INSIDE
Ginger man: Josh Morton, the
founder of Barrow’s Intense Ginger
Liqueur, stands in front of his new
tasting room. Photo by Bill Roundy
Ginger sale
Spicy liqueur distillery opens a tasting room
Your entertainment
guide Page 45
Police Blotter ..........................8
Letters ....................................34
Right View ............................. 36
HOW TO REACH US
COURIER L 2 IFE, MAY 10–16, 2019 G
BROOKLYN GRAPHIC (ISSN 0740-2260) Copyright © 2019 by the Brooklyn Courier Life LLC is published weekly by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. 52 times a year. Business and
Editorial Offices: One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. Accounting and Circulation Offices: Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. Call 718-260-2500 to subscribe. Periodicals
postage prices is paid at Brooklyn, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Brooklyn Graphic, One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201. This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads
beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2018 by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements,
articles and photographs may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law.
Mail:
Courier Life,
1 Metrotech Center North
10th Floor, Brooklyn,
N.Y. 11201
General Phone:
(718) 260-2500
News Fax:
(718) 260-2592
News E-Mail:
editorial@schnepsmedia.com
Display Ad Phone:
(718) 260-8302
Display Ad E-Mail:
jstern@schnepsmedia.com
Display Ad Fax:
(718) 260-2579
Classified Phone:
(718) 260-2555
Classified Fax:
(718) 260-2549
Classified E-Mail:
classified@schnepsmedia.com
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
The developer who ordered
the demolition of Coney Island’s
oldest remaining building
should have committed to
keeping the structure standing,
according to distraught
Coney Islanders, who charged
that Joe Sitt — the founder of
real-estate fi rm Thor Equities
— employed a strategy of
“demolition by neglect” in order
to justify tearing down the
Grashorn Building.
“It should’ve been saved —
he should’ve restored it. It’s a
beautiful building,” said Community
Board 13 member Orlando
Mendez. “It was completely
neglected, it was kept
vacant, it was in disrepair
— they didn’t do any kind of
maintenance on that building
to keep it in good shape.”
Demolition on the rear of
the more than 130-year-old
building — which is located
on Surf Avenue between Jones
Walk and W. 12th Street —
began weeks ago, according
to Mendez. The Department
of Buildings in January approved
a demolition application
that a rep for beleaguered
local demolition company
Breeze National — which the
New York Daily News in 2013
reported had a deadly safety
record, and for years was run
by an alleged mobster — fi led
to tear it down.
Sitt scooped up the property
for $1.4 million in 2005,
and the building has sat vacant
since then, according to
local historian Charlie Denson,
who fi rst reported news
of the demolition in March, on
the Coney Island History Project
blog.
But the building has a storied
history, and was buzzing
with activity for most of its
lifespan: entrepreneur Henry
Grashorn fi rst erected the
three-story structure in the
late 1880s, opening a hardware
store on the ground fl oor
where amusement-park operators
purchased tools to make
repairs on their nearby rides,
according to Denson, who said
Grashorn also operated the
top two fl oors as a hotel.
And in 1903, the establishment
survived a devastating
fi re that incinerated many of
the surrounding buildings,
making its endurance all the
more remarkable, Denson
said.
“Everything on both sides
of it burned, so the fact that
this survived is pretty amazing,”
he said.
In 1971, amusement operator
Wally Roberts purchased
the property, refashioning the
ground fl oor into an arcade,
and using the top two fl oors as
an apartment and a workshop,
according to Denson. The historian
added that the building
was in pristine condition
when Sitt bought it more than
a decade ago, and claimed that
the developer chose to neglect
the structure and let it fall into
a state of disrepair since then.
“When they bought the
building from Wally Roberts,
it was in perfectly good condition,”
Denson said. “But he has
not maintained the property;
he just let it deteriorate. There
were squatters in there, there
was garbage, he didn’t shovel
the snow, didn’t clean up…it
seems almost intentional.”
Reps for Thor Equities did
not respond to repeated inquiries
about locals’ allegations of
demolition by neglect, why Sitt
decided to demolish the building,
what he plans to do with
the property and whether or
not he regularly maintained it,
if he ever sought landmark status
for it, or ever considered restoring
it to full or partial use.
