A Storied Past: 344 Van Duzer Street

  

 It was the above postcard of the Elk's Club in Stapleton that sent me on a hunt for this house years ago. It didn't take much work to figure out where the building was and that it was still standing, if in a much-altered fashion. It's been recently purchased, and the new owner is fixing it up. As with many such older homes, it's lost all its fripperies and finery and has been covered with vinyl siding. 

Anton Methfessel

The building appears on the 1874 J.B. Beers Atlas as the Institute of AGM, that is the Anton Methfessel Institute, a precursor to Staten Island Academy. You can also see, he lived next door at 360 Van Duzer Street, only demolished in 2016. It had been vacant and burned and has been replaced with a fairly ugly commercial building. 

The Institute merged with the Staten Island Academy and Latin School in 1885. Later, the new Academy bought property in St. George on Stuyvesant Place. Eventually, they decamped from that area for the Todt Hill property they now occupy.

Institute of Anton G Methfessel - 1874 Beers Map

Anton Methfessel's house - 360 Van Duzer Street - 1940 - demolished 2016

Methfessel Institute - 344 Van Duzer Street - 1885

Steuben Club - 1935

Sign Detail - 1935

Steuben Club - 1936 Sanborn Map (note the bowling alley added to the back)

I'm assume the Steuben Club was German. Stapleton was heavily German, well into the seventies. My old church, Trinity Lutheran, had started as a specifically German congregation and there were still German-language services into the early eighties. 

I don't know when the club opened, but it was there in 1929 as evinced by this great Advance front page from 1929 indicates. It was raided for having booze in violation of the Volstead Act. For what it's worth, $10,000 back then is about $190,000 today.

February 29, 1920

Storck's Restaurant (and bowling!) - 1940

Sign Detail - 1940

Realizing 344 was the site of Storck's Restaurant is what inspired me to write this piece. In doing some preliminary research on the Stork's Nest in Tompkinsville, I learned that the owners' name was Storck and had owned other restaurants in the area, among them the Hofbräuhaus in Stapleton.

I already knew all these things about 344 Van Duzer. Researching for this post, though, I learned about a most fascinating resident of the building from the forties: the artist, Percy A. Leason. He was painter and cartoonist from Australia, who'd emigrated to New York City in 1938, seeking a better life for his family. A year later they moved to Staten Island and in 1948, he opened an art studio at 344 where he also lived. 

He was a defender of naturalism in art, particularly in the face of Modernism and Expressionism. Of a conservative bent, that stand alone makes me predisposed to like Leason. He also served as the president of the Section of Art of the Staten Island Museum, getting re-elected at least once to the position. An article about the Snug Harbor Fence Show strongly implies he was instrumental in creating it. He was fascinated with the cave paintings in Dordogne, France and gave a talk about them at the Stapleton Library. All in all, an interesting man we don't see much of these days. 

There were other tenants listed at the address, including an ice company and several dance studios. This, and the lack of any mention of Leason's studio after 1948 leads me to believe it didn't last long, which must have been a real blow (though Wikipedia claims he maintained a school on Staten Island until 1957, two years before his death). According to Wikipedia, he died penniless and "despondent at not having received adequate recognition for his labours." Nonetheless, many of his paintings are on display in several galleries in Australia and Washington, D.C. Among his most important works are a series of portraits of Aborigines. I've seen a few, and they are striking.

Mrs Clara Hunt 1934 oil on canvas

Three Sisters  - A picture of his three daughters 

344 Van Duzer - April, 2025

Lost Entertainment: Bukovac's

 

Bukovac's, ca. 1940

This is the first lost venue that I have even the slightest personal information about. Someone I knew's father bartended there and another person's first date with his wife, sometime in the sixties, was there. 

Bukovac's opened at least in the early forties. The spot, though, was around as some sort of hall long before that. The Advance has an article that repeats a rumor that Buffalo Bill stayed there when he brought his Wild West Show to the city in 1886, Mariner's Harbor in particular. It's an old building, even if it doesn't appear on the 1874 map, so it's entirely possible. 

