A History of the Kings Highway Shopping District
Prepared for the Kings Highway Business Improvement District
by Inna Guzenfeld
Introduction
One of Brooklyn's premier shopping districts, the Kings Highway BID serves 225 businesses on 25 blocks between Ocean Avenue and Ocean Parkway, including part of Quentin Road, from Coney Island Avenue to East 13th Street. This stretch of Kings Highway is unique; a "regional commercial center" in a sea of dense residential development, it also forms the boundary between Brooklyn Community Districts 14 and 15. Historically, this commercial corridor was considered part of Flatbush. Over time, consensus has shifted its location to Midwood, though Homecrest and Madison lie immediately adjacent.
A major consequence of the district's proximity to these neighborhoods is that its own vibrant narrative has been lost in their histories, particularly that of Flatbush, one of Brooklyn's original Dutch settlements. Yet many of the communities that sprang up around the shopping district prior to World War II would not have been possible without it. Builders and realtors followed merchants, who were drawn to Kings Highway by transportation developments that pushed a 300-year old road into the 20th century.
The King's Highway
Kings Highway is an irregular road that runs northeast from 78th Street and Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst to East 98th Street in Brownsville. A former Canarsee Indian trail, Kings Highway connected five of the original Dutch towns of Brooklyn: Brooklyn, Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend and New Utrecht. When the English conquered New Netherland in 1664, Brooklyn was rechristened Kings County, in honor of King Charles II. Kings Highway was laid out in 1704, along two lines of the old Ferry Road, one running east to Jamaica and one running south to Flatbush and Flatlands. Kings Highway was a name commonly given to major colonial roads in the 18th century.
With many smaller lanes that branched off east and west, Kings Highway united disparate parts of Brooklyn that were mostly farmland at the time. Though Kings Highway now terminates inland, the original route was anchored by ferries; the Brooklyn Ferry, later the Fulton Ferry, at the north end and Denyse's Ferry, begun in 1740, at Fort Hamilton. A segment of Ferry Road survives as Old Fulton Street in DUMBO, a desiccated northern portion of Kings Highway, named after the engineer Robert Fulton. Only a loop confined largely to South Brooklyn remains of this great road that once traveled the borough in four directions and is believed to be the first highway in the United States.
Much of Kings Highway's historical significance derives from its strategic role in the Battle of Brooklyn, fought throughout the city in August of 1776. The British army marched along Kings Highway into Central Brooklyn, moving tens of thousands of troops and artillery supplies from Flatlands to Bedford-Stuyvesant. The Colonial army, led by George Washington steered clear of the road, setting up a stronghold in Brooklyn Heights. An early 20th century New York historian remarked that "it was in name and in fact Kings Highway, for British troops and not American traversed it almost exclusively in the period of revolution."
In the 19th century, Brooklyn grew from a village to a city, consolidating independent settlements and multiplying its population. The municipality sought to control these physical and demographic changes by reordering 18th century land use patterns. By 1850, the Brooklyn street grid crisscrossed Kings County's sprawling farms and meandering roadways, with brick and brownstone tenements replacing wood houses. Industrialization, immigration, and shipping dramatically altered the landscape and character of Brooklyn's oldest neighborhoods. By the end of the 19th century, middle-class families were fleeing poverty and overcrowding on the waterfront in search of cheaper, undeveloped land in Flatbush and Bay Ridge.
An oasis of sleepy Dutch farmhouses, largely rural in character, awaited them along Kings Highway. Yet this was not to last; transformative changes were coming to Kings Highway, propelled by the BMT Brighton Line and the advent of the automobile. By the 1920s, the road and the neighborhoods along its path had been altered irrevocably, giving rise to a dense suburban community and a commercial district to rival Broadway.
The Brighton Line
The shopping district's rapid development was catalyzed by elevated train service and the widening of Kings Highway at Ocean Avenue. Today's B and Q train was originally a "surface steam railroad" that operated between Prospect Park and Brighton Beach, a burgeoning summer resort. The Brighton Line commenced service in 1878, delivering passengers to the Brighton Beach Hotel, also owned by the railway. The line changed hands multiple times due to fierce competition among private rail companies, but each acquisition solidified the route with expanded service and infrastructure improvements.
