# Club 338: Home of the Zodiacs A puppet theater at 338 Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, took down its sign in 2026. Underneath, in hand-painted letters, was an older one: CLUB 338 / HOME OF THE ZODIACS. The building’s story goes back to 1891: a poetry salon, a restaurant, bars, grocery stores. But who the Zodiacs were remains a mystery. By Lenny Zeltser. Published September 2026. Last updated September 19, 2026. Source: https://club338.zeltser.com/ ## Chapter 1. The sign under the sign (2026) In spring 2026 the Puppetworks marionette theater [announced](/records#puppetworks-site-2026) that "our building has been sold to a developer." Puppetworks had called the building home since 1990. Its show that summer, Pinocchio, ran through August 9. In September the theater moved out of 338 Sixth Avenue. When Puppetworks took down its sign above the entrance, it exposed the painted Club 338 board. *No deed recording that sale had been filed with the city register by the end of August 2026.* Black paint, cream letters, a yellow frame: CLUB 338 / HOME OF THE · ZODIACS. The Puppetworks sign had been screwed onto it. In September 2026 a Puppetworks sign remained around the corner on Fourth Street. It has black paint, cream letters and a yellow frame similar to the Club 338 board. Between the chapters: The painted Club 338 board belonged to an earlier occupant. ### Records - 338 Sixth Avenue at Fourth Street, from below, the painted board across the lower third (September 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/hero-2026.md - The theater’s second sign, on the Fourth Street side of the building (September 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/puppetworks-2026.md - 338 Sixth Avenue, the storefront straight on, with the board above the teal front (September 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/storefront-2026.md - Puppetworks homepage, with the banner on the building’s sale (Captured by the Internet Archive on May 18, 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/puppetworks-site-2026.md ## Chapter 2. Puppetworks (1990 to 2026) In a June 2013 [photograph](/records#puppetworks-2013), a Puppetworks sign is over the Sixth Avenue front. A second one is around the corner on Fourth Street. The Club 338 board was found under the Puppetworks sign in 2026. Around 2000, Puppetworks' display windows were full of puppets. In a [photograph](/records#puppetworks-2000) from the theater's own website, about 2000, both display windows are full of puppets. A line of children is going in, under the Puppetworks sign. The theater's first show at the corner was in March 1990. Puppetworks gave its [first advertised performance](/records#phoenix-1990) at 338 Sixth Avenue on March 2, 1990. The production was The Tortoise and the Hare. *The theater's founder Nicolas Coppola [recalled in 2024](/records#interview-2024) what was in the space before Puppetworks. "Local people have told me that, way back when, it had been an Irish bar. We had the evidence of that because we had the bar back and all the elements."* Between the chapters: A [2014 newspaper profile](/records#profile-2014) of the building's owner at the time says he "evicted the bar" before recruiting Puppetworks. ### Records - “Puppetworks”, a photograph of the corner storefront under the theater’s signs (June 18, 2013): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/puppetworks-2013.md - Photograph of the storefront, from the theater’s website (About 2000. Captured by the Internet Archive on August 26, 2000): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/puppetworks-2000.md - Listings column announcing a Puppetworks production opening March 2 at 338 Sixth Avenue (February 28, 1990): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/phoenix-1990.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, Togo Trading Corp. to the current owner of record (Dated November 5, 1997, recorded December 24, 1997): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1997.md - Interview with Nicolas Coppola of Puppetworks (2024): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/interview-2024.md ### Theories and leads - A venue page gave in 2026 the theater's move to this corner as 2000. Nothing ties it to this address. The February 1990 listing advertises the first performance here for March 2. - A guidebook said in 1987 the puppet company opened a Park Slope storefront theater that year. Ruled out by the February 1990 listing. Printed listings put that theater on Third Avenue until then. - A published interview put in 2024 the theater's opening at this corner in 1991. Ruled out by the February 1990 listing. That notice advertises the first performance here for March 2, 1990. ## Chapter 3. The Park Slope Salon (1982 to 1988) The Park Slope Salon held poetry and music nights in the storefront from 1982. A [2014 newspaper profile](/records#profile-2014) of the owner who bought the building in 1988 says he "discovered that El Sombrero Rojo had long been without a lease, and evicted the bar." The salon's hosts had described the restaurant as closed in 1983, five years before he bought the building. The only photograph of the front from those years is a [city tax photograph](/records#tax-1980s) from the 1980s. It shows a dark sign board with a white stripe over the storefront, and a striped awning below. *That sign board hangs where the Club 338 board is today, and may have concealed it.