The list of companies which have celebrated 100 years in business keeps growing: Qantas Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Hilton, The Hertz Corporation, The Boeing Company, British Airways, commercial aviation itself, and even Nathan’s Famous frankfurters, Grand Central Terminal in New York, and the National Park Service of the United States — and even though it is not a company, let us not forget 100 years of the “Mile High Club”…
Another Company Celebrates 100 Years Today — and You Likely Never Heard of It.
…but this one is personal for me: 100 years ago today on Friday, April 22, 1921, a local neighborhood newspaper was founded by Walter S. Patrick and Lester J. Stilwell: the Canarsie Courier, at which I worked the first time prior to graduating from college; and I returned for a second tenure as its art director — and yes, I even wrote some articles for the weekly newspaper.
“While newspapers across the country are closing their doors or being bought out by large media conglomerates, the Canarsie Courier has managed to maintain its status as a weekly, independent newspaper for a century”, according to this article which was written by Linda Steinmuller, who is the editor. “That’s quite an accomplishment!”
Quite an accomplishment, indeed: she then goes on to say that the newspaper was established “when Warren G. Harding was the 29th President of the United States, the Canarsie Courier has survived through World War II, the Great Depression, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Superstorm Sandy and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a tough year for everyone, especially small businesses, but somehow we made it through, and we hope to be around for another 100 years.”
The neighborhood of Canarsie is located in the southeastern part of Brooklyn — however, the northwestern border on the map shown above is incorrect, as Canarsie extends northwest to the southeastern corner of Remsen Avenue and Linden Boulevard.
Canarsie is the namesake for the famous approach into John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York — as shown in the photograph at the top of this article where it is featured at the top part of the photograph; and the yellow orange line dissecting it emanates from the streetlights of Rockaway Parkway — and it had at least one person visit it who is considered a legend in the frequent travel miles and points industry…
…yes, none other than Randy Petersen — who founded BoardingArea and FlyerTalk, among other entities — posed with me during the Brooklyn Reality Tour on Saturday, June 4, 2011 in front of a store with the name Canarsie printed on its awning. The photograph was taken on the east side of Ralph Avenue just south of East 79 Street with my camera by none other than Dan Hammer, who is the founder and host of the Brooklyn Reality Tour and is known as dhammer53 on FlyerTalk.
By the way: when I wrote about “A former coworker recently died” in this article on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, I was talking about Catherine Rosa, with whom I worked at the Canarsie Courier; and I did not find out about her passing until months later. May she rest in peace.
Summary
Regardless of where you are in life, never forget from where you came, as that place was instrumental in some way in shaping who you are as a person…
…and congratulations to the Canarsie Courier on 100 years in business. That truly is no small feat these days; and I am proud to be a part of its history…
All photographs ©2011 and ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