Sitt was the neighborhood’s
largest landowner until he
sold a large portfolio of his
Coney Island holdings to the
city’s Economic Development
Corporation for $95.6 million
in 2009, when the Council
passed the neighborhood’s
sweeping rezoning, according
to a Real Deal report .
Shortly thereafter, the real
estate honcho demolished
three other historic, centuryold
neighborhood structures
that he owned, which local
preservationists tried to save
to no avail: the Bank of Coney
Island, at W. 12th Street
and Surf Avenue; Henderson’s
Music Hall — where comedian
Harpo Marx made his debut —
at Surf and Stillwell avenues;
and the Shore Hotel, at Henderson
Walk and Surf Avenue.
The developer installed candy
emporium It’s Sugar at the
site of the music hall, and the
other two lots sit empty.
Last fall, Sitt attempted to
shed even more of his local
land when he put 21 of his remaining
area properties —
which allegedly occupy nearly
12 football fi elds’ worth of
space — up for sale, the Real
Deal reported at the time.
The district manager of
Community Board 13 said the
latest demolition amounted to
a tragedy, and that Sitt failed
to adequately maintain the
property during the time that
he owned it.
“It’s a shame that it’s going
to be demolished,” said Eddie
Mark. “If you don’t put money
in it, it’s not going to improve
by itself. It’s a shame that it’s
gone to that level of disuse.”
Denson added that razing
would enshrine Sitt as an unsavory
character in the neighborhood’s
history.
“If he really cared about
Coney Island, he could have
restored the building — he
could’ve been a hero instead
of a villain,” he said.
DEMOLISHED: Coney Island’s oldest building was recently razed, to the
dismay of many locals and area historians. Photo by Steve Solomonson
SBy Bill Roundy unset Park’s liquor scene has gotten
Intense!
A new liquor tasting room officially
opened in Industry City last weekend.
Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur
Tasting Room has been quietly pouring
cocktails and offering samples for the last
six months, but the opening party on May
2 has allowed them to really spice things
up, said the company’s founder.
“We believe in not doing it fast, but
doing it right,” said Josh Morton, who
started making the spicy yellow spirit in
his Manhattan apartment before moving
to Industry City in 2013.
The newly opened tasting room menu
includes nine cocktails, each of which
showcases Morton’s signature spicy liquid.
Prices range from $8–$14, including
an Intense Old Fashioned, a brain-freezing
Frozen Intense Mule, a creamy drink
called If you like Ginger Coladas.
Customers can buy bottles of the
Intense Ginger Liqueur at the bar — and
bottles of any other liquor in the place,
said Morton.
“We have 160 New York spirits, and
you can sample any bottle and buy it right
here,” he said. “We’re halfway between a
bar and a liquor store.”
All of the spirits served in the Tasting
Room are made from grains grown in
New York state — which means no rum
or tequila, since the Empire State does not
support sugar cane or agave plants.
The Tasting Room also offers a wide
variety of tasting flights, so you can sip
your way through all nine Empire Rye
whiskeys, or sample five different varieties
of gins — flights are available in
“beginner” and “advanced” versions. The
samplers can help people to discover new
spirits, said Morton.
“You’re drinking, and it’s fun, and
you’re also learning about what you’re
drinking,” he said.
Barrow’s versatile liqueur also appears
in a few dessert items, including a ginger
ice cream from Blue Marble, and gingerstuffed
truffles from Li-Lac Chocolates
— both companies located in Industry
City. The ginger maven also has plans to
team up with other distilleries and food
producers, he said.
“Our stuff works with everything, so
we’re very collaborative,” said Morton.
The distillery has been in Industry City
since 2013, but recently moved to a ground
floor spot in the complex’s Building 6,
which also houses Big Alice Brewing and
sake producer Brooklyn Kura.
Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur Tasting
Room (86 34th St. between Second and
Third avenues in Industry City, www.barrowsintense.
com). Open Mon–Wed, noon–6
p.m.; Thu, noon–7 p.m.; Fri, noon–9 p.m.;
Sat, noon–8 p.m.; Sun, noon–7 p.m..
‘SHOULD’VE BEEN SAVED’
Coney Islanders decry demolition of nabe’s oldest building
link
link
link