* Before the 1988 sale, the storefront had been home to a poetry salon. In October 1982 a poetry and music salon opened in the storefront. Its hosts, Ed Rollin and Risa Honest, [advertised it in the Park Slope weekly](/records#salon-1982) for two years. The hosts kept the closed restaurant's bar and its décor. Risa Honest [added](/records#salon-1983) "her red fifties lamps to the red and purple lights over the old bar". *In a [March 2019 post](/records#salon-post-2019) on the Park Slope Salon's Facebook page, Ed Rollin recalled how it began. "So I ended up buying 75 folding chairs created a lighting system bought a PA and the Park Slope Salon was born. It lasted for about 5 years. We served free wine charged 1 dollar admission and opened only on Monday." It ended, he wrote, when "the owner sold the building". Risa replied under the post: "That is true."* Between the chapters: In March 1983 the Park Slope weekly [described](/records#salon-1983) the salon's home as "a former restaurant-El Sombrero Rojo" where the hosts "salvaged as much of its original decor as they could." ### Records - Interior photograph with the illustrated feature on the Park Slope Salon (March 17, 1983): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/salon-1983.md - Listing, Slope Salon November Events, at the corner of 6th Ave. and 4th St. (October 28, 1982): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/salon-1982.md - Post on the Park Slope Salon’s Facebook page, recalling how the salon began (March 24, 2019): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/salon-post-2019.md - Tax photograph of block 985, lot 43, the storefront under a dark, two-tone sign board (1980s. The frame carries no date of its own.): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/tax-1980s.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, 366 4th St. Corp. to Togo Trading Corp. (Dated August 11, 1988, recorded August 19, 1988): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1988.md - Who’s Who in Monterey, a profile of the owner who bought the building in 1988 (January 2014): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/profile-2014.md ### Theories and leads - A commenter on Instagram relayed in September 2026 her husband's memory of a men's bar here. Still possible. The account describes a bar visit here around 1986. No record names that bar. - The building's owner said in 2014 the tenant he evicted was a bar. Still possible. The 2014 profile describes the owner who bought this building in 1988. The records list a bar here to 1972 and a restaurant from 1975. Nothing is listed for 1984 to 1988. - A member of a Facebook group said in 2026 the man who ran the bar still lives nearby. Still possible. The 1974 deed gives its buyers a home address nearby. It names nobody as the bar's operator. - The salon's own page, run by its former hosts, said in the 2020s the salon ran here until 1989. Still possible. A 2019 post by the same hosts says about five years, and listings stop in 1983. The 1982 listing puts the salon at this corner that November. - A commenter under a photograph of the storefront recalled in 2020 a disco called the Ritz here. Nothing ties it to this address. The Park Slope weekly from 1975 to 1990 names no Brooklyn venue of that name. ## Chapter 4. El Sombrero Rojo (1975 to 1982) 338 Sixth Avenue changed hands in December 1974. A month later a [corporation called El Sombrero Rojo](/records#sombrero-1975) was formed. Its incorporation papers give the address of the new owners' own home, a few blocks away. So the restaurant most likely belonged to the owners of 338 Sixth Avenue. Few records of the restaurant have been found. From 1975 to 1981 the telephone directories list only John O'Connor at 338, on the line for the apartment upstairs. The state dissolved the corporation in December 1982. *In 2023 or 2024, a commenter on a neighborhood Facebook post recalled their grandfather's bar here, calling it the "Red Sombrero."* *In a 2026 comment on a neighborhood post, a commenter recalled a video arcade in the storefront around 1979.