Park Slope's Old Carriage Inn To Close After 35 Years

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The neighborhood will lose yet another of its longtime businesses this month. The Old Carriage Inn has decided it will close after 35 years in Park Slope, owners told Patch.

The family-owned bar, which first opened in 1975, has sold its 7th Avenue building and can't afford to stay and rent the space, owner Dorothy Waggelman said. The business' last day will be St. Patrick's Day.

Waggelman's mother first opened the Old Carriage Inn as one of many businesses her family owned in the area over the last few decades, she said. Her family also used to have a laundromat on 7th Avenue and once owned the building that now holds Dunkin Donuts.

"I don't want to close — this is heartbreaking," Waggelman said. "My family goes way back (in the neighborhood) and this is the last piece. People are heartbroken, it's like an extended family."

Her mother had been fascinated by the building, which was once a real carriage house, since she was young and growing up across the street, Waggelman said. An older man in the neighborhood used to tell her about the horses that were kept there and the "ladies in fancy dresses and men all dressed up" that would go in and out of the corner spot.

When her mother bought the building later in life, Waggleman said, she turned it into a bar by popular demand.

"She bought the building as an adult and decided to call it the carriage house," Waggelman said. "She took a survey of neighbors and that's what they wanted it to be — so here we are today."

Some parts of the bar's history can still be found inside, including its original doors in the back. The horses used to be cleaned downstairs, Waggelman added.

The business is the latest in several longtime Park Slope spots that are closing down, in part because of the neighborhood's rising rent prices.

Another 7th Avenue staple The Clay Pot announced just last week that it would be closing its Brooklyn space after 50 years. The jewelry store will focus on its Manhattan location, instead, owners said.

Earlier this year, The Pacific Bar announced that it would close down after 12 years in the neighborhood and, last spring, a grocer that had been in the area for nearly five decades shutdown.

"It's kind of sad that I'm getting priced out of my own neighborhood," Waggelman said. "It's a shame all these places are closing."

Waggelman said the bar plans to celebrate the last few weeks open with karaoke nights the next two weekends. The Old Carriage Inn was dubbed the best karaoke in the borough by the Best of BK awards last year.

"Come sing one last time," posts on the business' Facebook read. "Come join in on the fun...then the party's over boys and girls."