to say a special thank you to: H & P Meats, Alan’s Stationery, Weisslite Paints, Jason’s, Mays, Kool Kids, Carl’s, Albany Stores, Herman Men’s World, Dee ‘N Dee, Parker & Megna Pharmacy, Kids Town, Monchito and Marguerite Flower Shop.

    

    Thank you for visiting Sunset Park! Have a safe journey home. And remember, if you lived here, you’d be home right now!