A query from Michael C

I received an email with an inquiry about someone' own family history:

"My name is Michael C---,and I have been doing family research and have come to learn my grand-uncle was somewhat of a fixture at your family's restaurant (Kings Hwy). His name was Louis (or Lloyd) but was known to everyone around as "The Goose". What I have heard from multiple sources is that he was always at your family's restaurant and people would come there to meet him, seeking favors and/or money. This side of my family has been a blackhole to me, and while I have made some strides, there is still so much about some of these people I don't know. With The Goose in particular, given his "occupation", I have to get creative in trying to gather information. I was wondering if there was any chance you may have heard any family stories or anything else about him. There was a Mel L. who was an associate of his that also hung around there. Anything you may be willing to share would be greatly helpful and immensely appreciated! Thank you for your time.Respectfully, Michael Cohen" 

Can anyone help Mr. Cohen out?  Anyone heard about "The Goose" - a regular at the King's Highway Dubrow's?

Seymour Gruber

Happy Pesach to everyone! I'm back down in Miami with my family, and got this little story from my cousin Steven Gruber. He recalled that his father, Seymour Gruber, was working as a young pediatrician in Brooklyn, and would make a lot of house calls. Of course, after inviting him into their homes, they would invariably want to feed him, and not wanting to be rude...he'd accept. They would bring him out some cakes, and then silverware with which to eat it...which was often Dubrow's silverware, pilfered from the restaurants...

Seymour also met his wife, Ruthie, through Dubrow's. Or rather, through Dubson's, which was a more upscale, traditional restaurant the family started for a short run. Apparently Seymour would come in a lot, and Irving Kaplan, my grandfather, told him one day he had to meet his sister-in-law. He introduced them, and they wound up getting married. According to Steven, Irving would tell people he "fell in love with Seymour first" when describing Seymour and Ruthies's relatationship.

Leo Martin in the news again

Very interesting. A year later, Leo Martin shows up in the New York Times again, but this time with the headline: "Four Food Dealers Held as Bribers."

"Operators of a cafeteria and three bakeries were arrested yesterday on charges of offering bribes to health inspectors to avoid the notoriety of appearing on the "dirty restaurant list" that warns the public of health violations, according to the complaint." (New York Times, November 17, 1971)

Apparently, at four different restaurants, the owners offered between $10 and $50 to inspectors in order to avoid flunking their food inspections. The deputy commissioner at the time, David Dorsen, was quoted as saying that this is the first time charges have been pressed against anyone attempting to offer bribes, and the law making restaurants who don't pass inspection public went into effect in July of 1971. It sounds like this was a case of setting the standard for other restaurants - i.e. take this seriously, don't try and buy your way out of these new regulations.

What's interesting, though is that it goes on to mention that all the restaurants had previously come up with a clean inspection:

"Previously, the four businesses cited, including Dubrow's, the popular cafeteria in the garment district, had been given clean bills of health, with no ciolations (sic) cited by H.S.A inspectors, who are known as "sanitarians," Mr. Dorsen said....The four men arrested and charged with bribery and giving unlawful gratuities were identified as Leib Braunfeld, 52, of Gertel Bakery, 53 Hester Street, charged with a $10 bribe offered on November 3; Herb Geller, 26, of Original Royal Bakery, 237 West 72nd Street, charged with offering a $20 bribe on November 13; Leo Martin, 56, of Dubrow's Cafeteria, 515 Seventh Ave, charged with offering a $50 bribe on November 14; and Adolph Mersberg, of Mersberg Bakery, 64-00 Metropolitan Avenue, Queens, with the complaint listing a $10 bribe offered on October 25. " (Ibid.)

It was probably a pretty minor incident, in the grand scheme of things, but it does raise some questions - why would Dubrow's not pass that year, when previously it had? Is it just a coincidence that it comes a year after Leo Martin's big push for increased productivity, or did he sacrifice some standards to get there?