The 1890s saw massive consolidation of government and transit operations in New York City. In 1898, the five boroughs, formerly autonomous municipalities, were merged into the City of New York. Shortly thereafter, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, formed in 1896, acquired nearly all the major rapid transit operations in Brooklyn and Queens, including the Sea Beach Railway (today's N train), the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railway (today's F train) and the Brighton Line, owned by the Kings County Elevated Company.
Between 1905 and 1908, BRT constructed the Brighton Line's present right of way, which runs in a trench from Prospect Park to Newkirk Avenue, emerging overhead at Kings Highway with a rushing roar. BRT also built the Kings Highway steel overpass, which opened in 1907. Newly electrified and lifted above the street, the modern Brighton Line posed a stark contrast to the scene on Kings Highway, where shoppers still arrived to the district by stagecoach.
Remaking an Old Road
Whereas the district's central core was built up with three-story brick houses with ground-floor retail stores, at the turn of the century, Kings Highway east of Ocean Avenue remained undeveloped. While food and dress merchants populated brick and terra cotta storefronts in the district, barns and farmhouses still lined the road in East Midwood. As commercial development spurred real estate values along Kings Highway, developers purchased and cleared most of the large parcels in Flatbush. Within a decade, the 18th century farmhouses whose property lines marked the road's irregular twists and turns had given way to one and two-family houses. A 1910 article in the New York Times hailed the new construction with the headline "suburban homes with city comforts have transformed Flatbush farms".
The onslaught of residential development boosted property sales in the shopping district. Another breathless New York Times piece detailed a parcel on East 15th Street, where two three-story buildings were nearing completion: "These two buildings occupy seven lots for which a few months ago $45,000 was paid. Two years ago the lots could be had for $1,500 each and fifteen years ago, they were sold for $100 per lot."
As Kings Highway struggled to accommodate the dizzying growth of housing, automobile traffic and commercial development had already begun to strain its narrow width. The widening of Kings Highway was first proposed in 1912. At the time, the road was no wider than 60 feet at any point along its length. The plan, put forth by the City Planning Commission proposed expanding its width to 100 feet along a two-mile stretch between Ocean Parkway and Flatbush Avenue.
The proposal generated considerable discussion among merchants and residents, who agreed the public works project was necessary but balked at the cost [estimated at one to three million dollars]. The City architect declared the expansion of Kings Highway "one of the most important features of the 'Brooklyn beautiful' movement." The initiative was part of the City's greater ambition to widen Kings Highway along its entire length, an undertaking deemed too expensive to be accomplished at once.
Tabled for unknown reasons after 1913, the plan resurfaced ten years later, revived by Brooklyn Borough President Edward Riegelmann. In the early 1920s, the City planned to demap Kings Highway to normalize the Brooklyn street grid. Riegelmann argued that widening Kings Highway from Bay Parkway to Eastern Parkway would provide a new highway across Brooklyn. His efforts to save Kings Highway resulted in a proposal for "the City's improvement of Kings Highway into a cross-city parkway boulevard 140 feet wide." The road was widened from two lanes to eight, with a triangular park acquired by the City as part of condemnation proceedings marking the intersection of Kings Highway, Ocean Avenue and Avenue P.
The Roaring Twenties
By the 1920s, Flatbush had become a haven for middle-class families. A rosy 1913 editorial characterized the neighborhood as "not a district with many residents of unusually large means but one where persons of average financial resources may live in a comfortable manner." Many of these residents were second or third-generation Ashkenazi Jews. Sold on "the new Brooklyn" by eager realtors, they relocated from Williamsburg and Brownsville to experience modern living in the urban suburbs. A sizeable Jewish community took root in Flatbush erecting multiple synagogues in the area, beginning with the Flatbush Jewish Center in 1921.
The shopping district entered a decade-long boom marked by flamboyant architecture and a heady nightlife. In 1920 a new tunnel under Flatbush Avenue joined the Brighton Line at Prospect Park to the 4th Avenue Subway (the D, N, and R lines) at DeKalb Avenue, connecting the Brighton Line to the Manhattan Bridge. With access to the City, Kings Highway became a bedroom community for commuters who worked in Manhattan. As residential development continued apace, Kings Highway grew into a major destination for entertainment, shopping, and dining. The district gained two majestic theaters, multiple dance halls and a grand reception hall, in addition to varied retail stores. Real estate brochures dubbed Kings Highway from Coney Island to Ocean Avenue "the New White Way of Flatbush."
