Golden Gate Fancy Fruits has long been one of our favorite hidden gems in New York City, featured in our book Secret Brooklyn. It was a gorgeous summer day when we first met the proprietor of the Marine Park shop, John Cortese, who was 92 years old at the time and clearly a New York City treasure.

Cortese is a World War II veteran who served in the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge as part of the 551st Field Artillery Battalion. Cortese’s grandfather opened Golden Gate Fancy Fruits at 2080 Flatbush Avenue in 1939 and until the coronavirus crisis, Cortese was still manning it. Inside, the shop looks just like it did eighty years ago and when we entered, Cortese smiled at us and said “You’ve just stepped into 1939.”