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Phillip and Leonard Lopate and a photo of their mother Fran Lopate, spokesmodel for Levy’s Rye. Photo by Andrew Silverstein

How a Jewish mother from Flatbush became America’s most recognizable Italian on TV

How a Jewish mother from Flatbush became America’s most recognizable Italian on TV For Levy’s Rye and Alka-Seltzer, you didn’t have to be Italian to play Italian — and Fran Lopate definitely wasn’t Phillip and Leonard Lopate and a photo of their mother Fran Lopate, spokesmodel for Levy’s Rye. Photo by Andrew Silverstein By Andrew Silverstein August 7, 2025 Fran Lopate, a 53-year-old former Garment District worker and Jewish mother of… Read More »How a Jewish mother from Flatbush became America’s most recognizable Italian on TV

Growing Up In Bensonhurst

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Sarina Roffe, interviewed May 30, 2012, Brooklyn Borough Hall: My most favorite memories from growing up as a Jew in Brooklyn are playing street ball and street games with the Italian neighbors that I had growing up in Bensonhurst. I used to live on 69th Street between 21st Avenue and Bay Parkway, and all of the kids, and all my cousins would go to the Marboro Theater, and we would go for matinees… Read More »Growing Up In Bensonhurst

The Seltzer Man

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By  Published: April 26, 2013 NYTimes

Eli Miller, 79, New York City’s senior seltzer man.
“I just can’t stay home,” said Eli Miller, 79, who has been delivering seltzer for more than 50 years.

Eli Miller, 79, New York City’s senior seltzer man, hoisted crate after crate of seltzer — weighing 70 pounds apiece — into his van and then draped himself over them.

“I’m running on fumes — the reason I work is, I just can’t stay home,” said Mr. Miller, who has been delivering seltzer in Brooklyn for more than a half-century.

He can afford to retire, but that would mean his customers, many of whom have been with him for decades, might have to resort to store-bought seltzer.

“I don’t want them to have to drink that dreck you buy in the supermarket,” he said, using the Yiddish term for dirt. “So I guess I’ll retire when Gabriel blows his horn.”

Mr. Miller said that when he began delivering, on March 10, 1960, there were perhaps 500 seltzer men in the city, and a half-dozen seltzer bottlers. Now he can count his delivery competition on one hand, and they all fill up at the last seltzer factory in the city: Gomberg Seltzer Works in Canarsie.

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Memories of Sheepshead Bay

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By Adam Cohen My family grew up in Brooklyn including my parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and both sets of grandparents. I was dubbed a first generation New Jerseyan by many of my family members. As you could imagine, we spent a lot of time in Brooklyn. My parents would take my sister and I into Brooklyn on a whim and show us where they grew up, met, and dated. They… Read More »Memories of Sheepshead Bay

Sheepshead Bay

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Submitted by Adam Cohen, October 1, 2013 – engrave12@yahoo.com My family grew up in Brooklyn including my parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and both sets of grandparents. I was dubbed a first generation New Jerseyan by many of my family members. As you could imagine, we spent a lot of time in Brooklyn. My parents would take my sister and I into Brooklyn on a whim and show us where they grew… Read More »Sheepshead Bay

Kosher Food is Busting Out

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Out of the Lower East Side and its creative constraints Clever chefs like Moshe Wendel and Itta Werdiger Roth are bringing kosher into the 21st century at eateries like Pardes, Mason & Mug, Blossom and Reserve Cut BY MICHAEL KAMINER / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2013, 2:00 AM When the Lower East Side’s last kosher restaurant closed last month, “oy veys” could be heard all the way to the Bronx.In… Read More »Kosher Food is Busting Out

Young Israel of Flatbush

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SUNSHINE1012 Avenue I, Brooklyn

The Young Israel was established on December 6, 1921 and held its first Synagogue Shabbat Services on March 3, 1922.  In its many years of existence, we have been active on several fronts.  The Young Israel was instrumental in providing assistance in rescue efforts for our suffering brethren during the Holocaust, financial aid during the early years of our beloved State of Israel and in its wars of existence, and support to our brothers behind the Iron Curtain.  Here at home, we have been the leading Congregation in the community – the force behind the creation of the local Mikveh, the Gemilut Chassadim Organization and the Greater Flatbush Eruv.  We have also assisted local Yeshivot, Rabbinic Courts and the needy of our community.  In addition to being open all day, every day, we have provided a myriad of services to our membership, including religious and educational enrichment, youth and outreach programs and social activities.

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Borough President Eric Adams Hosts Pre-Passover Community Open Dialogue

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published in Brooklyn Eagle Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams recently hosted Jewish community leaders and representatives from city agencies, including the New York City Police Department, Fire Department and Department of Sanitation, for a pre-Passover community open dialogue in the courtroom of Borough Hall. The forum was an opportunity to discuss preparations for the holiday and ways to advance collaboration. “We need to work in collaboration, not isolation, which was… Read More »Borough President Eric Adams Hosts Pre-Passover Community Open Dialogue

Tuesday Nights In Summer

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On the seventeenth floor in Luna Park,
Neighbors would gather just after dark.
Many beliefs and nationalities,
We shared our delicious specialties.
Everyone talked, had fun and cared,
A little part of our lives were shared.
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