Apart from these establishments, Kings Highway's biggest strength lay in its retail mix. Realtors expressed confidence in the district, noting that "Kings Highway has had its greatest growth influenced by the concentration of chain stores and specialty shops on its frontages." As the district developed into a major commercial thoroughfare, rents along Kings Highway skyrocketed to $500 per front foot and $650 per front foot for corner locations. Long before the age of main street management, Kings Highway had hit upon a successful formula, drawing chains that could afford to locate in the district, while retaining businesses that made it unique.
The Great Depression
Though commercial development had initially spurred real estate speculation in Flatbush, the area's growing population and ceaseless residential construction now fueled inflated property values in the shopping district. Like much of the country, Kings Highway was riding the prosperity bubble of the Roaring Twenties. When the Great Depression struck, newspapers stopped reporting brisk real estate sales on Kings Highway, and began detailing bankruptcy proceedings among business owners.
Despite the economic downturn, the 1930s brought developments that strengthened regional shopping districts in the boroughs. In 1932, New York City awarded contracts to private bus operators, with several lines serving Kings Highway and Flatbush replacing former trolley routes. Already a force in major retail corridors, chains took advantage of low rents to secure choice locations on Kings Highway, Avenue J and Avenue U. In 1936, heavy demand and limited space pushed ground-floor rents to an unbelievable $1,000 per front foot. Commercial leases helped prop up sagging property values in overdeveloped residential neighborhoods.
Widespread unemployment ignited tensions between local unions. On a Saturday night in August 1938, a dispute between the Motion Pictures Operators Union and the Empire State Motion Pictures Operators Union resulted in gas bombings on twelve Brooklyn theaters. The bombings were a calculated assault on the Century Circuit chain, which owned all the affected theaters including the Avalon and Kingsway theaters in the Kings Highway shopping district. Nineteen people were injured by the explosions. Theater bombings had already swept Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, ceasing only when the City stepped in to negotiate agreements between the warring unions.
Investors began buying up apartment buildings in Flatbush, as taller multi-unit dwellings surpassed one and two-family houses as the dominant mode of urban living. As demand for housing held steady, developers like Fred Trump erected dense apartment complexes in undeveloped sections, creating new residential communities. Most of these buildings were intended for low and middle-income families. Sales were spurred by improved transportation to Kings Highway via the Eighteenth Avenue bus line and the IRT Flatbush Avenue subway at Newkirk Avenue.
The Golden Age
In the postwar period, Kings Highway entered a golden age, rendered in color by Brooklyn photographer John D. Morrell. These images record a bygone era of Kings Highway and Brooklyn's main street. Local merchants recall Kings Highway in the fifties and sixties, as a shopping district "known for its men's stores and shoe stores" that drew "a good, high-end clientele." Kings Highway's reputation as a shoe-shopping mecca dates back to this time, when dozens of fine footwear and fancy dress stores lined the busy thoroughfare. On Thursday nights, shops in the district stayed open until 9 pm so that its customers could purchase party clothes for the weekend.
An attractive, well-kept shopping district with a rich array of commercial uses, Kings Highway boasted classic signage, high density, and quality retail. These elements distinguished the district as a major destination, anchored by famous retailers like Field Brothers, Ripley's, Neil's and Jimmy's. Most of the shops that populated Kings Highway in the sixties have long departed from the district, but are still remembered by locals. Some of the businesses whose names graced Kings Highway's storefronts in the central core were Morrell's on the southwest corner of East 12th Street, Ira Bruce on the northeast corner of East 13th Street, Dorsey Mens Wear Ltd. on the southeast corner of East 14th Street, Flagg Brothers on the southeast corner of East 13th Street, and Julius Grossman Shoes on the northeast corner of East 14th Street. Another of Kings Highway's many icons was Perelson's Department Store, housed in a 1920s terra cotta building on the southeast corner of East 17th Street.
Jimmy's was the last of the signature stores to leave Kings Highway. It opened in 1948 as Jimmy's 2-Cent Plain and Fancy at 1226 Kings Highway, hawking high-end men's clothing. In the 1960s, Jimmy's became a unisex boutique stocking thousand dollar designer suits and gowns, which were sometimes sold on the sidewalk outside the store. In the nineties, owners Jimmy and Gloria Jacobs set their sights on Manhattan, opening a second Jimmy's on 72nd Street off Madison Avenue. Until a few years ago, the Brooklyn landmark maintained its location on Kings Highway, catering to newly affluent Russian Jews.