* Between the chapters: Before El Sombrero Rojo, the telephone directories listed Club 338 at this address. ### Records - Certificate of incorporation, El Sombrero Rojo Inc. (Filed January 1975, dissolved by proclamation in December 1982): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/sombrero-1975.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, Thomas and Catherine McMahon to the 1974 buyers (Dated December 5, 1974, recorded December 18, 1974): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1974.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, one of the 1974 buyers to the other (1975): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1975.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, the 1974 buyer to the 1979 buyer (Dated May 7, 1979, recorded May 11, 1979): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1979.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, the 1979 buyer to his company, 366 4th St. Corp. (June 22, 1981, recorded June 25, 1981): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1981.md ### Theories and leads - A member of a Facebook group said in May 2020 her relatives owned the restaurant that followed the club. Still possible. The 1975 filing names no officer, and the 1974 buyers and the new company share one home address. - A Reddit commenter who moved nearby in 1978 said in September 2026 a video arcade followed the club. Still possible. A 1981 article on local game rooms names only Seventh Avenue. A 1980 alteration filing could be an arcade fit-out. ## Chapter 5. Club 338 in the directories (1973 to 1975) The phone company's directory [dated July 18, 1975](/records#directory-footer-1975) has [one entry at 338](/records#directory-1975): John O'Connor. The club's line, 788-9168, is gone. A year earlier, Cole's directory still listed Club 338. Cole's listed Club 338 in its [1974 volume](/records#coles-1974), with John O'Connor's own line under it. It is the last year in which Cole's listed Club 338. At the head of its pages Cole's printed a [legend](/records#coles-legend-1974), which indicates that a hollow square means a new listing. Cole's put that square beside Club 338 in its 1973 volume. In the same years, the club advertised for barmaids. Between July 1973 and November 1974 the [Amsterdam News](/records#amnews-1973) ran nine help-wanted advertisements for barmaids. They gave the phone number Club 338 used at the time, 788-9168. One of them includes the club's full address. The [last of these ads](/records#amnews-1974) ran on November 16, 1974. > "338 6 Ave. Bklyn" The earliest listing found for the club is from March 1973. In the New York Telephone Company's [address directory](/records#directory-footer-1973) dated March 1, 1973, the number 788-9168 belongs to "Club 338." Cole's listed the club in its [1973 directory](/records#coles-1973) too, with the hollow square it used to indicate a new listing. The two directories came from different publishers, the phone company and Cole's. Both list Club 338 at 338 Sixth Avenue on 788-9168, in 1973 and again in 1974. A year earlier, the same number belonged to a bar. Since 1958 the directories had listed O'Connors Bar & Grill at 338 Sixth Avenue. John O'Connor held its [liquor license](/records#licence-1958) and lived upstairs, on a telephone line of his own. In [January 1972](/records#coles-1972) the bar's number was 788-9168. *So the bar's number, 788-9168, passed to Club 338. The Club 338 listing appeared in the directories between January 1972 and March 1973, and was gone by July 1975. Club 338 was in business at least from 1973 into 1974, the years of its listings and its barmaid ads.* Between the chapters: The CLUB 338 board mentions the Zodiacs. Yet, no record found so far explains who the Zodiacs were. ### Records - Cole’s Brooklyn criss-cross directory, 1972 volume, the entries around 338 Sixth Avenue (1972 volume): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/coles-1972.md - Cole’s Brooklyn criss-cross directory, 1973 volume, the entries around 338 Sixth Avenue (1973 volume): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/coles-1973.md - Brooklyn address directory, the footer of the page carrying the 338 entries (Edition dated March 1, 1973): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/directory-footer-1973.md - Classified advertisement for barmaids, giving the telephone number and the address (July 21, 1973): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/amnews-1973.md - Classified advertisement for a part-time barmaid on the club’s telephone number (November 16, 1974): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/amnews-1974.md - The symbol legend printed at the head of Cole’s directory pages (1974 volume): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/coles-legend-1974.md - Cole’s Brooklyn criss-cross directory, 1974 volume, the entries around 338 Sixth Avenue (1974 