Leventhal’s Furs and Fashions

An abiding sense of history and continuity was one of the many things that originally attracted us to the Uptown Kingston neighborhood. Wall Street is steeped in history and we felt honored to become a part of the area’s next chapter when we moved into the landmark Leventhal Building.

Built in 1888, 288 Wall Street was originally home to Leventhal’s Furs. A family owned business, Leventhal’s specialized in high end furs and custom design. Hyman and his son Reuben worked side by side providing the very best quality furs to their customers. Yet, as the times changed so did the shop. In time the inventory was expanded to include high end fashions and the name of the shop was changed to Leventhal’s Furs and Fashions. 

Reuben married Sylvia, a beautiful and sophisticated native New Yorker who brought her unique and timeless sense of fashion  with her to her new home up the Hudson. In the 1950’s, once their children were off to college, Sylvia became more involved with the family business.   She was the face and very embodiment of high fashion in Kingston. The shop quickly became an Uptown Kingston institution with Sylvia at the helm. Her love of and  dedication to the store was matched only by her customers allegiance to her and the fashions she brought in to the shop.The shop remained open up until the mid-1990’s when Sylvia finally retired in her mid-80’s.

We were so honored and thrilled to meet Sylvia one day two years ago when her daughter, Barbara Dubin, brought her by the shop to see what we had done with the place. As we walked through the shop Sylvia took us on a tour back through time explaining how her shop was laid out. It was wonderful to see the place through her eyes and to get a taste of what the space had once been.

Even though the cold storage vault in the back now shares space with the restroom and the windows no longer are home to fashionable mannequins modeling the latest designs we hope that Sylvia recognized that her undying spirit of dedication to the residents and visitors to Uptown Kingston has not changed under our stewardship.

Sylvia lived a long and wonderful life — we are honored to have met her and to carry on in the shop she nurtured so well.

* Want a shot at winning a bag of HCT coffee? All you have to do is leave a comment here, retweet or repost this blog to Facebook and you”ll be entered. Easy as pie!

To Market, To Market

Mark your calendars and set your alarm clock, The Kingston Farmers’ Market returns to the shores of Uptown Kingston on May 28th at 9am.

We thought the market last year was bigger and better than ever, and it was but wait ’til you get a glimpse of what’s in store this year. Old friends like Davenports, Acorn Hill, Free Bird Farm, Dutch Desserts and Panzarella Foods will be back but they’ll be making room for some new pals as well. Jessica and the South Pine Street City Farm will be here as will Rosendale’s new pretzel mavens Twisted Foods. Our very own Uptown Twist will also be here offering crepes, shaved ice (with homemade syrups) and vegan ice creams. It’s all too much for us to bear, our mouths are watering at the very thought of all this delicious local bounty right here on our doorstep.

The market will be offering an amazing series of events this year as well.  In addition to the ever growing Crafts on John Street featuring handmade works of art from area artists, new this year is a 8 week series of Storytelling for Children. Chef demos and live music add to the festivities to make the market the weekly party you can’t afford to miss!

Finally, beginning July 3 the market will be hosting Operation Frontline, a program of Share Our Strength, funded in part by ConAgra Foods and brought to the Hudson Valley by the Queen’s Galley.Operation Frontline is a six-week class for children ages 6 – 12 and their parents to learn from a chef about nutrition, healthy eating choices and meal preparation. Pre-registration is a must and class size is limited. Please contact Lisa Rowdycz at (845) 802-6931 for more information.

We’ll see you at the market!

PS Wanna shot a winning a bag of Hudson Coffee Traders Beans? Well, we’ll enter your name in the monthly drawing and all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog or share the word about the blog on Twitter or Facebook. Easy peasey and those beans could be yours!!