08/04/2022
c1948
Cooky’s (1523 Ave U at E 16th St) started out as major teen hangouts in Brooklyn, with many 1950s-60s locations along Brighton Line.
Charles Cooky Rachelson and Walter Shapiro started up in 1946, at Ave M and 16th St (1524 Ave M). NBC took over a Warner Bros studio from 1951 at 1268 E 14th St, used for 3 SNL shows in 1976 and later The Cosby Show. NBC staff frequented Cooky’s which also had a commissary at NBC.
Cooky’s also had other locations, including Ave J & 16th St (1520 Ave J), later a Silver Rod Drug Store, and at Kings Plaza.
Schapiro passed away at 58 on Nov 12, 1971, when the chain had 11 locations. He lived at 1496 Bay Blvd, Atlantic Beach. Cooky’s went public in 1969 but started to decline from 1977.
Cooky’s, with booths and counters, originally offered diner food or casual American fare for teens. It later became Cooky’s Steak Pub chain, early 1960s, known for its salad bar, shrimp bar and banana nut bread. The 1st US salad bar ever opened in 1950-51 is still open in Plover, WI, at Sky Club Supper Club (est. 1940).
The last Cooky’s closed in Hicksville 1994-95. Cooky, father of Joy (attended PS 193), Jani and Judi, passed way on Aug 17, 2004. His wife Sonia passed away in 2008. Cooky and Sonia were children of Russian immigrants. They later lived at 145 Central Park W, by 1977.
As a teen, Carole King frequented Cooky's 1950s, when she lived at 2466 E 24th St in Sheepshead Bay and attended Shellbank Intermediate School and James Madison High School. Teens gathered at Cooky’s to catch up.
4 high schools in Brooklyn would help define modern music:
Erasmus Hall (Clive Davis, Miriam Bienstock of Atlantic, Barbra Streisand, Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, DJ Larry LeVan, Kedar Massenburg of Motown, WNYC folk pioneer Oscar Brand, Marky Ramone, Columbia art director John Berg etc),
James Madison (Carole King, Jane Siegel, Barry Mann, Buddy Kaye, Mimi Benzell, Elaine Malbin etc).
Lincoln ( Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka, Mort Shuman, Buddy Rich, Herbie Mann etc).
Brooklyn Tech (Gerry Goffin, Richard Fariña, Talib Kweli, Harry Chapin, Raymond Scott, Vernon Reid, Francis Grasso etc).
Photo from New York Transit Museum.