volume): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/coles-1974.md - Brooklyn address directory, July 1975, the entries at 338 with no club among them (Edition dated July 18, 1975): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/directory-1975.md - Brooklyn address directory, the footer of the page carrying the 338 entries (Edition dated July 18, 1975): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/directory-footer-1975.md - The microfilm reel box for the July 1975 Brooklyn address directory (Photographed September 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/reel-1975.md ### Theories and leads - A member of a Facebook group said in 2015 a relative ran this bar and later another one nearby. Still possible. A February 1965 notice lists both bars on one page. The 1958 license names this bar's licensee. No record names the same family at both bars. - Could Club 338 be the Brooklyn party club numbered 338 in the 1949 and 1950 honor rolls? Ruled out by the honor rolls themselves. They number party clubs inside sections, and that section met on Fulton Street. - Could the club be 338 Social Club, Inc., filed in January 1974? Ruled out by the state register. That company's address is 338 Lenox Avenue in Manhattan. - Could the club be O'Connor's Bar, Inc., filed in Kings County in 1964? Ruled out by the 1965 license notices. That company's license was at 39 Fifth Avenue. ## Chapter 6. Who were the Zodiacs? (The Zodiacs) *The board mentions the Zodiacs' affiliation with Club 338. The directories list the club in 1973 and 1974, but don't mention the Zodiacs.* No record found in this research so far links a group called the Zodiacs to the 338 Sixth Avenue address. The name "Zodiacs" turns up all over New York in those years. People have suggested a band, a gang, a fraternity and a secret society. None of these ideas has been confirmed. (The Theories and leads tab lists each suggestion with its finding.) After photographs of the sign appeared on neighborhood pages in 2026, two commenters shared memories of the storefront. *In a September 2026 comment on a neighborhood Instagram post, a commenter wrote about her husband, an ironworker. He remembered visiting a bar in this storefront about forty years earlier. He said it was a bar for men, where everybody drank Budweiser and shots of Fleischmann's rye.* A second commenter passed on a neighbor's memory of the same storefront. *In a separate 2026 comment, a commenter relayed a seventy-year-old neighbor's memory of a social club in the storefront. He recalled that there were many such clubs in the area. People drank in them after the bars closed at four in the morning.* Someone who knew Club 338 may still know who the Zodiacs were. Write in at https://club338.zeltser.com/contact if you know who the Zodiacs were. Between the chapters: Before Club 338 appeared in the directories, the same telephone number belonged to O'Connors Bar & Grill. Upstairs, on a separate line, John O'Connor kept his own listing through both. ### Records - The painted board, CLUB 338 / HOME OF THE ZODIACS, from below (September 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/board-2026.md - Report of a new boys’ club at the Bay Ridge YMCA, named the Zodiac Athletic Club (May 14, 1926): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/zodiac-ac-1926.md - Community basketball results naming a Zodiacs team at Public School 208 (December 10, 1947): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/zodiacs-1947.md - Bowling results naming a Zodiacs team in a Brooklyn league (February 26, 1966): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/zodiacs-bowling-1966.md - Listing for Cecil Payne and the Jazz Zodiacs at Brooklyn Happenings (June 14, 1973): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/jazz-zodiacs-1973.md - Softball results naming a Zodiacs team in a women’s league (May 25, 1974): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/zodiacs-softball-1974.md - New York State corporation and business entity database, name searches for ZODIACS, ZODIAC and CLUB 338 (Searched September 2026): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/dos-register-2026.md - Park Slope Old Timers oral history interviews, recorded at the 2025 reunion (Recorded August 9, 2025): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/oldtimers-2025.md ### Theories and leads - A commenter on Instagram suggested in September 2026 a Puerto Rican hometown club's Zodiacs softball team. Still possible. A 2023 obituary describes that club and that team. It never mentions Brooklyn. - A Reddit commenter, relaying a neighbor, recalled in September 2026 a social club here that stayed open late. Still possible. The 1973 directory prints Club 338 here, and the remark describes social clubs in general. - Could the club be the