BANK TRANSFORMATION, Flatbush

by Kevin Walsh

Who would’ve thought that forty years ago that at this location at Church & Nostrand Avenues, at different times you would be able to bank, purchase a Big Mac and  at a later time, purchase a Whopper?  Well, that’s what happened here.  If your memory is sharp, you may remember this location chronicled in a FNY posting from August 13, 2014, entitled REPURPOSED BANKS, PART 2. It was at one time a branch of the Lincoln Savings Bank.
 
Personally, I’ve known fast food franchises to shutter – even well known ones such as McDonalds. But I can’t recall an instance where a hamburger chain closes a location and another chain takes over that same site.
 
 Are there any FNY fans who can vote a similar scenario at another location? –Gary Fonville
 

Here’s a 1940 view of the building when it was actually the Lincoln Savings Bank. Note the lamps surrounding the bank–many employed this tactic to ward off nighttime break-ins. Of course the Church Avenue streetcar line was still running, evidenced by the trolley pole and wires. It would be one of the last of Brooklyn’s streetcar lines to end service, finally giving up in 1956.
 
 

Meanwhile here’s a look at the back of the bank on Nostrand Avenue, where there is presently a Chase bank. The brown pavement represents Nostrand Avenue’s express bus lane.
 
 

… and in 1940, when the space was occupied by a railroad car diner. You could say, in effect, that bank and eatery have traded spaces between 1940 and 2018.

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11/8/18

6 comments

Gary Fonville November 8, 2018 - 1:49 pm

Upon close examination , did anybody notice the IRT Subway entrance is on Church Ave In the tax photo, but the entrance is on Nostrand Avenue in the current photo?

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Larry November 9, 2018 - 5:47 am

I ate in that Railroad diner back in 1956 with my Dad..Hot Meat loaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Peas and Carrots….My Mother was out of town and we ended up eating there several times…Also, my School Savings account was in that Lincoln Savings Bank on the corner…..

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Larry November 9, 2018 - 6:27 am

In addition, I noticed that the subway entrance changed sides of the main door between the 1940 pictures and later 40 years ago……

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Sikandar Nirmal Singh November 9, 2018 - 9:11 pm

My best friend lives near there! I’ve been around there many times. She moved there a few years ago. I think around 2014 or 2015

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Gary Farkash November 15, 2018 - 9:07 am

Also, I can still see parts of the “Lincoln Savings Bank” sign on teh back of the building in the current photo

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John G October 4, 2020 - 5:48 pm

I worked at this Lincoln Savings Bank branch around 1978. As a Management Trainee, I was assigned to lots of different branches. The Manhattan branches were a lot more convenient as I commuted from New Jersey. It’s where I eventually wound up. It was a job out of college so I didn’t complain. As I looked at the photos, I can only say I have a vague recollection of the area. I remember the subway was nearby and it certainly was. By 1980, I moved to Florida where I’ve been ever since. My favorite Brooklyn branch was 290 Ave X. I was there prior to Church & Nostrand. It was an interesting experience which led to a lifetime banking career.

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