A NICE PAIR, FLUSHING

UNTIL recently, this handsome 1940s-era sign for Vincent F. Grace Prime Meats was visible on 162nd Street, a main shopping drag between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue in eastern Flushing when I inhabited the neighborhood from 1993-2007. Once uncovered in 2013, it remained in view for a good decade until Chang De Gong Spa leased the space and covered it with a vinyl awning sign in 2023.

While I was in the neighborhood, this was my butcher under a different name. it moved to a different location between 43rd and 45th Avenues, then closed after a few years. I often consult 1940s tax photos to see how old a sign might be, but the photographer never got to the buildings on the east side of 162nd Street, so there is no way to tell. Above it is a sign of more recent, but not my much, vintage: raised letters advertising the law offices of Michael F. Mongelli. An internet search reveals that Michael F. Mongelli II is now running the firm.

In these photos from 2016, I remember two of the storefronts, Fratelli’s Pizzeria and Steve’s Coffee Shop, both present in the 1990s. I’m sad to say that in my 14 years in the neighborhood I never patronized either. A hairstylist occupied the tobacconist space in 2023.

I have always had an appreciation for diners and coffee shops, though, and because of that I may make my way in there sometime soon.

Here’s a look at 162nd Street in 2012. Oddly it became one of my most commented-on pages, with over 250, with numerous old neighborhood denizens checking in.

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10/7/24