WHILE beginning a jaunt in Park Slope recently I was intrigued right off the bat by this building at #230 Flatbush, between Bergen Street and 6th Avenue, with a pair of impressive Doric columns at the front entrance, now home to Gem Pawnbrokers.
Curious about the building’s origins I consulted 1940s.nyc to see what the place looked like in 1940. Then, it was the People’s Prospect Branch of the National City Bank, a bank that still exists. It was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and after some mergers became the National City Bank in 1865 and then, Citibank in 1976.
Much of the building’s original appearance has been retained, though the columns have been painted red. I suppose that pawnbrokerage is another form of banking, no?
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A mystery remains. Was National City Bank the first tenant, or did it give way to a company labeled, in this masonry shield, as PT & Co, or TP & Co.? I don’t know the company, or what order the letters should appear.
“People’s Trust Company” apparently; see Comments
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
9/18/25
2 comments
The “PT Co.” apparently references The Peoples Trust Company, at least according to a 1919 advertisement announcing the opening of the Prospect branch at this location in October of 1919. The company itself was headquartered at 181-183 Montague Street.
As per a Brooklyn Daily Eagle article of April 9, 1919, this version of the building was the result of the remodeling of two already extant store-and-apartments buildings After the renovations some of the apartments were retained above the floors occupied by the bank.