Apple Drugs: It Was Always a Pharmacy – History of 376 Kingston Ave

By Crown Heights historian Shmully Blesofsky

Original Land

In the nineteenth century, the land where the beloved neighborhood pharmacy, Apple Drugs, now stands was part of the Jeremiah V. Spader estate. The first recorded mention of this property dates back to a real estate transfer in 1872 and then in 1901, as documented in the Brooklyn Eagle:

Brooklyn Eagle Fri, Feb 09, 1872

Brooklyn Eagle Sat, Nov 23, 1901

Brooklyn Eagle, April 18, 1921: New Age Construction Company, owned by Samuel Caesar, Louis Rothman, and Harris Beackelman. 481 Crown Street Corporation hired them to build what is today Apple Drugs. 

Deed records from when development came to the area in 1921

In 1921, as Kingston Avenue was being developed from Eastern Parkway down towards Empire Blvd, David Eisenberg, through the 481 Crown Street Corporation, purchased adjacent lots on both sides of the corner of Crown and Kingston and commissioned architects Shampan & Shampan to design a four-story apartment building at 481 Crown Street costing $175,000. Eisenberg enlisted the New Age Construction Company (established in 1912 by Samuel Caesar, Louis Rothman, and Harris Beackelman) to construct five buildings with storefronts and apartments along Kingston Avenue at the cost of $47,000. Besides this and a mention in 1917, I wasn’t able to find any other projects they built.

Julian Rowe, the brother of Crown Heights developer and visionary Frederick Rowe, had an office at 355 Kingston Avenue (today’s Fishel Bronstein’s Vision-Site Optical) and brokered the newly built stores “in the constantly growing business section of Brooklyn.” The corner store was constructed on a 34×40 lot, featuring a main storefront on the ground floor and a protruding section on the first floor, giving the building its distinctive appearance. 

Brooklyn Eagle, Fri, Dec 23, 1921: Julian Rowe, Frederick Rowe’s brother, advertising 366 Kingston Avenue. He had an office at 355 Kingston Ave., where Fishel Bronstein’s eyeglass store is located today.

Crown Pharmacy & Davis Pharmacy  

The building’s first tenant was Aaron Katz, who I assume is the same pharmacist who owned Katz’s Pharmacy at 78 Graham Ave. Sayde B. Smith, married to Julius J. Smith, purchased the building in 1928, and it was named Crown Pharmacy due to it being on Crown Street.

In 1927, a shocking crime occurred across the street at 373 Kingston Avenue, in what is now Boytique. Irving Goldman, a 56-year-old man, was shot and killed during a robbery at his delicatessen. Around the same time, another shooting occurred at the candy store that is now Hamaifitz and at another local pharmacy, where a policeman was shot and killed. This seemed odd for the neighborhood, as crime was not rampant back then, let alone shootings for such a low amount of money. As a result, there was a crackdown by the police, and the shootings stopped.

By 1929, the pharmacy had transitioned to become part of the Davis Drug Store chain, which offered quick service delivery and telephone ordering. I imagine customers would call the drug store using a candlestick telephone and speak in a commanding voice: “Hello, operator, give me Slocum 5796.” Only after being put on hold and then providing their date of birth would they be able to order medicine for delivery. Max Frank Goldman, who lived on Lincoln Place with his family, owned the pharmacy in 1929.

Kowitt Pharmacy

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.

The Corner Addition

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 and in the 60s became a real estate office.

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. The artist commissioned by Bikur Cholim to create the beautiful mosaic on the Apple Drugs building was Rivkah Siegel A”H. She assembled individual tiles made by local schoolchildren to form the final mosaic.

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 (my grandfather, Reb Zalman Blesofsky, being one of them) often encouraged businesses to observe Shabbos, with varying 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 a Carrie I. Gasper. She seemed to be a character. I saw her advertise another one of her pharmacies with the slogan, “If the floor fell out of your apartment, you would land right in our store. If this happens, we want you to feel perfectly at home.” Gasper, along with her husband, ran the pharmacy and brought back the soda fountain in the main store. She had owned a drugstore across the street at 373 Kingston Avenue since the 1930s. 376 Kingston was renamed Gasper’s Pharmacy.

In the mid-1970s, Yisroel “Izzy” Chanowitz, who survived World War Two in Changchai, China, got married and built a family in Crown Heights. He was a community advocate and owned a car rental business next door. When he learned the pharmacy was for sale, he decided to purchase it to ensure it remained in the community. Together with a partner named Shelly, he acquired the pharmacy and renamed it Refua Community Chemists. Following in the footsteps of professionals like Stanley Kowitt, their son Bentzion Chanowitz also became a pharmacist. Izzy Chanowitz was an advocate for housing in crown heights and started the housing project on Malbone Street. 

Circa 1970s 376 Kingston Ave, Refua Community Chemists, owned by Yisroel Chanowitz.

The pharmacy remained under their management until 1980, when the Kaplans—residents of Montgomery Street who had previously operated a health food store on Kingston Avenue under 788 Eastern Parkway—took over. The Kaplans had been forced to relocate their business due to the expansion of 770. Abraham Kaplan, who also owned another pharmacy in Williamsburg and was related to Moshe Bogomilsky, assumed ownership. Later, the pharmacy was owned by Shabsi Rubin.

The latest chapter began in 1990, when the beloved Crown Heights couple, Shloime and Linda Gutleizer, purchased the pharmacy, which was renamed Apple Drugs (DBA). Shloime, the son of two Holocaust survivors who settled in Crown Heights, was raised in the neighborhood and attended school at Bedford and Dean. Known for his honesty, integrity, and dedication to community affairs, Shloime became a trusted friend and an invaluable contributor to the well-being of the Crown Heights community. As a proud member of Hatzalah, he often went out of his way to help both individuals and the broader community. Quietly and discreetly, he also gave generously to tzedakah (charity).

For the next 35 years, the Gutleizers devoted their lives to running Apple Drugs while serving the community in countless ways. Their son, Moishe, joined the family business after completing his studies. Shloime’s commitment to Hatzalah never wavered, frequently leaving the store during the day to respond to emergencies. Meanwhile, Linda Gutleizer, known for her warmth and kindness, worked tirelessly in the back as a pharmacist, ensuring every customer’s needs were met. Together with their dedicated staff, they maintained a well-run, welcoming pharmacy that became a cornerstone of the community.

Recently, Apple Drugs was purchased by new owners Simcha Mikhli and Jeremy Lebovitch, who bring young energy and a friendly demeanor. The new owners are excited to serve the Crown Heights community. The dedicated staff, Emma and Mrs. Woolstone continues to work there, and we wish them well with the business and in creating the next chapter of memories for the people of Crown Heights.

Note: While discussing the history of Apple Drugs, we must mention Marvin Fruchter, a longtime part-owner who tragically passed away in 2014 at the age of 61. Though he lived in Plainview, Long Island, he was well known and respected in Crown Heights, where he worked at Apple Drugs for many years. The community mourned his passing. “He was a kind, gentle, and generous person who gave a lot of tzedakah,” said his partner, Shloime Gutleizer.

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Note: As we prepare these articles and the book on the history of Crown Heights, we kindly request anyone with pictures 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 as in 80 or 90 or from way back when Crown Heights was built 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. 

Pictures of 1940s Crown Heights: