Ditmas Park

Father Time’s Favorite Brooklyn Real Estate: Newkirk Plaza in Ditmas Park

Eye on Real Estate

December 31, 2014 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Tick Tock, Tick Tock … at Newkirk Plaza in Ditmas Park. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan
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Happy New Year, Brooklyn.

To honor the arrival of 2015, we’re eyeballing the Brooklyn real estate that Father Time loves best.

Surely he favors properties with big, beautiful clocks, so he can see when the stroke of midnight arrives without having to elbow his way into the ball drop in Times Square.

First we must give Manhattan its due, for just a moment, when it comes to clocks and the real estate that accompanies them.

The finest clock in New York is in the center of Grand Central Terminal, in our real estate-obsessed, preservationist-minded opinion.

The golden-rimmed, globe-shaped timepiece has been a rendezvous spot for generations of commuters and their friends, loved ones and occasional blind dates. The grandeur of its setting — a landmarked train station with constellations glowing in the ceiling — is indisputable.

That said, there is so much for Chronos to love in our borough. Take a look …

* * *

When Father Time needs a helping of jerk chicken, a haircut or a bench for people-watching, we just bet he heads for Newkirk Plaza in Ditmas Park.

The handsome clock standing tall in the middle of the plaza, right by the B and Q subway station, is his kind of thing.

The two rows of shops that flank the plaza form an open-air shopping mall — the oldest in America. It opened in 1907.

Chronos can buy the jerk chicken at Fisherman’s Cove, a Jamaican eatery at 4 Newkirk Plaza.

There’s more than one place for a haircut — but Leon’s at 7 Newkirk Plaza has a sense of history that Father Time would surely appreciate. This barber shop celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012. The late Hugh Carey was a customer in the early 1960s, before he became the governor.

The buildings that house the various Newkirk Plaza businesses — which include a gyro restaurant, a pizza parlor and a hardware store — belong to a variety of individuals or real estate firms.

For instance, the building where Leon’s is located has been owned since 1972 by John and Antoinette Messina or a family trust of theirs, city Finance Department records show. Before John Messina retired a while back, he also owned the actual barbering business.   

 

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