Zodiac Civic and Cultural Development Corp., filed in Kings County in 1965? Still possible. The state register gives no address and no officer for it. - A member of a Facebook group asked in 2012 about the Zodiacs, a 1970s softball team his own team played. Still possible. The post names a school field in Sunset Park. It gives no sponsor, league or exact year. - A commenter on a neighborhood Reddit thread asked in September 2026 whether the Zodiacs were a secret society. Nothing ties it to this address. The 1973 directory carries the club with no description. Corporate filings and license notices name no order or rite. - Two commenters on a neighborhood Reddit thread suggested in September 2026 the twelve-member Zodiac dinner club in Manhattan. Nothing ties it to this address. That club is a private Manhattan dinner society. No record places it in Brooklyn. - Two commenters, on Reddit and on Instagram, asked in September 2026 whether a Zodiac motorcycle club met here. Nothing ties it to this address. The state register carries one such club, filed in Brooklyn in 1979. No source gives it a clubhouse. - A commenter on a neighborhood Reddit thread guessed in September 2026 an Italian or Puerto Rican social club. Nothing ties it to this address. No record names a single member of this club. - Commenters on Reddit and Instagram joked in September 2026 about a tie to organized crime. Nothing ties it to this address. No record found so far mentions organized crime at this address. - A member of a Facebook group suggested in 2026 a hippie gang. Nothing ties it to this address. No newspaper, directory or license record names such a group here. - Could the Zodiacs be the jazz band a Brooklyn saxophonist led from 1970 to 1977? Nothing ties it to this address. A 1973 listing records that band at Borough Hall, downtown, not at this corner. - Could the Zodiacs be the women's softball team a Harlem paper covered from 1972? Nothing ties it to this address. The 1974 result names the team and no sponsor. Every ground in that league is in Harlem or central Brooklyn. - Could the Zodiacs be the bowling team a Brooklyn league reported in 1966? Nothing ties it to this address. The 1966 column names the team, and the league reports give no sponsor and no headquarters. - Could the Zodiacs be the school basketball team a Brooklyn paper reported in 1947? Nothing ties it to this address. The 1947 scoreboard gives five surnames, no address and no sponsor. - Could the Zodiacs be the softball team a Harlem league fielded in 1975 and 1976? Nothing ties it to this address. Every venue in that league is in Harlem. - Could the Zodiacs be the club that held two Brooklyn ballroom dances in 1963 and 1964? Nothing ties it to this address. Neither notice names an officer or a meeting place. - Could the Zodiacs be the women's club a Harlem paper photographed in 1950? Nothing ties it to this address. The paper names no headquarters, and every venue is in Harlem. - Could the Zodiacs be the Zodiac Social Club that ran a fundraiser in 1976? Nothing ties it to this address. The notice gives a Manhattan post-office box and no meeting place. - Could the Zodiacs be the junior basketball team a fraternal order fielded in 1939? Nothing ties it to this address. The two reports print no roster, no manager and no address. - Do three names from the 1926 Bay Ridge club tie it to a Scout troop near this corner? Nothing ties it to this address. The 1926 report runs nine years after the Scout report. Nothing shows the troop kept that home. - Could the Brooklyn baseball team in a 1966 short story be the Zodiacs? Nothing ties it to this address. The story is fiction, and its characters are invented. - Could the Zodiacs be the boys' club a Bay Ridge YMCA named in 1926? Nothing ties it to this address. The 1926 report records that club at the Bay Ridge YMCA, decades before the board. - Could the Zodiacs be the girls' softball team a Bay Ridge paper reported in 1975? Nothing ties it to this address. In the league reports, that team is from 57th Street. - Could the club be one of five other Zodiac corporations on the state register? Nothing ties it to this address. None of them has an address at this corner in the state register. - Could groups called the Zodiacs elsewhere be the group on the board? Nothing ties it to this address. They are in Jersey City, the Bronx, Buffalo and on Church Avenue in Brooklyn. - Do Zodiac-named parties advertised in 1971 and 1972 point to the club? Ruled out by both notices. One dance was hosted by another club, and the other was on Church Avenue. - Could social clubs neighbors recall on nearby streets be this one? Ruled out by the recollections themselves. Each gives a different address, on 20th, 21st, 22nd or 23rd Street. ## Chapter 7. O’Connors Bar & Grill (1958 to 1972) Cole's [1971 