Defonte's finally gets their Way

by Joe Enright

On a beautiful Saturday morning in June, a long-delayed street renaming ceremony took place at 379 Columbia Street to honor the late Dan Defonte, the former proprietor of Defonte’s Sandwich Shop. The large Defonte clan and their friends and fans gathered from near and far to celebrate, donning tee shirts honoring the new Daniel Defonte Way.

The usual speeches were heard and the old days were recalled. One of the old-timers who Dan broke in never forgot his friendly advice: “There are no short cuts, kid, just do it the right way.” Nick got choked up remembering his dad, as did a good part of the large crowd. Then came the after-ceremony meal: tables full of Defonte sandwiches. I grabbed the legendary “Potato & Egg” which sustained me while I filed this dispatch.

My son James was working reconstruction jobs in the wake of Sandy when he chanced upon Defonte’s for the first time, heading down Columbia to the

Sandy,” spoke Joy Sinderbrand, of NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority), to an audience of Red Hook Houses residents. The meeting, held in the P.S. 676 auditorium on June 6 from 6-8 pm, was attended by several members of NYCHA’s Recovery and Resilience Department, and, by people’s choice, moderated by the outspoken community advocate and president of Red Hook West Tenants Association, Karen

BQE entrance two blocks away. It looked crowded. Curious, he stopped. And he’s returned whenever work takes him anywhere near the BQE. His favorite: steak pizzaiola.

“After a back-breaking morning, the first time I bit into it, I almost cried with gratitude.” His friend Henry Finkel works for the City’s Environmental Protection agency, plugging water leaks. Defonte is his work crew’s go-to early morning or lunch desti-

(continued on page 7) nation. His favorite: the Italian Stallion. “The combo of the eggplant, prosciutto, mozzarella, and those roasted peppers…” His voice trailed off, and I could tell another trip from Flatbush to Red Hook was in the offing.

These tales of satisfaction by hard working Brooklynites who’ve discovered Defonte can be traced back a hundred years, so let’s start at the beginning. In the early 1880s a four story (continued on page 8)