Blue Goose, 18-20 Union Avenue, ca. 1940

Mary Bukovac and her husband Frank operated Bukovac's and several other bars and halls over their long careers. Her obituary from the Advance in 2004, reports that their primary establishment was the Blue Goose, a bar on Union Avenue they bought in the late forties. In 1956 Frank pled guilty to bookmaking out of the Blue Goose. Years later, it became the Club Island. In 1997, after several smaller fires, it burned down. The story I heard at the time was that the owners had run afoul of the mob, but the FDNY ruled it happened because of a space heater left on overnight.

SI Advance - November 27th, 1948

It appears to have operated as Bukovac's until at least 1971. The next name on the building was the Rainbow Room. Later, yet, it became the Eagle's Nest. That's the name I saw on the building when I actually first saw it sometime in the early nineties. The Eagle's Nest was open into the 21st century, but like all things, it too passed. 

SI Advance - July 1, 1988

Now, the building is owned by a Mar Thoma church but as far as I know, the building hasn't been renovated and it isn't open.  

Lost Entertainment: the Davis Club & Club Isle

 

Davis Club - 316 Davis Avenue - W. New Brighton

Among the many things I've learned perusing old Staten Island maps is that once upon a time, when not everyone drove, neighborhoods were more mixed. There were more stores and restaurants in the middle of residential areas. There were also more entertainment venues, including bowling alleys and clubs. Once upon a time, there was a place that had both, right on

1917 G.W. Bromley Atlas

1936 revision Sanborn Map

Davis Avenue between Henderson and Castleton, called, appropriately enough, the Davis Club.

I can't find a lot of information about the club, though I've sort of pieced together a bit of its history. While it just looked like a typical commercial building with apartments overhead, there was a bowling alley extending out behind it. This is clear from the 1917 and 1936 maps. I can't tell if it was always called the Davis Club or picked up the name somewhere along the way.

The SI Advance collection I've access to only starts in 1945 and the first clear reference to the club is in 1946. Another thing about the past is that people were way more social, belonging to clubs and teams. The Curtis Community Center League played its games at Curtis HS and seems to have been made up of teams from assorted businesses. The first mention of the Davis Club is this report on a game between the Davis Club Cagers and the Bement Drug Quintet (Bement Pharmacy was on the corner of Forest and Bement) 

I pulled a few ads from the late forties. It seems like that's when the club was at its height, but I wouldn't swear to that. With bowling alleys at the back, it probably wasn't as snazzy as Brighton Avenue's Miami Club, but it did have enough connections to get Buddy Rich in there at least for a few nights.

April 28th, 1948

May 21st, 1949

The club changed ownership in 1952, as announced in the Advance ad below

An ad from 1955 makes it seem like it's less of a musical destination than it used to be, instead, focusing on the bowling alleys and the club's rentability 

In 1962, the club changed hands again, this time becoming the Club Isle. From the ads, it's obvious it became geared to a black audience. Over the next few months, it played host to jazz and r 'n' b musicians. By October, it went bankrupt. 

March 21st, 1962

May 18th, 1962

June 7th, 1962

Still, some sort of bar operated out of the building as regular ads were looking for bar maids. Whatever happened, County Clerk records show the building changed hands around 1970. In 1975 it was operated as a warehouse and caught fire. I'm not sure when the building eventually was demolished, but the lot is empty in the 1990 tax photos. Today its lot is filled with a semi-detached built in 1993.

This whole block of Davis Avenue, from Henderson to Castleton, underwent a tremendous transformation over the last forty years. Along with the old Club Davis, other building along the block fell into disrepair and were abandoned. Community Board One made a concerted effort to get them demolished and eventually the City did just that. Finally, in the late eighties and early nineties these now empty lots were mostly filled with fairly unattractive attached houses. 

