Abe Stark (September 28, 1894 – July 2, 1972) was an American businessman and politician.
Born on the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
in New York City, he became a
tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
History
Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
and owned a clothing store at 1514 Pitkin Avenue in the
Brownsville section of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
Brooklyn Dodgers link
Stark's name first became familiar because of the advertising gimmick for his clothing store, a sign placed directly under the
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...
scoreboard in right-center field in 1931, and seen by millions in movie newsreels and then on television. It announced, "Hit Sign, Win Suit. Abe Stark. 1514 Pitkin Ave. Brooklyn's Leading Clothier." Any player who hit the sign on the fly would get a free suit from his store.
Due to the excellent fielding of
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
right fielders
Dixie Walker
Fred E. "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 – May 17, 1982) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and minor league manager. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1931 to 1949. Although Walker was a fi ...
and
Carl Furillo
Carl Anthony Furillo (March 8, 1922 – January 21, 1989), nicknamed "The Reading Rifle" and "Skoonj", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending his entire career with the Brooklyn / ...
, Stark awarded very few suits. It has been said that, as long as the sign was up, the only opposing player to hit it on a fly was
Mel Ott
Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through .
He batted left-handed an ...
of the arch-rival
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, who did it twice. It has also been said that, upon the suggestion of a customer who pointed out how many free suits Furillo saved Stark from having to give away, Stark gave Furillo a free suit. However, according to teammate
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (M ...
, Furillo received only a pair of slacks.
The stories about how few players won free suits are probably more legend than truth. Prior to the famous sign, which measured about 3 feet by 30 feet, there was an even larger one that was hit by batted balls much more frequently.
Overton Tremper
Carlton Overton Tremper (March 22, 1906 – January 9, 1996), was a former professional baseball player who played outfield for the Brooklyn Robins in the 1927 & 1928 seasons. He attended college at the University of Pennsylvania
The ...
, a reserve outfielder for the Dodgers, recalled that it covered the right field wall from top to bottom and from the foul line to about 150 to right center field, and Murray Rubin, whose father worked in Stark's store for 40 years, said, "Many balls hit the original Stark sign. My father told me that on some evenings, he altered more suits for players than for paying customers."
Political career
Stark became so well known as a result of his sign that he rose through New York City politics and was elected twice as president of the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
, serving in that office from 1954 to 1961, and three times as
borough president of Brooklyn, holding that office from 1962 to 1970.
Legacy
![Abe Stark Sports Center jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Abe_Stark_Sports_Center_jeh.jpg)
An
ice skating rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
on the
Riegelmann Boardwalk
The Riegelmann Boardwalk (also known as the Coney Island Boardwalk) is a boardwalk along the southern shore of the Coney Island peninsula in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, facing the Atlantic Ocean. Opened in 1923, the boardwalk runs bet ...
in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
City of New York Parks & Recreation
Abe Stark Rink and an elementary school in Spring Creek, Brooklyn are named after Stark.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Abe
Brooklyn borough presidents
1890s births
1972 deaths
Jewish American people in New York (state) politics
20th-century American Jews