Report: A Piece of Brooklyn Perhaps Lost to Time

Alan Feuer of the New York Times reports: The Hasidic section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn – roughly bounded by Division Avenue, Broadway, Heyward Street and the Brooklyn Navy Yard – is an anachronistic pleasure. Unlike in the hipster section north of Grand Avenue, the images here – knife-grinders on the street, bearded men in 19th-century frock coats – are not only vivid, they are also apparently lost to time. The neighborhood, which is served by the Marcy Avenue stop on the J, M and Z trains, is home to thousands of Hasidic Jews, mainly of the Satmar sect, which derives its name from the town of Satu Mare in Romania. Be forewarned: some of the residents do not take kindly to intrusion and may greet strangers with a brusque look.

NOON Start the day with a falafel at Green & Ackerman Restaurant, 216 Ross Street, (718) 384-2540, a friendly if inelegant place with a mechitza, or divider, to separate male and female patrons. Diners beware: there is no menu and polite requests to see one may elicit shrugs from the counterman, who will then ask: “What do you want with menus? Thirty years in business, we’ve never had a menu.” Look instead to the posted signs, which outline three sets of choices: Pizza and Falafel, Hot Dishes/Soups and All Kinds of Salad. The falafel ($4.50) comes in a pita smothered with coleslaw, and the pizza ($2.50) is a decent salty treat. As a bonus, you may be addressed by a Hungarian woman who will compliment your choice and wish you good health.

1 P.M. Follow Marcy Avenue to Keap Street. The large building on the left is the old Eastern District High School, a vestige of the non-Hasidic past. The author Henry Miller (class of 1909) and the singer Barry Manilow (class of 1961) are among the alumni. It is now a yeshiva: the Bais Ruchel School D’Satmar.

1:30 P.M. Continue west on Keap Street, then turn right at Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum Place onto Lee Avenue. Take the first street on the left, Rodney Street, and halfway toward Bedford Avenue is the main synagogue for the Satmar sect, a yellowish brick building on the south side of the block. Women are not permitted in, and men from outside the community may be greeted with gruff questions: “Excuse me, is there something wrong?” It is nonetheless worth peeking at the racks of black frock coats hanging in the entrance and through the windows at the huddled study sessions. (The site of a future Satmar synagogue, still being built, is around the corner on Ross Street west of Bedford.)

2 P.M. The stretch of Lee Avenue from Taylor Street to Heyward Street is the community’s main shopping district. Between the cellphone stores and dollar shops, there are several unique establishments. One is the Oneg Heimishe Bakery, 188 Lee Avenue, (718) 797-0971, which sells spectacular chocolate babka ($6.25 per pound). A few blocks to the north is the International Judaica Silver shop, 130 Lee Avenue, (718) 875-4866, where you can get a crystal wine decanter ($150) or a silver spice holder ($125). If you are of the belief that kosher wine means Manischewitz, step inside Donath Wine & Liquors, 119 Lee Avenue, (718) 388-1782. Here you will find a Cave Merlot 2005 ($71 a bottle) and the Herzog Generation VIII Cabernet Sauvignon ($200 a bottle).

5:30 P.M. To eat a real meal, go to Gottlieb’s, 352 Roebling Street, (718) 384-6612, which has been serving glatt kosher food since 1962. Stick to the Hungarian specialties: pastrami egg rolls ($3.50); an appetizer of cholent, a brick-heavy stew ($5); or goulash ($14). The pastrami omelet ($10) is another favorite and, should you choose it, the waiter is apt to say: “That’s going to take at least 8 to 10 minutes. Should I bring a newspaper?” The eggs arrive with a plate of fresh dill pickles. Why? “Just in case,” the waiter says.

{NY Times/Matzav.com Newscenter}