Dubrow's robbed

$14,000 Taken In Hold-up

An apparently intoxicated man staggered up to the manager of crowded Dubrow's Cafeteria, 1521 King's Highway. Brooklyn at 12:45 o'clock this morning, took between $14,000 and $15,000, reeled out, and disappeared.

The victim was Max Tobin, 48 years old, manager and part owner of the restaurant, which is at East Sixteenth Street in the Sheepshead Bay section. He said 450 customers and 50 employes were unaware of the holdup in a balcony office.

Mr. Tobin said he noticed a man reeling along behind him as he went to a balcony but thought he was going to a washroom. However, Mr. Tobin said, as he unlocked the door to the office, the man bumped into him, knocked him inside, then produced a small black pistol and told the manager to sit down.

After taking the money from the safe to robber bound and gagged Mr. Tobin, said "So long" and left.

(New York Times, January 7, 1952)

How scary is that? The whole robbery took place while Max Tobin was isolated and helpless. No one was even aware of what happened and therefore couldn't try to intervene or call the police. Thank G-d the man didn't turn out to be more violent, or Max might have been killed or injured.

Dubrow's mentioned in an obituary

From an obituary for "Dr. Harvey 'Gizmo' Rosenburg" by Gayle Gleckler, the deceased's self-described "first ex-wife."

"I met Harvey in 1974 at Leber Katz Partners Advertising where he was consulting the agency to help us win the Celanese account. We didn't get the account. But I won Harvey. My life started spinning instantly. A whirlwind romance...we were married at the UN Chapel, handholding friends circling around us as we said our vows to be true while simultaneously letting each other be free spirits. An inspirational conundrum. Our black tie reception was held at his family's famous Dubrow's Cafeteria in the Garment Center. The great deco room was filled with minks, diamonds, amazing music, and my creative centerpieces made of carrots, celery and parsley. His grandma told me later she took a few home. They were delicious and made a great soup. Advertising, fashion folks from Manhattan, his mom, Helen, hisdad, Henry, Phyliss, Paul, family from Brooklyn and the five towns went through the cafeteria line for seconds and thirds of blintzes, pastrami, rice pudding."

Now, what's interesting here is that the author of this memorial says Harvey was a member of the family, yet I've never heard of him. Maybe he was a member of the larger Dubrow's family. Still, the idea of a wedding reception at Dubrow's seems like it would be memorable. I wonder if he was the only one to do so. Does anyone remember him? He sounds like quite a character.

Also, later she makes mention a disturbing incident:

"Nothing with Harvey was ordinary. In the midst of the nuptial excitement and happiness of this splendiferous occasion there was a random murder - I believe a stabbing - outside Dubrow's that night."

Surely someone knows something about this? A murder that took place outside Dubrow's? Anyone recall hearing about this?

Stealing from Dubrow's

More memories from the stories I tape recorded and transcribed while I was down in Miami for Passover...again, Bonnie is my mother (Benjamin Dubrow's granddaughter) and Ruthie is my great-aunt (Benjamin's youngest daughter).

Bonnie: Well, Irving told me a great one, that when he was running Dubrow’s, he told the help, uh, you have to also help us not have people stealing, so if you see people stealing, let me know. So, uh, one of the waiters sees a person that had cottage cheese for like, ten cents, had a prune, it was like fifteen cents. He saw somebody push the prune into the cottage cheese and cover it up! So – he dutifully reports it. I mean, what is he going to do – he wanted the help to be wary – what is he going to do – “Is there a prune buried in your cottage cheese?”

Ruthie: Well how about the story on 7th Avenue, when, uh, your father found out some guy was regularly stealing the two dollar cakes, they cost two dollars, or three dollars, whatever they were – he was putting them in his pocket – knowing your father, you’re not going to be surprised to know this – when they finally caught him, he said “you know, I don’t mind you having it, I’m glad you like it, but supposing you pay for it?” He said “I should pay for something so small?”