ROGERS PONTIAC, Borough Park

by Kevin Walsh

I haven’t been in this stretch of Borough Park, at Fort Hamilton Parkway and 60th Street, for a year and a half at least, but I have always had a distinct memory of this somewhat imposing building on the SW corner. When I was a kid my parents and I used to go on excursion bus rides on the B16 route that traveled down FHP on its way to Ocean Avenue a block away from Prospect Park, and this building…

 

… and the huge neon “Rogers Pontiac” sign will always be emblazoned on my engrams as it was a grand auto showroom. It didn’t occur to me at age seven that I would never truly learn to drive!

 

Earlier on it was a Dodge and Plymouth showroom, still ran by the mysterious Mr. Rogers.

At length, the car showroom moved out and in the 1980s, it was home to a roller skating rink called, I sh-t you not, “United Skates of America.”

The most recent business inhabiting the building was a caterer called Hostess International. The framework of the neon sign supported their print sign.

The Google Street View from 2014 indicates that the building had been hollowed out and construction fencing had surrounded the building.

So, till I can get over there again, let me know: has it been torn down, or is it being rehabilitated?

9/23/15

15 comments

Larry September 23, 2015 - 1:45 pm

I used to love taking that B 16 Ft Ham Pky bus…started at Woodruff and Ocean and never crowded at its start..I like the way it just meandered thru to Bay Ridge from my Flatbush home base…

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John September 23, 2015 - 3:44 pm

My cousin, who travels to Brooklyn regularly, told me that this building is being razed. He does not know what is to be built there.

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Brian Formoe September 24, 2015 - 9:56 am

According to ‘One More Folded Sunset’:
“In 2005, the owner, claiming “hardship and changes in the area” applied to convert the building to mixed residential & retail space, with parking, and was granted a variance. Nine years later, 6002 is undergoing a Karl Fischer “alteration” to become a five-storey (sic) residential building. Basically there are just two walls left here, with everything else demolished. It’s good to see a handsome facade like this retained, but to the naive observer, the work permits issued for these kinds of massive jobs seem awfully skimpy.”
Recent pics here: http://www.onemorefoldedsunset.com/2015/01/holding-up-walls.html

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onemorefoldedsunset September 25, 2015 - 8:49 am

What a beautiful old building. I haven’t been back since January, so I don’t know how the site looks now. Excuse the use of “storey” – even after thirty years here I can’t relinquish that spelling!

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Jackie December 9, 2015 - 2:01 am

Anyone know Irving or Joe Rogersor Milt Hapern ?

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Anthony Fusaro December 6, 2017 - 3:06 pm

I knew Milt. Met him when I was a little kid and my dad was the manager at Rogers. Unlike my dad milt was a nice guy.

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Duane September 5, 2021 - 8:07 pm

Was your dad an old time scheming car salesman?

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Dominic December 4, 2022 - 2:04 pm

Anthony my name is Dominic and I grew up in Boro park …my father bought his 53 Catalina and his 62 Bonneville at rogers and his sales man was Anthony Ducati …I have never forgotten that name and when I turned 18 I went to rogers Pontiac with my father and bought a 66 GTO and guess who my salesman was …. Anthony fusaro

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Anonymous December 4, 2022 - 2:09 pm

Anthony Ducati should have read Anthony fusaro…don’t know how that got there

Anonymous September 25, 2020 - 10:13 am

I new milt I bought my first car from him , my grandmother was Mary who one’d the Italian restaurant across the Street . All of the guys from Rogers would eat there for lunch ,I was young but I remember it fondly

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George the parts man December 1, 2021 - 8:28 am

Hello Tony, I’m George, the Pontiac parts man. I knew all the guys and girls at Rogers. I know you too. I hope you are
well. And Mr. Rogers, one of the nicest guys you will ever
meet. Don’t forget that in 1976 the dealership went from
Rogers Pontiac to Rogers Ford. Some of the best memories I have are of working at Rogers.

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Steven December 27, 2023 - 7:04 am

I just found this thread of comments while looking through some old family stuff . My dad Elmore Rosenthal (people called him El) was the comptroller at Rogers Pontiac and then Ford . He and Milt Halpern were childhood friends . They started selling cars to GI’s after the WWII . The offices were on the second floor of the building overlooking Ft Hamilton Pkwy.

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George the parts man December 1, 2021 - 8:52 am

Addendum to my last comment: Anonymous, I also ate at Mary and Franks restaurant across the street every day for lunch. Frank was cool, I liked him. All of the meals were $5.

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steve December 26, 2021 - 10:18 pm

does anyone have pics of the body shop between rogers and the oldsmobile dealership. it was my dad’s(frank’s collision)?

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steve June 8, 2023 - 7:49 am

the oldsmoble dealership was Lind Olds; also, when i was a kid, i remember going over to Frank’s each morning for a fried egg and bacon on a roll when they opened in the morning…my dad was usually at work by 5am at the body shop and Franks was 1st to open.

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