It’s Been a Very Good Shmear

business SPOTlight

brought to you in partnership with BIRMINGHAM

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

Owners Howard Goldsmith of Bloomfield Hills and his son Phil Goldsmith of Birmingham.

It’s Been a Very Good Shmear!

Generations of family owners mark New York Bagel’s 100th anniversary.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER If you’re Jewish and were raised in Metro Detroit, chances are you’ve grown up eating a warm, familiar delight topped with cream cheese, lox or more. You’ve probably broken a Yom Kippur fast with the delicious treat or spent a Sunday brunch with family not even needing to ask what you would be feasting on — a bagel, a New York Bagel.

This year, Metro Detroit staple New York Bagel celebrates its 100th anniversary, a legacy passed down and owned by four generations of the Goldsmith family.

Howard Goldsmith, 70, the grandson of Morris and son of Harvey, currently runs the business with his son Phil, 39. Phil is set to take full ownership and control of the business as his father eases himself out of the business, with plans to retire next year.

While both Howard and Phil worked at the store growing up, entering the bagel business full time was not the initial plan for either. Fate or not, the Detroit institution sees its centennial led by a father and son, with the generational baton soon to be handed over once again.

BAGEL BEGINNINGS

New York Bagel began in 1921, when a New Yorker opened the first shop on Hastings Street near Downtown Detroit. In the 1930s, Morris Goldsmith, a Russian immigrant who was an employee since 1923, became a partner with the original owner and another immigrant, William Needelman.