Friday, October 7, 2011

Hinsch's Closes

The beloved soda fountain shop of my youth and old neighborhood, Hinsch's, is closing. This really closes the door on old Brooklyn. Hinsch's had been there on 5th Avenue for 63 years. When gentrifying came along, and developers and city planners stripped away and tore down  much of the old buildings, like the Dyker Heights movie house, Hinsch's was still there. Where you could get a homemade waffle with ice cream, or a fresh egg cream, or any soda fountain concoction you could dream up. Their grilled cheese sandwich with a sour pickle and cole slaw were my comfort foods.

So I email my brother that it's gone and we proceed to bicker about what old stores are closed or still there, the names of them (Scandinavian names can be pretty similar) and where they were. This is what getting old is like. Nobody remembers things but everybody will argue about them.

RIP, Hinsch's, Leske's Bakery and Lusk's Delicatessen. You all live in my heart forever.

http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/10/hinschs-pinched-brooklyn-candy-store-closes-after-6-decades/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/leskes-bakery-brooklyn

http://lusksdeli.blogspot.com/

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Every generation has its memories of the stores and business that made up their home town and every generation in its turn mourns them.

Austan said...

Lawless- Sad but true. Nothing lasts forever.

CarrieBoo said...

I miss being able to walk into the variety store with a handful of small change and ask for "one of those... one of those... two of those... ummmmmmm... one of those...". Man, those people must have had some patience. That is sad though, Laura. I agree. :(

Austan said...

Carrie- that's a big one. Losing some of the places was "Eh." But Hinsch's? Maybe it's one of the 7 Signs :)

paulg said...

I miss the ones that used to be close to here. 15 - 20 years ago, the house 8 doors down from me was a mom & pop store.
About a dozen houses from that was Gunzinger's at the 5 way corner of Williams, Union Hill, Elliot, Frost and Elliot.
Such shops were all over town and now all are 2 or 3 decades in the past.
Talk about getting old - I remember walking past Gunzinger's in '69 - 42 years ago. No, I don't feel old yet, but I'm fixin' to.

Austan said...

Paul- I know what you mean. It took about 10 minutes to sink in that 1971 was FORTY years ago, yesterday. How the hell'd that happen?