A Building With Many Faces: 98 Beach Street

 

98 Beach Street, btw 1943 and 1947

It's only recently I learned this building burned down in 1976. Growing up in Stapleton, we went up and down to the stores and library around Tappan Park almost weekly, but I haven't the slightest memory of the building. The site was vacant for about forty years, only being built on about a decade ago.

I first caught sight of the building when I was doing research on the Van Duzer - Beach Street intersection. There's no full-on view as with many of the tax photos. The photographer approached it from an angle, which was a good thing, because it allows us to see the building in the context of its neighbors and street. 

 ca. 1940 - I was immediately curious about the name "WALTER" across the front in my first glimpse of the building

ca. 1940 - Walter is revealed as Walter B. Cooke

According to this informative page, Walter B. Cooke was a major entrepreneurial undertaker who opened funeral parlors across the region. He sold his chain in the early fifties, but the name lives on in several locations.

When I say the building had a complicated history, it's more that I mean it had several very distinct uses in its lifetime. From the various maps, I can tell it was built sometime before WWI, but not what specific year or for what purpose.

The first tenant I can discern is Walter B. Cooke's funeral parlor. Around 1943, it became home to the United Seamen's Service. It's a non-profit established in 1942 to support Americans connected to the maritime industries. It operated there for about four years before moving to South Beach and then closing. 

After the USS, it became the Villa Restaurant. That doesn't seem to have lasted that long and the next tenant was the Meurot Club. It had been a fixture of St. George and Staten Island nightlife for decades. Its original location was located on the corner of St. Marks and Fort Place. 

the Meurot Club from in front of Brighton Heights Dutch Reform Church, ca 1940

the Meurot Club from the east side of Fort Place, ca. 1940

The Meurot Club decamped to Stapleton in the sixties and seems to have operated there for less than ten years. In 1972, 98 Beach St opened as the Keyes, a dinner theater. The opening show was The Owl and the Pussycat. In 1974, a new owner took over the spot and it became Beau's La Comedie Restaurant (and discotheque). It was open until January 1976 when it burned down. 

And that's the way it stood for the next forty years.

January 13th, 1976

Lost Entertainment: the Miami Club

Miami Club, ca. 1940

Things were so very different in the past. Not necessarily the long ago past, but long enough that most of us don't know about them. 

A clear thing I've learned just by looking at maps and photos, is that we were once a much more social society. There were bowling alleys, pool halls, bars, and halls and night clubs all over the place. People went out to do things and then did them among big groups of other people. This must have been still going on when I was young (in the seventies). The change seems to have really taken hold by the early nineties. That's when things like the Columbian Lyceum and most of the bowling alleys started getting knocked down. I think there are only three actual pool halls and two bowling alleys left on the Island. 

In my research these socializing places turn up everywhere. Part of it is because neighborhoods were different in the past; some more upscale, some more downscale, others had large centers of employment that encouraged bars and pool halls, etc. The other part is that we just did this more; people went out and joined the Elks, the KToday, most of us, at least once a little older, seem to cocoon ourselves in our homes and with our immediate family. 

It's only a vacant lot, now, but once upon a time, there was a little tropical oasis on the corner of Brighton Avenue and Ely Street in New Brighton, just a block from Jersey Street. It was called the Miami Club and hosted comedians, singers, and dancers regularly for years. 

Originally, Frank Santore (1903-1974) opened it as a bar after the repeal of prohibition in 1933. He later turned it into a club and ran it as that for 34 years. Around 1967 he must have sold it, and Michael Supino (1923-1994) took it over. According to his obituary, he ran it for 5 years. Articles in the paper show it went into foreclosure in early '73 and another piece implies the building came down in 1975 or so. Since then it's looked like what's below.

