Woof

[362 Columbia Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

As Elaine asked: how much is that doggie in the window?

G. De Gennaro at no. 360 will won’t remain a mystery meat-purveyor. The 1940 Brooklyn telephone directory has a couple of close calls: Ciro De Gennaro, “meats,” at 6815 14th Avenue, and DeGennaro Bros, “fruits&veg” at 163 Kingston Avenue. I checked the 1940 census: whoever G. De Gennaro was, he (or she?) didn’t live at this address.

A correction: I didn’t realize that I was looking at the 1950 census. A more careful reader found Gaetano and Rose Degennaro at no. 360 in the 1940 census.

On the 1940 census page, seven of the nine residents of nos. 360 and 362 are identified as having been born in Italy (one in New York, one in Ohio). On the 1950 census page, three of the twenty residents of nos. 360 and 362 are identified as having been born in Italy, with nine born in New York and eight born in Puerto Rico, or “Pourto Rico,” as the census-taker spelled it.

It turns out that Columbia Street looms large in the story of Puerto Rican life in New York City.

The buildings still stand.

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