Short story by Feltman’s owner tells how South
Brooklyn staples became worldwide attractions
BY XIMENA DEL CERRO
A lot has been written
about the origins of one of
America’s favorite dishes: the
hot dog. Food connoisseurs
and historians point to Brooklyn
— more specifi cally, Coney
Island — as the place where it
all began.
Charles Feltman, a German
baker, opened the fi rst
Coney Island hot dog stand in
1867, selling more than 3,000
dachshund sausages in milk
rolls at public horse races during
his fi rst year in business.
But not many people know
Feltman had a tough time before
getting his big break.
More than 150 years later,
Brooklyn native Michael
Quinn, current owner of Feltman’s
Hot Dogs, has made it
his mission to change that.
Quinn recently published
his fi rst short fi ction story,
“Church Lane,” based on
true events and real characters
who were key parts in the
making of what South Brooklyn
is today. The tale centers
on 19th Century Flatbush and
Gravesend, and its historymakers’
COURIER L 50 IFE, MARCH 11–17, 2022
impacts on the southern
end of the borough.
“Being a historian, being a
Coney Island native, this is one
of the names I always wanted
to bring back, not just through
my business, but through the
memory of his struggles as
an immigrant who had nothing
and who loved being a pie
baker,” Quinn said.
“Church Lane” centers on
the lives of three German men
— Feltman, Henry Lehman
and William Whitney — right
before they reached the pivotal
points that made them go
down in the city’s history.
The tale begins in pre-
Christmas, 1866-Brooklyn,
where the streets are covered
in snow and horse-drawn carriages
are roaming.
As it remains, “Church
Lane” Brooklyn is made up of
communities of immigrants —
some of them luckier than others
in their quests to achieve
“the American Dream.”
Readers get to meet three of
those immigrants in Quinn’s
tale: Lehman, a patron of his
less fortunate countrymen
who would later become a
member of Brooklyn’s iconic
Montauk social club; Whitney,
former secretary of the
navy under President Grover
Cleveland and father-in-law of
Gertrude Vanderbilt, founder
of the Whitney Museum; and
Feltman, an entrepreneur
who knew he could make it if
he could only catch his break.
All of these characters,
Quinn says, represent the contrast
between hereditary entitlement
and the bravery that
comes from struggle.
“I’ve been there,” he told
Brooklyn Paper. “I’ve been
where I’m very successful in
my life and where it’s Monday
and I have $10 to make it
through to Friday.”
Even though the story
doesn’t have an active female
voice, Quinn says he knows
that women have always played
bigger roles than history credits
them for. While putting the
pieces together for “Church
Lane,” the author unearthed a
copy of the lease from the building
in which Feltman opened
his fi rst business, which was
owned by Adrienne Van Brunt.
“I just liked the whole aspect
of a female landowner basically
having control over Charlie’s
future,” he said.
What Feltman started as a
small business turned into the
largest restaurant in the world
at the time. After dissapearing
for almost a century due to
the Great Depression, Quinn
and his brother, Joe, revived
the iconic sausage slinger in
2015 in honor of their brother,
Jimmy. Feltman’s is now the
fastest growing hot dog company
in the country, and can
still be found in Coney Island.
While Feltman’s story
is personal for Quinn, he
hopes the tales of all three of
“Church Lane’s” protagonists
will inspire Brooklynites and
non-Brooklyn readers alike.
“I want people from all ages
to read it,” he said. “I think it’s
something that may interest
anyone who loves Brooklyn,
anyone who has had a good
time in Coney Island or who
has enjoyed hot dogs even in
places like baseball games.”
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN &
LLOYD MITCHELL
Local artists unveiled a
pair of new murals honoring
local legend The Notorious
B.I.G. in Bedford-Stuyvesant
this morning, celebrating the
rapper on the 25th anniversary
of his murder.
Graffi ti artists Eli Salome-
Diaz, Carlo Niece, and Benny
Guerra were asked to paint the
murals in just a week, they said,
so they could be fi nished in time
for the tragic anniversary.
“We want this to be a representation
of hope for the community
at 951 Fulton Street,”
the artists said. “Biggie and
his lyrics were a part of what
help make him a pillar in
Brooklyn.”
The murals are painted at
the corner of St. James Place
and Fulton Street, just a few
yards from where Smalls grew
up in Clinton Hill. The only
child of a preschool teacher,
Smalls attended George Westinghouse
Career and Technical
Education High School
in Downtown Brooklyn and
got his start performing with
local groups like the Techniques
before he launched to
superstardom in 1993.
B.I.G. was only 24 when he
was shot and killed in Los Angeles
in 1997.
“Biggie’s music helped
identify me with Brooklyn,”
said Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams on Wednesday
morning. “It helped keep
me off the street. I wonder if
the rap game would be as interesting
without him. His
lyrics are timeless.”
Brooklynites have been remembering
Smalls through
art for years, painting odes to
the beloved musician, known
to many as the greatest musician
of all time, in Clinton
Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect
Heights, and Bushwick.
“Biggie’s impact on Brooklyn
is incredible and will
never be forgotten,” said
Brooklyn Borough President
Antonio Reynoso.
History of hot dogs
Artists, electeds unveil new Smalls
murals on anniversary of his death
BROOKLYN
Biggie business
Feltman’s owner Michael Quinn has penned a short story called “Church
Lane,” based on true events that shaped South Brooklyn. File photo
Artists, loved ones, and elected offi cials gathered in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Wednesday morning to offi cially
unveil two new murals depicting beloved Brooklyn rapper Biggie Smalls. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell