Then and Now: Coney Island Ave at Newkirk

This old photo shows Coney Island Ave and Newkirk, circa 1947—based on Jimmy Durante’s It Happened In Brooklyn playing at the Learner Theatre. Both the theater and the restaurant building on the corner look much different today!

The corner building is almost unrecognizable as the former site of “Casa Del Rey” but based on the windows, I think it’s the same! A commenter on my Instagram also noted that Casa Del Rey may be being used as a synagogue here, with the Hebrew Jewish New Year sign posted then.

Sorry I didn’t quite match the angle of the original but it appears to have been taken in the middle of traffic....

Coney Island Ave & Newkirk Ave in 1947 (photo: Old NYC Photos.)

Coney Island Ave & Newkirk Ave in 2019.