Old Business, New Business BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
An old-school boxing gym and a new liqour tasting
room showcase the best of Kings County commerce
Brooklyn’s unique mainstay businesses
and its blossoming new
ventures are confi rmation that the
County of Kings is a breeding ground
for inspiration when it comes to commercial
opportunity.
The borough’s diverse mom-andpop
shops are a nod to the melting pot
of residents that inhabit its vast, urban
terrain.
Nurturing those operations are
of signifi cant importance to Borough
President Adams, who opened
a small-business mentoring center at
Brooklyn Borough Hall two years ago
that he said has helped local entrepreneurs
achieve their dreams ever
since.
“Brooklyn Borough Hall has become
a true hub for small business
development in my administration,”
Borough President Adams said. “I
will continue to leverage my offi ce’s
resources, including capital dollars
targeted at improving workforce development
and neighborhood infrastructure,
to ensure the mom-and-pop
business always have a bright future
to look forward to in our borough.”
Read on to learn about two such
businesses, one recently opened and the
other serving Brooklyn for decades:
GLEASON’S GYM, CA. 1937
Call it the sweet old science!
Gleason’s Gym is the oldest active
boxing gym in the nation and some of
the world’s top punchers and celebrities
have come through its doors ever
since it opened.
Bantamweight Peter Robert Gagliardi
opened his sweatshop in the
Bronx and assumed the name Bobby
Gleason in 1937 to appeal to New
York’s then predominantly Irish fi ght
crowd, but it wasn’t until boxing’s
heyday in the mid-20th century that
the gym really took off.
Some of the sport’s biggest stars
threw punches at Gleason’s, including
Muhammad Ali, Jake LaMotta, and
Mike Tyson, as well as actors Robert
De Niro and Wesley Snipes, who
sought to train like the pros ahead of
their silver screen rumbles.
Gleason moved his world-famous
gym to the distant Isle of Manhattan
in 1974, before selling it to businessman
and long-time boxing enthusiast
Ira Becker.
Becker teamed up with the club’s
current president Bruce Silverglade
and the two moved their iconic proving
ground to Dumbo’s Front Street in
1987, back when the waterfront area’s
gritty, industrial milieu lacked the Instagrammable
charm that characters
the neighborhood today, according to
30 ONE BROOKLYN | SUMMER 2019
Silverglade.
“It went from a terrible area where
you wouldn’t want to ride a bike
through to this tremendously wealthy
area,” said Silverglade, adding that
his boxers had to be tough in the ring
— and on their way home! “It was
were the mob used to bury all their
bodies, the place was inundated with
prostitutes and drug addicts.”
With Dumbo’s rise, the gym has
welcomed people from all walks of
life, from working class youngsters,
to Wall Street execs and even Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
who made a visit in 2017.
The gym moved to its current location
at nearby 130 Water St. in 2016,
and the Manhattanite still makes the
trip across the river at the crack of
dawn to open Gleason’s for patrons at
5 a.m. and he, along with fi ve full-time
staff and 92 contract coaches keep the
fi ght going strong.
The gym is now as much a destination
for fi tness fanatics as it is for diehard
pugilists, and they all help each
other like one big family, according to
Silvergrade.
“It’s a community, everyone supports
one another and helps another,”
he said. “It’s a melting pot, it’s not like
going to an Equinox where you do
your lifts and leave.”
BARROW’S INTENSE GINGER LIQUEUR TASTING
ROOM, CA. 2019
Sunset Park’s liquor scene has gotten
Intense.
A new liquor tasting room offi -
cially opened in Industry City last
weekend. Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur
Tasting Room has been quietly
pouring cocktails and offering samples
for the last six months, but the
opening party on May 2 has allowed
them to really spice things up, said
the company’s founder.
“We believe in not doing it fast, but
doing it right,” said Josh Morton, who
started making the spicy yellow spirit
in his Manhattan apartment before
moving to Industry City in 2013.
The newly opened tasting room
menu includes nine cocktails, each of
which showcases Morton’s signature
spicy liquid. Prices range from $8–$14,
including an Intense Old Fashioned, a
brain-freezing Frozen Intense Mule,
and a creamy drink called If you like
Ginger Coladas.
Customers can buy bottles of the
Intense Ginger Liqueur at the bar —
and bottles of any other liquor in the
place, said Morton.
“We have 160 New York spirits, and
you can sample any bottle and buy it
right here,” he said. “We’re halfway
between a bar and a liquor store.”
All of the spirits served in the
Tasting Room are made from grains
grown in New York state — which
means no rum or tequila, since the
Empire State does not support sugar
cane or agave plants.
The Tasting Room also offers a
wide variety of tasting fl ights, so you
can sip your way through all nine
Empire Rye whiskeys, or sample fi ve
different varieties of gins — fl ights
are available in “beginner” and “advanced”
versions. The samplers can
help people to discover new spirits,
said Morton.
“You’re drinking, and it’s fun,
and you’re also learning about what
you’re drinking,” he said.
Barrow’s versatile liqueur also appears
in a few dessert items, including
a ginger ice cream from Blue Marble,
and ginger-stuffed truffl es from
Li-Lac Chocolates — both companies
located in Industry City. The ginger
maven also has plans to team up with
other distilleries and food producers,
he said.
“Our stuff works with everything,
so we’re very collaborat ive,” said
Morton.
The distillery has been producing
its ginger product in Industry City
since 2013, but recently moved to a
ground fl oor spot in the complex’s
Building 6, which also houses Big Alice
Brewing’s Barrel Room and sake
producer Brooklyn Kura.
Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur
Tasting Room (86 34th St. between Second
and Third avenues in Industry
City, www.barrowsintense.com). Open
Mon–Wed, noon–6 p.m.; Thu, noon–7
p.m.; Fri, noon–9 p.m.; Sat, noon–8
p.m.; Sun, noon–7 p.m.
Owner Bruce Silvergrade (right) fi rst
brought Gleason’s Gym to Brooklyn
at 77 Front St. in Dumbo in 1987 when
the former industrial neighborhood
was far from the Instagrammable
destination it is today. Gleason’s Gym
Josh Morton, the founder of
Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur,
stood in front of his new
tasting room. Bill Roundy
/www.barrowsintense.com
/BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
/www.barrowsintense.com)