Kings Highway was served by a number of well-known diners, such as Chat N Chew Luncheonette on the northeast corner of East 15th Street and the legendary Dubrow's Cafeteria on the northeast corner of East 16th Street. Dubrow's Cafeteria was a chain of restaurants established in 1929 by Belarusian immigrant Benjamin Dubrow, in the Eastern Parkway section of Brooklyn. Dubrow's other locations in New York included Kings Highway and the Garment District. The Kings Highway Dubrow's, opened in 1939, was famous for drawing celebrities and campaigning politicians. Jewish baseball player Sandy Koufax announced his decision to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers in front of Dubrow's in 1954. President John F. Kennedy campaigned at Dubrow's while running for office in 1960. Before it closed in the eighties, Dubrow's was the setting for the 1979 film Boardwalk starring Lee Strasberg and Ruth Gordon as restaurant owners fighting a protection racket on Coney Island.
As today, food purveyors clustered in the eastern portion of the district toward Ocean Avenue. These consisted mostly of markets like Food Mart and Key Food on the south side of Kings Highway between Ocean Avenue and 19th Street. A number of establishments in the district catered to observant Jews including the King Terrace Kosher Restaurant located above Litt Chinitz at 1122 Kings Highway. Confectioners like Barton's Bonbonierre at 1712 Kings Highway and the Barricini Candy Shop at 1912 Kings Highway beckoned customers with a sweet tooth. Numerous pharmacies also made their home east of the subway station including Kings, Avalon, and B&W. Finally, the district housed multiple banks, including the Kings Highway Savings Bank and 1st National City Bank that had begun moving to Flatbush in the 1920s.
Despite a staggering variety of stores, the district presented a uniform image of sophistication and class. Its tasteful look and feel derived from the merchants' commitment to cleanliness, luxury and preservation. Sidewalks were kept free of greenery or debris; signage conformed to unspoken standards of scale and quality, and many of the buildings which have since been drastically altered still retained their historic charm. Chains like Thom McAnn, Florsheim Shoes and Town and Country augmented the district, nestling gracefully alongside specialty shops.
Though many customers arrived on Kings Highway by automobile, the BMT station remained the focal point of the shopping district. The areas around and under the overpass were well-maintained and reserved for eateries and drug stores. Dubrow's, DeBarry, London & Fishberg Station Market, Cut Rate Drugs, and a second diner all huddled under the elevated tracks between East 15th and East 16th Streets, flanking the station entrance on either side.
Changes and Challenges
The golden age of Kings Highway proved to be its twilight. As New York City accelerated its descent into financial ruin, demographic changes came to Flatbush that unsettled many locals unaccustomed to change. Slowly but steadily, longtime residents who had patronized the upscale shopping district left the neighborhood for the suburbs. Those who stayed were mostly elderly Jewish immigrants in rent-controlled apartments, and black and Hispanic families who had begun moving into the area. The nature of shopping too was changing. The classic downtown no longer offered an exciting experience; instead, customers were drawn to a new development that had begun popping up all over the country, the mall.
In 1970, the Kings Plaza Shopping Center opened in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U. The design was a windowless brown and beige box, anchored by two enormous department stores, Macy's and Alexander's. It was the first and largest regional mall in New York City, with 1.3 million square feet of retail. Kings Plaza boasted 110 stores, a double-screen movie theater [most theaters built in the 1920s were still singleplex], and a 3,700 parking garage where shoppers could park free of charge. Together, the mall's department stores comprised 656,000 square feet and created 2,700 jobs. To assuage customer anxieties about their massive scale, Macy's and Alexander's worked to replicate the "intimate feeling of small shops…through a partial or substantial enclosure of small sections."
While the mall adapted Main Street, Main Street could not emulate the mall. As soon as Kings Plaza opened, it began drawing customers away from Kings Highway and Avenue U. For the next two decades, the shopping district entered a period of decline, whereby many merchants who had upheld Kings Highway left the corridor, and those who remained fought to preserve its reputation. Vacant storefronts were filled by newer chains and discount stores; offices, previously confined to second and third stories of buildings, opened on ground-floors; outdoor grocery stores opened closer to the central core. Shoppers now flocked to Kings Highway for basic goods and apparel, with a select number still frequenting Jimmy's.