Corner of Brighton and Ely, 11/24

Back then, as can been seen HERE, Jersey Street was a thriving commercial strip. By the time I was a kid, most of that was gone. Back in the day, you could see all sorts of acts. From ads in the Advance, I discovered some of the performers' names: Alan Dale, Val Valente and His Orchestra, local comedian Joe Cavalon and regular performers Carroll & Gorman. Sometimes people on the way up did early gigs, such as Vic Damone, Jimmy Roselli, and Judy Scott.

The most interesting thing I discovered was a blog post from 2005 by singer/songwriter Naomi Caryl. One of her earliest gigs was at the Miami Club. They liked her enough to have her back four or five times.

Many people ask me, 'What were these Nightclubs like?' Well, no surprise: people 'smoked like chimneys' and 'drank like fish' in these clubs. They truly did, of course. And the last thing that the customers were interested in was 'the show', except for the "Exotic Dancer". And the management was only interested in what you did if it helped to sell drinks.

The third singing job I had was in a small but rather interestingly decorated Club on Staten Island called. "The Miami Club". It had fake Palm Trees and everything else that signified "Miami".....and it was quite a challenge to get there. Back then, there was no Verenzanno Bridge to get over to Staten Island from Long Island. 

You had to drive into New York City, if you weren't already there---which I wasn't----and take the then only way to get to S.I., The Staten Island Ferry....It was a rather picturesque little trip because you not only saw all the buildings in the skyline of Manhattan, but you also saw The Statue of Liberty, coming and going. In those days these clubs didn't close until 4 AM, though usually they let you go around 2:45 am or so.....Anyway, they loved me at The Miami Club, and so I was asked back there to perform, four or five times. Just as an aside, one of the "Exotic Dancers" that played that club with me billed herself as "Whirling Janet From Another Planet". Great name, isn't it? And she was a really nice fun young gal with a great sense of humor 

Naomi Caryl, 2005

Contrasting ads from the Santore and the Supino eras; not much difference between 1960 and 1972. I love that the '72 ad asks for men to wear jackets to watch the go-go girls. It really was a different world. 

Based on what I read in the Advance, I can go down a deep, deep well investigating the history of clubs like the Miami all across the North Shore. So get ready for it. If you have a club or hall in mind, let me know, and I'll see what I can find.

At the Top of the Stairs: Lost Houses of Victory Boulevard

Victory Boulevard stairs, 2013

   I always wondered what had been at the top of the stairs that line the east side of Victory Boulevard as it rises up away from Jersey Street. From another set of stairs that still clearly lead somewhere, I thought they might have been connections to Rosewood Place or Avon Place. It was only when I started looking at the old tax maps again that I uncovered the truth. Once upon a time, there was a string of nine attached houses. 

Since I've gained access to the SI Advance archive thru GenealogyBank, I can do basic research on nearly any address on the Island. Mostly I just learn who lived there and who died there. Once in a while, though, I discover something really interesting. In this case, these houses, built sometime between 1917 and 1936, were probably demolished in the wake of several arson fires that over a few years that took out first one house then another. 

Originally, I was going to reprint articles from the SI Advance covering the culprit's history that culminated in his sentencing. I decided not to because his surname isn't common and he had at least one child. If you really feel the need to discover it, it isn't difficult. So, instead, I'll tell you what happened - according to the newspapers and the courts.

In 1971, a 28 year old man I'll call Paul X, a real estate broker and property manager with an office in Tompkinsville, was arrested along with his brother and a third man (the torchman), for arson at 252 Victory Blvd. The building was damaged and the fire was declared suspicious. The row of houses included nine units and stretched from 252 to 268. This wasn't the first time any of the houses had burned. I'm not sure when that was, but in 1968, 268 had been 'gutted' and 266 damaged. It was the first time fires had happened while the young man owned them. He had bought them for under $60,000 in 1970.

Paul X escaped judgment in this situation. The case was adjourned a few months in April of '71 and dismissed later that summer. The judge found the defense's claim that a speedy trial had been denied and all charges were dismissed. 