volume](/records#coles-1971) lists O'Connors Bar & Grill at 338, on 788-9168. The bar fittings remained in the room through the salon years and into the theater's. Lights [still hung](/records#salon-1983) over the old bar counter in 1983. When Puppetworks' founder [arrived in 1990](/records#interview-2024), the counter and its back bar were still in place. In 1966 and 1967 the owners advertised the building for sale. The owners advertised the building twice. In [March 1966](/records#sale-ad-1966) it was a "3 fam & bar", and in [October 1967](/records#sale-ad-1967) a "3 fam & store". Both advertisements give the same telephone number, once as GE 6-0003 and once as 436-0003. That was the owners' home number. In nineteen months their wording for the storefront went from "bar" to "store". The [1971 directory](/records#coles-1971) still lists O'Connors Bar & Grill here, though. The bar had been O'Connors since 1958. John O'Connor's [liquor license notice](/records#licence-1958) appeared in 1958. The directories listed the bar under his name for fourteen years. He lived upstairs: the same directories include a [personal listing](/records#directory-1967) for him at 338, on its own number. Between the chapters: Before O'Connors, the liquor license notices for this address included two other names. The corner had been a bar since just after the Second World War. ### Records - Notice of application for license 2RL-13150, John O’Connor, 338 6th Ave., Brooklyn (April 11, 1958): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/licence-1958.md - Brooklyn telephone directory, the entry O’Connor John 338 6Av (1967 volume, canvassed January 26, 1967): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/directory-1967.md - Deed for 338 Sixth Avenue, also known as 366 Fourth Street, to Thomas and Catherine McMahon (Dated October 26, 1964, recorded October 27, 1964): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/deed-1964.md - Foreclosure notice advertising a sale for July 31, 1964 (July 24, 1964): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/auction-1964.md - Advertisement offering the building for sale as 3 fam & bar (March 25, 1966): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/sale-ad-1966.md - Advertisement offering the building for sale as 3 fam & store (October 30, 1967): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/sale-ad-1967.md - Cole’s Brooklyn criss-cross directory, 1971 volume, the entries around 338 Sixth Avenue (1971 volume): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/coles-1971.md ## Chapter 8. Fitzgerald’s, and O’Reilly before it (1947 to 1958) The first liquor license found for 338 Sixth Avenue dates from 1947. George A. O'Reilly held the license in [1947](/records#licence-1947) and [1952](/records#licence-1952). Patrick Fitzgerald and George Nagle [took it over](/records#licence-1953) as "Fitzgerald's" by 1953. Their license notices were [still appearing in 1957](/records#licence-1957). Between the chapters: In 1944 the city issued the building a certificate of occupancy. A store on the ground floor, and one family on each of the three floors above. One of the families upstairs is in both the 1940 and the 1950 census. ### Records - Notice of license 2RL-11594, Patrick Joseph Fitzgerald and George Michael Nagle, doing business as Fitzgerald’s (March 8, 1957): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/licence-1957.md - Notice of application for license 2RL-11594, Patrick Joseph Fitzgerald and George Michael Nagle, trading as Fitzgerald’s (January 9, 1953): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/licence-1953.md - Notice of liquor license 2RL6585, George A. O’Reilly, 338 Sixth Avenue (March 20, 1952): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/licence-1952.md - Notice of restaurant liquor license RL3101, George A. O’Reilly, 338 Sixth Avenue (March 10, 1947): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/licence-1947.md ### Theories and leads - Could a liquor notice at 338 Sixth Avenue in the late 1940s be this bar? Ruled out by the notice itself. It says County of New York, so the address is in Manhattan. ## Chapter 9. Three households upstairs (1930 to 1950) In 1930 the owner of 338 Sixth Avenue, recorded in the census, was Italian-born. Anthony Rosa ran an express business, a hauling and delivery service. His stable stood a few blocks away on Carroll Street. His tenant upstairs, Donato Colella, owned 338 Sixth Avenue by 1940. A [1925 marriage license](/records#marriage-1925), found in four Brooklyn papers, is the likely link: Colella had married Philomena Rosa. The [1940 sheet](/records#census-1940) lists the address as 366 Fourth Street, the building's side-street number, with three households above the store. Downstairs, the corner store belonged to a grocery