The hallmarks of the district also began to disappear, as changes in its retail mix began to manifest in its appearance. Kings Highway's uniformity was disrupted by irregular signage, alteration of individual buildings and the sudden appearance of stucco, which degraded its polished image. Meanwhile, the district's most storied establishments continued to close. Dubrow's Cafeteria ceased operation before 1985; the Avalon Theater was shuttered in 1982. In a parallel and troubling development, Kings Highway's major intersections had become unsafe. Flatbush residents cited street sales of drugs and related crime at Flatbush Avenue; loitering and disorderly youths around Ocean Avenue, and public drinking and double-parked cars on Quentin Road as major obstacles to quality of life.
Resilience and Renewal
The nineties brought a new resolve to Kings Highway and transformed the demographics of its trade area. A Business Improvement District formed in 1990 to improve all aspects of the district, and specifically address parking and sanitation issues. In 1994, the New York City Department of Transportation selected Kings Highway as a preliminary testing ground for European-style multispace parking meters, installing 11 such Muni Meters along its length. After complaints from confused drivers, [then] City Council Member Anthony D. Weiner persuaded DOT to remove the meters, citing his district's "heavy concentration of people from Russia and Eastern Europe" as the source of failure.
The ethnic makeup of the area was shifting. The collapse of the Soviet Union sent an influx of Russian immigrants, most of them Jews, to New York City. Many settled along the Q train from Brighton Beach to Kings Highway, where Russian Jewish communities had already taken root. The Orthodox Jewish population in Midwood grew exponentially, giving business to Kings Highway and Avenue J. Local leaders mused at the juxtaposition of "1996 stores and people out of 19th century Poland." Chinese immigrants opened businesses on Sheepshead Bay and Avenue U, revitalizing long-dormant commercial corridors.
By the mid-nineties the Kings Plaza Shopping Center was a crossroads. The mall lost one of its two anchor tenants when Alexander's department store closed in 1991; with the development of Fulton Mall and Atlantic Center in the early nineties, it was no longer the only mall in Brooklyn. Kings Plaza also faced competition from an unexpected source: the resurgent Main Street. Plans to revitalize the Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue corridors threatened to lure away Kings Plaza's customers in North and Central Brooklyn.
Repelled by its dated seventies décor and poor security, shoppers grew wary of Kings Plaza, which hurt the mall's merchants. Store owners complained about the mall's dark interior, the absence of a food court and incidents of violence, robberies and shoplifting. The problems that beset Kings Highway in the eighties had migrated indoors, threatening Kings Plaza's viability. Altogether, these developments set the stage for a Kings Highway renaissance in the 21st century.
The Road Ahead
The district has made a comeback, adapting to change by forging a new identity. Though it has lost many of the fine stores that built its reputation, Kings Highway now caters to an ethnically and economically diverse clientele. The district is a mix of shoe stores, cell phone retailers and other chains but retains its winning formula of glamor and convenience. Though arguably less cohesive than in its golden years, the core nonetheless stakes out its niche as a major destination for high-end shoes, clothes, and jewelry shopping.
Kings Highway weathered the 2008 economic downturn with a record low number of vacancies. New businesses and sought-after chains like TJ Maxx are staking out territory in the shopping district, capitalizing on its central location and strong customer base. The BID recently celebrated its 20th anniversary with a major victory; a concession from DOT to extend parking time to two-hours in the district, allowing customers to browse its shops at their leisure.
In planning the future of the shopping district, the Kings Highway BID will look to its vibrant past for new directions while capitalizing on its present strengths and valuable potential. Its biggest challenge in the next ten years will involve balancing change with stability: drawing a new generation of shoppers while preserving what makes the district truly special.
The Landmarks of Kings Highway
Kings Highway Savings Bank
The Kings Highway Savings Bank at 1602 Kings Highway was built in 1929. Designed by architect Charles L. Calhoun, it was advertised as "a modern bank building with choice offices for rent." The New York Times touted the "New Flatbush Bank" with the headline "Elevator Building Nearing Completion on Kings Highway." The Bank was probably the first such structure in the low-rise shopping district. The dramatic two-story neoclassical building has retained much of its historic character, including tall window arches, multi-pane steel windows, and detailed brass doors. The Bank intentionally fronts the intersection of East 16th Street and Kings Highway, an attractive corner location that has always been valued for its proximity to the elevated subway line. Today the Bank is home to HSBC and the Brooklyn Kaplan Center.
