Abe Stark
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Abe Stark (September 28, 1894 – July 2, 1972) was an American businessman and politician. Born on the Lower East Side 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 pro ...
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 right fielders Dixie Walker 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, 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, 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, serving in that office from 1954 to 1961, and three times as borough president of Brooklyn, holding that office from 1962 to 1970.


Legacy

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 IslandCity 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