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Cypress Pool, 1961-2 Situated on Jamaica Avenue between Crescent anf Hemlock was the Cypress Pool, a neighborhood fixture. A huge gold star to Cynthia Rongione for digging up not only a photo of the Cypress pool, but a gem as well, showing a smooth(?) high dive in action and the Cypress Hills Station in the background.The Cypress Pool now has its own page with a lot more pictures and history which can be found here. |
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Two images relating to the Cypress Hills Roller rink.The badge on the right is from the early 1940s, the ticket from 1935. The building is still standing, it is now a warehouse. It was owned by the Cypress Pool Co., and opened at the same time in 1929. See the Pool page for more details. |
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Original Cypress Hills Station Up to 1918, the Cypress Hills station was the last stop of the 'Jamaica' Line. The map on the right is part of a BMT line map from 1912, showing the end of the line. Thanks to Neil Sullivan for this shot and the ones below, from "Tracks of New York 2". BMT map portion from the nycsubway.org site. |
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Original Cypress Hills Station The first shot is a closeup; passengers disembarked on the north side of Jamaica. The second shot is looking north towards the last stop. Note the tracks curving to the right. This lead to a ramp that brought the train down to ground level, where the car would continue down Jamaica via trolley wire. This was circa 1903, and the ramp led down to where the Cypress Pool was to be built. |
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Development Maps, 1893, 1905 The proof lies in the development maps for the area. The second map, from 1905, shows the tracks coming right through the area of the pool. The 1893 map on the left shows the area before the tracks came through. Some things to note; Etna Street did not pass thru in 1893. On the lot was a structure called a "Hot House", which is a greenhouse. The toll booth still stood on the map (see below), it came down in 1897. Jamaica Ave. was called Jamaica Turnpike then. |
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Jamaica and Crescent The first shot from Neil dates roughly from the 40s or 50s. The pool would have existed then but is not visible. On the right is the 1941 tax photo from Tim O'Reilly. The view is west of Crescent; Werner and Acker Florists is visible and to the right, the famous Showboat catering hall. Visit the main Zone 4 page to see more on the Showboat. |
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Jamaica and Crescent Neil Sullivan's 2006 photo looking straight south down Crescent from Cypress Hills cemetery shows the original support structure. On the right, my 2007 photo shows a new support has been added. Roger Tanner informed me that the curved portions of the track had to be fixed every year due to lack of proper support. |
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| Toll Gate, Jamaica Plank Road, 1895 Jamaica Ave. was once known as Jamaica Plank Road, because the road was literally a set of wooden planks, set down in 1807, prior to the days of automobiles. The company that maintained this road was permitted to collect tolls. This one was on Jamaica by Hemlock. The right side of that structure is actually living quarters, and more than one child was born to the family of the gatekeeper there. The tolls were eliminated and the tollboth removed in 1897. 
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| Jamaica and Hemlock, 1923 Across from the tollboth above was S. Platt Nichols blacksmith shop. The building was still standing in these 1923 photos, but apparently was gone by 1929. |
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Crescent Place, East New York Dated:1921 Maker: Commercial Art Post Card Co. Status: Own(BG) OK, a bit of trivia. It's no longer called Crescent Place. Anyone know where this is? Neil supplied the 2006 photo. 
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| Moving all the way back down to Fulton Street, this is
the famous "el" curve as the J train turns north along Crescent Ave. In the 1941 tax photo supplied by Tim O'Reilly, you can practically hear the squealing of the train wheels on the curve. Mellor's advertises that it has served Cypress Hills "since 1896" but not necessarily
at this spot. Note even in the 1925 photo below, a drug store has always sat in
this location!
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| The northeast corner of Fulton and Crescent, in 1925. It was originally the Lafayette Hotel from 1872-1902, then Starks Old Roadhouse. Damaged by fire in 1922. The building there today was built in 1932. On the right hand side of the photo you can see the marquee for the Adelphi Theater, a silent film movie house which was replaced by the Gem Theater around 1932. The Gem was torn down in 1954. |
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| Fulton and Crescent Streets, showing Elevator Curve Maker: Commercial Art Post Card Co.Dated: 1920s Status:Need All that work to find the Adelphi Theater and Neil Sullivan finds this postcard with a great shot! The view is west from Hemlock. We assume they meant "elevated curve". Neil lined up a 2006 view of the same angle. |
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Hamburg Savings Bank Rob Jefferson first reminded us that the bank which replaced the Lafayette Hotel was a Hamburg Savings Bank. Dan Prine sent the 1977 shot of the rooftop sign from the Crescent St. station. Built in 1932, after the Gem closed in 1954 the bank expanded the building; the parking lot seen in the Local Live aerial view is where the Gem used to stand. Hamburg merged with Home Savings in 1987 and in 1990 merged with Greenpoint Savings. |
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View from the 'crossover' Dan Prine also sent this 1977 shot of Fulton looking east from the 'crossover', the platform that spanned Fulton St. that allowed people to access the Crescent St. Station from both the north and south side of Fulton St. The same view in the second shot was taken circa 1959 and comes from the Brian Merlis Collection
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Hamburg Car Service Dan Prine sent this 1977 shot of the Hamburg Car Service, located next to Mellor's on the north side of Fulton. I can only guess it was named after the bank. On the right, Dan sent a shot of Andy G., a driver at Hamburg, pictured in front of the Fulton Lounge. Dan recalls Andy had a catchphrase "Here's your chicken dinner" which apparently had a meaning all its own at the Lounge. |
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Gem Theater Advertising Card As mentioned, the Adelphi Theater becomes the Gem around 1932 but a picture of the Gem has eluded us to date. The titles date this ad card to 1947. Mirman's Glass was across the street at 3368 Fulton. |
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South side of Fulton between Crescent and Hemlock
Two long time Cypress Hills establishments were Long's Ice Cream Parlor and Tilotta's (Stuart Jay's) Variety Store. Tim O'Reilly supplied the 1941 tax photo of the south side of Fulton where they were located and noted that the funeral parlor on the left was still there in the 1970s. Judy Close reminded me that Michael Long eventually became a leader of the New York State Conservative party. |
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Southwest corner, Fulton and Crescent 1941 Another tax photo contribution from Tim O'Reilly, Tim recalls the corner store was a Key Food in his day. Rod Maggio noted that Dr. Gillman had an office on Crescent Street and continued to make house calls into the 1990s. Dr. Gillman told Rod he used to work at a family grocery store in his youth and it can be seen in the photo. | |
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Adelphi Oval From the Brian Merlis Archives this image is labeled as "The Adelphi Oval, Fulton and Crescent". I have spoken to archivists at Adelphi who confirmed Adelphi bought land here in 1908 (81 building lots) and a facility was built here which included tennis courts and a track. The Field was dedicated in 1909. They could not find records of the disposition of the land. We do have a map showing the entire area behind the Lafayette Hotel as an athletic field, and we believe the view is east; the buildings in the distance are the back of brick homes facing Railroad (Autumn) Ave. The streets just north, Campus Place and Adler, were built on the site of the old field (Adler was once known as Adelphi Street). The aerial shot on the right outlines the area. |
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Fulton St. Parade Another great shot from the Brian Merlis Archives The view is the north side of Fulton between Crescent and Hemlock. The Gem Theater sat right next to the first building pictured on the left. We believe the photo was taken in 1945, perhaps a Memorial Day parade. Thanks to Neil for the 2006 shot. |