Port Richmond Project Part 5: (Port) Richmond Avenue between Richmond Terrace and Church Street

Okay, I'm hooked now on presenting way more of Port Richmond's commercial past than I had planned. It's just too cool to pass on. I've been very happy with the responses I've gotten. Folks who grew up in the neighborhood have stepped right up and provided information on several of these long gone stores. I'm looking forward to what people have to tell us about this batch of buildings.

By the way - all the old pictures are from the CSI SI Archive and specifically from the tax photos taken in the late 30s and early 40s.

2013

 2013

This picture's from 2007. Sometime in the last twenty years, the old Toscana sign was exposed.

As you can see, this building is now gone. I'm not sure when it was torn down. As late as 2007 (see below), it was still there.

1917 Tax Map 

Port Richmond Project Part 3: Park Avenue between Ann and Church Streets and Church Street between Park and (Port) Richmond

Today we continue along the block bounded by (Port) Richmond Avenue, Church Street, Park Avenue, and Ann Street and then around the corner and down Church and back to (Port) Richmon. 

The stretch of Park Avenue shows us the first apartment building in this project. I wish I knew more of the history of the neighborhood's evolution. The F.W. Beers 1874 map shows Port Richmond as place of detached houses and large, open lots. By 1917, the town has started to become the place it remains today, a significant commercial avenue bounded by residential blocks, and some industrial sites scattered around the edges. 

This block of Church Street is another place where several of the old buildings have vanished. With the train overhead and non-residential neighbors, people weren't too keen on living there anymore. Or there was a fire. Lots of fires in the old days. 

You can see how the apartment has suffered from some modifications over the years. Two windows on the Park Avenue side have been sealed. Those little squares at the top right of the white rectangles are vents, so maybe dryers were installed. 

The pictures below show the usual removal of architectural detail. The arched window and door have had the muntins removed and the whole space cemented over. The multi-paned entrance door has been replaced with an ugly, metal slab door. Then there's the graffiti.

I don't know what this building was, though I guess it was connected to the old North Shore train line. It reminds me of the SIRT station at New Dorp. Today, it's privately owned and based on the sealed windows I think it might be used for storage.
UPDATE: Apparently, it was used as a public toilet in the forties and fifties.

The print shop is an interesting hybrid I've noticed in several other places in Port Richmond. A house has an extension built on to the front for commercial use. From what can be seen of the original house, it looks like the one next to it. 

On the right side of the picture you can see the back of Richmond Chandelier. The original lines of the building are there, just covered with cement or whatever.

G.W. Bromley 1917 Map

F.W. Beers 1874 Map

(Port) Richmond Avenue between Ann and Church Streets - east side

I am not dead.

Port Richmond was still a flourishing commercial district when I was a little kid in the early seventies. From talking to folks older than myself, I learned it was even more impressive in the decades before that. There were theaters, department stores, and restaurants. To this day, if you stroll a block in either direction off Port Richmond Avenue, you can see numerous beautiful homes and churches.

In many ways, I find its current state of wear and tear more depressing than Stapleton. The latter neighborhood had whole sections wiped out, leaving nothing left except memories and old photos. Port Richmond was left to rot and fall to pieces. The Mexican community which sprang into existence over the past twenty years has restored much of the commercial activity, but it hasn't restored most of the dilapidated storefronts and the streets and sidewalks remain broken. Many of the surrounding houses and apartments look worn out and wasted.

After just having written about how much of old Port Richmond remains, the first picture I'm putting up is of a block almost completely obliterated. The only building still there is the Richmond Chandelier store on the corner of Church Street. Even that's been changed drastically, as you can see from the below street view. 

Richmond Chandelier

This NYC Archive photo is dated to around 1990. I'm not sure when it was covered up with the ugly, modern facing it has today, but clearly it was in serious need of updating. According to the store's website (follow the link), it was first opened in 1928, which makes the building at least 62 years old in the picture.