Now, before our criminal was arrested for arson a second time, he was arrested for one of the stranger events I've come across in my North Shore studies. In November 1976, he was arrested for fomenting a plot to rob the house of State Senator John J Marchi on Ward Hill. Apparently, the conspirators believed they could make a "'big haul' in cash, furs and paintings." It wasn't carried out because they learned the senator was sick and would be home the night of the planned heist. As nothing happened, the ultimate penalty suffered was minor, especially compared to what happened next.

Sen John J Marchi

On June 29, 1977, fire hit 252 Victory. Only the quick action of a neighbor stamping it out prevented it from spreading. The FDNY found a building soaked in gasoline when they arrived. 252 was vacant at the time, but the other seven houses were occupied.

   

A month later, 252 Victory burned again and this time nobody saved it. The picture above is from one of the Advance articles describing the event. The FDNY officers described fighting the fires as difficult. The houses were up a hill and reaching the attics with the hoses was extremely difficult. Trucks were even driven around to Rosewood Pl and they tried to get at the fire from above and behind. 

The next day, the Advance had an article titled "Arson becomes a dirty word for Victory Blvd. merchants." In it, another fire down the hill at 76 Victory Blvd. was described. Paul X's lawyer called out the FDNY for not doing a better job at prevention and claimed the fires had probably been started by vandals or tenants trying to claim "relocation money." He later claims that the fires at 252 Victory were "the result of a vendetta against the former owner." Additionally, he said, "Maybe (it was) carried out by people that don't realize the property changed hands." He believed this, apparently, because "the former owner was associated with a certain lowlife element."

The thing is, the previous owner of the row houses was Paul X. Well, a company of which he was the president. That company sold the property to the lawyer's wife a year earlier as indicated by records at the Richmond County Clerk's office. The article doesn't mention that, but it does mention that all the properties in question were indeed owed by the lawyer's wife, a young man from Brooklyn and Paul X's OWN WIFE. 

A few days after the big arson article, there was another fire, this time at 256 and 258 Victory Blvd. Readers learn that the FDNY had started calling Victory Blvd. 'mini-Bushwick,' referencing the arson-plague devastating that Brooklyn neighbor at the same time. At this point, only two of the six or seven remaining houses are occupied. Again, the lawyer is reported as blaming "vandals or tenants trying to collect relocation money." Another fire was set two days later heavily damaging 256.

Finally, in December 1977, Paul X was arrested and indicted. He was accused of seven counts of arson, including for 72 Victory Blvd. where his office was located. Bail was set at $75,000. The lawyer mentioned previously did not represent him in this case. 

Paul X tried to defend himself by claiming his old lawyer and the other had pressured him into cooperating with the arson plot. It didn't stick. The prosecution was aided by the new firebug Paul X had hired. They had had fallen out over payments (typically $75 to $200 per job) and the torchman had become a witness for the investigators. The young co-owner from Brooklyn found himself indicted, too, seems to have become a very cooperative witness. In the end, Paul X was convicted and was sentenced to up to seven years in prison. Later, he would appeal, but the courts denied it and he stayed locked up.

After the fires and the arrests, the lawyer's wife sold the properties. I didn't find any further information about the remaining houses, but I assume they were demolished. The property has been sold and resold over the years and I know there's been talk of building on it, but at this point there's nothing there but stairs.

And that would seem to be that. It wasn't. I can't tell when he was released, but in 1982, Paul X shows up in the Advance helping operate an illegal homeless shelter in the vacate Temple B'nai Jeshurun down the block on the other side of Victory Blvd. The shelter was probably operating at the imprimatur of Mayor Koch's administration, but no local officials knew about it and it was in violation of fire and building regulations. An interesting coda to a interesting character's criminal exploits.

Victory Boulevard stairs, 2022

Postscript:

Doing a general Google search on Paul X, I discovered his name in something called Researching Arson-for-Profit from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. He's included in a diagram indicating all the parties connected to a seemingly linked series of arson incidents.