Crown Heights History: Apple Drugs; It Was Always A Pharmacy – History of 376 Kingston Ave

by Crown Heights Historian Shmully Blesofsky, Instagram account History of Crown Heights.

The land on which our beloved neighborhood pharmacy, Apple Drugs, now stands was once part of the J. Spader estate. The first recorded mention of this property dates back to a real estate transfer in 1872, as documented in the Brooklyn Eagle. 

Brooklyn Eagle Fri, Feb 09, 1872

Brooklyn Eagle Sat, Nov 23, 1901 Elkins to Evelyn B Lane

Times Union Sat, May 06, 1905 Evelyn B Lane to Frederick B Brown

Brooklyn Eagle April 18, 1921. New Age Construction Company owned by Samuel Caesar, Louis Rothman & Harris Beackelman.

The building itself was constructed in 1921 by the New Age Construction Company at a cost of $47,000. They employed Julian Rowe, a brother of Frederick Rowe, as their realtor to rent out the stores. Julian Rowe had an office where Fishel Brownstein’s eyeglass store is located today. Rowe advertised these stores for rent. It is unclear whether the addition was part of the original construction or added later.  

Brooklyn Eagle Fri, Dec 23, 1921: Julian Rowe, Frederick Rowe’s brother, had an office at 355 Kingston Ave., where Fishel Brownstein’s eyeglass store is located today.

Crown-Davis Pharmacy  

The building’s first tenant was Crown Pharmacy, owned by Mr. Julius J. Smith. In 1927, a shocking crime occurred next door, in what is now Dr. Plaut’s office. Irving Goldman, a 56-year-old man, was shot and killed during a robbery at his delicatessen next door. The criminals stole just $50. Around the same time, another shooting occurred across the avenue at the candy store that is now Hamaifitz and at another local pharmacy where a policeman was shot and killed. This seems to be odd for the neighborhood as crime was not rampant back then, let alone shootings and for such a low amount of money. As a result there was a crackdown by police and the shootings stopped.

By 1929, the pharmacy transitioned to become part of the Davis Drug Store chain. Davis Drug Store was ahead of its time, offering quick service delivery and telephone ordering. Customers would call the store using a candlestick telephone and speak in a commanding voice, “Hello, operator, give me Slocum 5796.” (According to unconfirmed historical accounts, the customer might have first heard, “Hello, Davis, please hold,” and only after providing their date of birth, being put 

further back on hold, and only then would they receive assistance.) In June of that year, the store suffered a robbery, during which a 400-pound safe containing $500 (equivalent to over $9,252 today) was stolen. The Marvin Fruchter of 1932 was a man by the name of Max Frank Goldman. Unfortunately, Goldman passed away at just 47.

Kowitt Pharmacy

The one-story brick add-on to Kowitt Pharmacy was originally a soda fountain store with a view of Crown Street. This soda fountain operated until 1950, after which it was rented out to an optometrist for several years. In the photo, the horse and buggy appear to be delivering farm goods.

Owned by brothers William and Harry Kowitt, Kowitt Pharmacy replaced Davis Drug Store. The Kowitt family’s original surname was Itzkowitz, and they were second cousins to Eddie Cantor. The family lived in Crown Heights from the early 1930s until they sold the pharmacy in 1957.  

William’s son, Stanley Kowitt, was born in Crown Heights in 1938 and currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida. He lived at 1324 Carroll Street and recalls playing hide-and-seek on every block and sports in the streets, dodging cars as they passed. Stanley remembers when houses on Crown Street were being converted into shuls and described Crown Heights as a friendly and safe neighborhood. He attended PS 161. As a child, Stanley delivered prescriptions for his father and could earn tips of up to 10 cents.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 6, 1934. Notice of William Kowitt gave a chattel mortgage to Crown Heights Pharmacy, which was doing business as Davis Drug Store. He purchased the drug store soon after. 

The addition to the pharmacy included a soda fountain that sold ice cream sodas and small items. It was typical of that era for pharmacies to have a soda fountain. The fountain featured a long counter along the store where customers could sit and overlook Crown Street. Later, the soda fountain area was rented out to an optometrist.

Circa 1940 Crown Street right off Kingston Avenue with Kowitt Pharmacy on the far right

Same corner Circa 1965. Reb Aaron Blezovsky a full time student of Bedford and Dean and local branch of the United Lubawitz Yeshivoth. At that time the corner add-on was a real estate office.

Same corner from afar. Circa mid 1960s. Reb Avrohom Blesofsky and his wife is Zelda. Reb Avrohom was Chazzan in 770 and the father of the Gabbai of 700 Reb Zalman Blesovsky

Circa 1940 370 Kingston Ave, Park Lane Tailors looking south down Kingston Ave at Kowitt Pharmacy. 

William was an honest man—what they called a “straight shooter” in those days—a kind and helpful individual who was well respected in the neighborhood. At the time, pharmacies were as common as corner stores, with one on almost every block. Stanley recalls his father bandaging customers who came in with minor injuries and removing cinders from their eyes. In many ways, the pharmacy functioned as a mini-clinic for the neighborhood.  

Stanley recalls that at one point, the “orthodox” newcomers to the neighborhood approached Stanley’s father, asking him to close the store on Shabbos, but William Kowitt declined. This was a common occurrence in Jewish neighborhoods of the time, as haimish families moving into established secular American-Jewish neighborhoods often encouraged businesses to observe Shabbos to various levels of success.  

On President Street, comedian Sam Levinson lived nearby. Levinson was a customer of Kowitt Pharmacy and even gave Stanley an autographed book for his Bar Mitzvah.  

In 1956 or 1957, William Kowitt sold the pharmacy and opened a new one in another Brooklyn neighborhood, where the family relocated. Around this time, the pharmacy was sold to Mrs. Glasser (or Glayzer), who also owned a drugstore on Carroll and Kingston. Later, it was owned by Mr. Kaplan and Shabsi Rubin.  

In 1990 the pharmacy was purchased by the beloved Crown Heights family Shloime and Linda Gutleizer renaming it Apple Drugs and marking a new era of community memories.

Note: As we prepare these articles and the book on the history of Crown Heights, we kindly request anyone with pictures or stories to share them with us. There are so few images of Crown Heights from the past that any and all contributions would be greatly appreciated. Whether recent or from way back when, each photo holds a unique piece of the story, and we are eager to collect and explore them. Your help will enrich this project and help preserve the history of this vibrant neighborhood. 

All rights reserved. For permission questions and comments: HistoryofCrownHeights@gmail.com 

Circa today, the add-on store was re-bricked and is now an extension of the pharmacy. They  covered the outside with a tile based mural design depicting the ‘Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Bikur Cholim’ organization. They are a volunteer-based organization that provides support for the needs of the medically distressed in the Crown Heights community and are committed to assuming a meaningful role in a patient’s recovery with kindness, compassion, and utmost regard for privacy, as guided by halacha.   

Circa today same corner. Yingi Bistrisky a beloved communitarian and member of the Crown Heights Hatzalah walks by Apple drugs with all of its storied history.