#crest hardware

At the end of August, Crest Hardware (558 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn, NY) will close their doors after 62 years in business. The store was founded by two brothers, Manny and Joe Franquinha, over six decades ago and became an institution in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Manny’s son, Joseph is the second generation owner of Crest.

I moved to the neighborhood in September 2008, only a block away from Crest and during the first winter, I made my first visit to the store to purchase a portable heater since I discovered that the radiator in my bedroom was shut off and I had no heat. About a year later, I moved out of that apartment (with the heater too, of course) but I thankfully relocated only a few blocks away. We’d occasionally pop into Crest to check in on their animals, Franklin (a pig) and Finlay (a parrot) and bring friends to visit them too. When Crest made magnets of both Finlay and Franklin, we made sure to get one of each for our fridge. In addition to countless purchases made over the years, Crest became the place my husband and I would get our annual Christmas trees (Crest would loan you a wagon cart to bring the tree home and hold your ID. Once the cart was returned, you got your ID back), and we attended art and music events at the hardware store space too.

In April 2019, I locked myself out of my apartment after the Camp Cope at Warsaw concert and the following afternoon, I went to Crest to get a spare set of keys made to keep in my camera bag so that situation wouldn’t happen again. Less than a year later after the lockout incident, Crest became a place we could reliably get PPE (masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, etc.) and other necessary items during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ahead of their closure, Crest’s owner Joseph Franquinha did an interview with Hell Gate that’s fantastic (if you’re curious about where Franklin and Finlay will live now that the store has closed, it’s addressed here), and here’s an older piece from The New York Times where Franklin was featured in a piece about NYC businesses with pets. The NYT also covered the wake & second line event Crest did on Monday, August 19th here. The gallery that appears in this post are images that I captured digitally and on 35mm film casually during the final days of the store when I visited. On Saturday August 24th, the store shelves were completely removed and the shop was turned into a giant open space that featured a tattoo station, bar, DJ booth, and the walls were adorned with personal messages from people. In their yard, The Meat Hook served food, there was an additional DJ booth, plus a stage set up for Reverend Vince Anderson’s live set, and an artist creating pieces throughout the day.

During the Crest Family Day event on Sunday, August 11th, I spoke with Joe briefly and he expressed that he knew that they had community, but it became really apparent after the store announced they were closing and so many people made an effort to tell them how much the store meant to them. To me, Crest felt like one of those special places that would be around forever and I’m very grateful I discovered it after I moved a block away from it sixteen years ago. To their community, Crest Hardware was more than just our local hardware store and we don’t have many places like it left.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Our friends over at Crest Hardware are proud to announce the Quickie Crest Film Fest, a celebration of local film talent with a fast-paced twist.

We want to see what local movie makers have to offer in the playful, “short short film" format. Participants submit on the theme of “community” - be it personal community, local community, or universal community for the truly ambitious.  Any genre will be accepted as long as it can reasonably be tied to the theme. Submission is free!

Submission Guidelines:

•  At least one key member of the film team (Producer, Director, Writer, etc.) must live in the New York City area.

•  Only online submissions will be accepted.  

• Run time for submissions should be between 1-7 minutes in length

•  ALL FILMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY WEDNESDAY, JULY 30TH.

The event will take place Thursday, August 14th at 7:30 PM in the Crest Hardware patio area for a night of film under the stars.  We can’t wait to see you there!