chain. The store on the corner was a Roulston's, a branch of the Thomas Roulston grocery chain. In a [city tax photograph](/records#tax-1940) from about 1940, the Roulston name is lettered across both fronts. The windows are stacked with cans, and a pushcart stands at the curb. At [full size](/records#tax-1940-detail) the hand-lettered price cards and the street sign are legible. Between the chapters: The grocery beneath those households had been robbed three times before 1931. ### Records - Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Brooklyn, enumeration district 24-1225 (Enumerated April 1940): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/census-1940.md - Tax photograph of block 985, lot 43, the Roulston grocery on the corner (Circa 1940): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/tax-1940.md - Tax photograph of block 985, lot 43, the storefront at full size (Circa 1940): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/tax-1940-detail.md - Certificate of Occupancy 110744, a store and three families (Issued July 7, 1944): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/occupancy-1944.md - Marriage license notice of 1925, printed in four Brooklyn papers (December 11, 1925): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/marriage-1925.md ## Chapter 10. The grocers (1891 to 1931) In January 1931 a confession report listed a holdup at [338 Sixth Avenue](/records#robbery-1931) on October 26, 1930. Earlier, the [Brooklyn Standard Union](/records#robbery-1928) reported a holdup on March 8, 1928: > "A tall, dark, well-dressed man entered the Thomas Roulston grocery store at 338 Sixth avenue soon after the manager, Philip Leary, and two clerks had opened it at 7:30 A. M. to-day, aimed a gun, looted the cash register of $100 and escaped afoot." Six years earlier, in 1922, the store was held up. > "Two Well Dressed Armed Robbers Make Escape from Brooklyn Chain Store" The [1922 holdup](/records#telegram-1922) was front-page news in at least two papers that day: two well-dressed men, fifty-three dollars. The Evening Telegram referred to John Thompson as the branch manager. In the [Brooklyn Standard Union](/records#standard-union-1922), he's a clerk, and the manager is Thomas Erl. Before it was a Roulston branch, the corner store was an independent grocer's. By the 1920s the corner store was a branch of the Thomas Roulston chain. Before that, a grocer named Bolnau ran it from at least [1897](/records#directory-1897). The surname is also spelled Boenau, Boneau and Bornau in the directories. The houses from 338 to 356 Sixth Avenue went up in 1891. That date comes from a [2023 neighborhood guide](/records#group-1891) by the Historic Districts Council, and the city's own records agree. The [1944 certificate of occupancy](/records#occupancy-1944) has the original construction permit number on it: [NB 622/1891](/records#permit-1891), new-building permit 622 of 1891. Club 338 is documented. The Zodiacs are not, yet. If you remember the corner, or you knew the club, [write in](/contact). Everything found so far about them is in the chapter on [the Zodiacs](https://club338.zeltser.com/#ch6). ### Records - BANDITS HOLD UP GROCERY, GET $53 (August 21, 1922): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/telegram-1922.md - Front-page report of the holdup at the Roulston store, naming a different manager (August 21, 1922): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/standard-union-1922.md - Classified advertisement for a boy of about 16 for the grocery at 338 Sixth Avenue (October 13, 1904): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/eagle-1904.md - New building permit NB 622/1891, cited on the 1944 certificate of occupancy (1891, as cited on the certificate issued in 1944): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/permit-1891.md - Upington’s General Directory of Brooklyn, New York City, for the year 1903 (1903): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/directory-1903.md - Brooklyn city directory for 1897, the entry for the grocer at 338 Sixth Avenue (1897): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/directory-1897.md - Center Slope, a Six to Celebrate guide (2023): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/group-1891.md - Lone Bandit Gets $100 In Grocery Store Holdup, a report of the holdup at the Roulston store (March 8, 1928): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/robbery-1928.md - Confession report listing a holdup of the Roulston store at 338 Sixth avenue (January 5, 1931): https://club338.zeltser.com/records/robbery-1931.md ### Theories and leads - A man arrested in Park Slope said in 1905 he had clerked for a grocer at this address. Nothing ties it to this address. Two accounts of the same day give his workplace and his home as different streets.