NOT since 2019 had I been in Canarsie, on the southeast end of Brooklyn facing Jamaica Bay. I just hadn’t had the opportunity. That year, I walked all the way from Avenue M and East 16th Street at the Q train stop all the way to Glenwood Road at Rockaway Parkway, the last stop of the L train. Since then, my back has acted up and I can’t walk longer than 4 or 5 miles without a rest stop or two. Sadly, I haven’t used the over 100 photos I got that day, August 3, 2019, in a Forgotten NY post yet—I haven’t found the context But today, I found a reason to use four of them.
For over 20 years I had known about an honest to God log cabin located at Flatlands Avenue and East 93rd Street that, by 2019, was home to the Fillmore real estate company. I included it in Forgotten New York the Book in 2006. I was aware that it was built by the Lloyd Doubleday family from 1936-1939 and was originally an ice cream parlor.
The log cabin as it appeared in 1940.
Today, I was disappointed to see that the log exteriors have been replaced or covered over. The Berkshire Hathaway real estate conglomerate has taken over the space, and renovated it to their preference. Since it was a Sunday, I was unable to stop in and ask around, but the latest Google Street View from 2022 shows the log exteriors still in place.
Sadly, a previous real estate office in this location was reportedly firebombed twice for showing and selling homes to minorities.
All buildings have a shelf life, though some last for hundreds of years, and perhaps water, termites, or other types of damage had compromised the wood logs. It’s a shame to let the log cabin go, but I have obtained numerous photos over the years to chronicle it.
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.
6/7/26
4 comments
What a shame!
Berkshire Hathaway real estate is part of Warren Buffett’s empire along with Geico, Dairy Queen and the BNSF railroad.
Our family moved from East Flatbush to Canarsie in 1968 and I moved away after graduating from CCNY in 1973. All the way to what I called the “bottom of Canarsie” right by the Belt Pkwy. It was like traveling to the “ends of the earth.” Other than the opportunity to walk along the Belt (which really excited me as a road geek), it was far away from anywhere I wanted to go.
Not a real log cabin,just siding.What they call in Bay Ridge a
“Fakey-Jakey”