Thursday On The Record

from:
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/gowanuscanal/gowanuscanal.html

Let Kit Kaplan of the now-defunct site 718Brooklyn tell the story, at least in part:
“I stopped by Russo Realty to show the owner the photograph above that I had taken and leave it as a gift. I was overwhelmed when I first went in because every surface is covered with photos, mementos and news clippings. Even the walls and furniture are covered.

“Sitting in the middle of everything was an old man bundled in layers of flannel shirts. I gave him the picture and he went wild, he loved it. He showed it to the woman who was there who turned out to be a friend named Susan who cared for the aging real estate king. I sat down and she made me a plate of delicious pasta with clam sauce. During dinner, Vinnie’s nephew joined us. He is a body builder in his 50s who looks like Elvis, sunglasses and all.

“Vinnie told me that when he returned from Pearl Harbor in 1947, he went into real estate purchasing buildings all over Cobble Hill. Over the years he’s had a lot of trials and tribulations, which he couldn’t wait to tell me about.

“I took a break to go to the bathroom, which is another work of art. It was a good-sized room with a tiny cot and walls covered with nudie pictures. When I came out, there were more visitors crammed into the tiny office including a huge handsome man wearing a hairdresser’s outfit and makeup.

“The small group talked and laughed and told me they are trying to make a museum out of the place. There was a great deal of warmth in the room and his friends seem to make him happy. I felt very privileged to have been there and shared the moment.”

a story about russo from a broker at the “court street lofts” nearby.

when they (the brokers) started out there, they had no notary on staff. One day they needed one in a hurry so sent a pretty young thing down to russo to get something notarized. She came back traumatized telling a wild story of a decrepit darkened room, with what she guessed was a bucket of urine sitting in the middle of it.
Needless to say they got one of their staff members a notary license toute bloody suite.

totally bizaar looking little block he’s occupied. There’s 2 other little houses attached to the one pictured that look as bad if not worse than that monstrosity. He is a big reason why the smith/9th street subway area looks like a f*^%&*ng bombed disaster area.
He also plasters the surrounding neighborhood with hand painted signs for notary biz of all things!