Century's Avalon Theatre
The three-story brick structure at 1720 Kings Highway was once Century's Avalon Theatre, one of the two single-screen movie palaces that anchored the shopping district in the 1920s. It was originally built as the Piccadilly Theater, in the popular Neo-Georgian style of the day. The design is attributed to a Jewish architect. The Avalon opened in 1928 with over 2,000 seats and a Robert Morton organ. The grand interior featured an auditorium with a steep balcony and sweeping curtains. The theater closed in the early eighties and was later converted to accommodate a drug store, retail stores and offices. The building now houses Rite Aid and Touro College.
Century's Kingsway Theatre
The large two-story building at 946 Kings Highway was once Century's Kingsway Theatre, the first movie house built in the burgeoning retail corridor. It opened in 1921 with speeches by local civic leaders, vaudeville acts, and a performance by President McKinely's niece, Mabel. Designed by the architect R. Thomas Short for A. H. Schwartz and the estate of Henry Miller, the building featured 3 blank, neoclassical facades and an Art Deco marquee. The theater had close to 2,200 seats and an Austin Company organ. In the 1980s, it became a five-screen multiplex. The theater closed in 2001 after 90 years of pictures. The building is now a Walgreens and its exterior is lined with stucco arches and a double row of windows on each face.
1401-1407 Kings Highway
The boxy brick and terra cotta building at the northeast corner of East 14th Street traces district's history through its remarkably diverse record of occupants. It was built in the 1920s as a two-family dwelling and converted to commercial use shortly thereafter. In 1928, a billiards hall and bowling alley were installed in the cellar. In 1940, the building was sold to Loomis J. Grossman. The New York Times hailed it "one of the outstanding structures in the business section." In 1944, a restaurant and cabaret with 620 feet of dance space opened on the ground floor. A branch of the public library occupied the second floor, attracting patrons during the day. In the 1960s, the building housed 5 outstanding retail establishments, including Julius Grossman Shoes, Hallmark, and The Clothes Horse. After a brief reincarnation in the nineties as a variety store and school, the building is now Duane Reade with Touro College offices on the top floor.
1702 Kings Highway
The flamboyant terra cotta building on the southeast corner of 17th Street is one of the most unusual structures on Kings Highway. Built in a Mediterranean revival style, the two-story building fronts the corner dramatically with two balustrades converging into an ornate parapet topped by an eagle. The façade blends Spanish and Middle-Eastern influences with a copper cornice of green tiles and slender columns around the central arched window and entrance on 17th Street. Built in the 1920s, the building originally contained a dance space on the top floor. The storefront housed the Perelson's department store in the 1960s. Today it is home to Value Depot and the DCIC Business Institute. Though some of the detail has been obscured by signage, the building remains architecturally intact.
King Terrace Banquet Hall
The neoclassical building at 815 Kings Highway is perhaps the grandest terra cotta structure built on Kings Highway in the 1920s. A 1928 article in the New York Times announced the arrival of a "New Brooklyn Amusement Building" with a banquet hall, catering, and a dance hall, boasting over 100 feet of frontage on Kings Highway. Designed by architect A.J. Limberg, the majestic structure has retained many of its original details including arched windows, colorful spandrels, and an ornate cornice. Today the King Terrace Banquet Hall is operated by Meisner's Catering and remains a popular setting for weddings, bar mitzvahs and other lavish events.
Corporal Wiltshire Triangle, Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Triangle, and Quentin Road
Kings Highway bears a strong connection to World War I. Corporal Wiltshire Triangle at the intersection of Kings Highway and Avenue P is named for Clifford C. Wiltshire (1896-1918), a local resident who perished in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Dedicated in 1928, the park was originally named Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Triangle, but the name passed to a block at the intersection of Kings Highway and Quentin Road, between East 12th and East 13th Streets. City Council designated Wiltshire Triangle in 1939. Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) was the leading American Catholic poet of his generation. A religious man who celebrated nature in his writings, Kilmer is best known for his 1913 poem "Trees." Kilmer was killed at the Second Battle of Marne. Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Triangle was dedicated in 1929. The ceremony was attended by over 500 people. Both Wiltshire and Kilmer served in the 69th Regiment, along with many famous New Yorkers. Formerly Avenue Q, Quentin Road was renamed in honor of Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918), Theodore Roosevelt's youngest and favorite son, killed in air combat on Bastille Day. He was buried in France alongside his brother Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr. who died in 1944. The name change took place after World War II.
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