Before and After: 19 Liberty St (Exterior)

Circa 1920’s, Zachary D. Patsalos

We first brought you a “Before and After” of the interior apartments of 19 Liberty. Now, this is going to be a “Before, In Between, and After” post of the exterior of 19 Liberty Street- Patsalos’ Ice Cream Parlor, aka Liberty Candy Kitchen. I am really excited to present this post because I wasn’t going to present the exterior in a post all by itself. Nancy, the owner had before and after pictures from when she restored the building, but I really wanted to find a picture of the shop when the original owners, the Patsalos’ were there. Nancy didn’t own one, so my next stop was Chuck Thomas over at the Newburgh Free Library.

Amazingly Chuck was able to get in contact with the retired Judge Pano Patsalos via the deputy mayor, Regina Angelo. Ms. Angelo has memories of visiting the ice cream parlor with her grandmother after the movies and having to choose between 3 scoops with a cherry or a sundae. Pano passed along these photos of his father, Zachery D. Patsalos in front of his store circa 1920’s. This is really exciting since none of the historical societies had a photo on file and, Pano was gracious enough to share a little bit of his family’s history. Also, with a little bit of detective work, Chuck made this happen. Thanks! Click on any photo twice to see it in high resolution.

Circa 1920’s, Zachary D. Patsalos, proprietor  — the other two people are not known
Both photos are courtesy of Judge Pano Zachery Patsalos

I love Mr. Patsalos’ stance in the photos. I also love that it was a “candy kitchen” yet sold bananas and all sorts of fruits, something you’d never see today. Check out the soda bottles in the window and the advertisements for coffee. In the other photo you can see a 4th man pointing out at you. Love it! So fast forward to 2005 when Nancy and her husband Kermit picked up the building. The state of the building was truly sad and an eyesore to the block…

Slowly they began restoring the building and peeling away layers. Behind the ugly, gray, faux brick siding, they found original wood work.

Today, Simple Gifts and Goodies is an anchor to the Liberty Street area revitalization. They really help set a precedent for other future Liberty Street businesses. And, the good thing is that there are PLENTY of other buildings like these in the Liberty Street area that have store fronts just waiting to be turned into something beautiful like this.  Pretty much any of the buildings on Liberty Street could be negotiated for a sale. If a few more property owners could fall into Nancy and Kermit’s footsteps, the Liberty Street area could change dramatically. I love the original Benkard Ave. street sign that is on the building. There is also a Liberty Street plaque on the Liberty Street side of the building.

And, one of my favorite pictures of all, Nancy with one of the Patsalos’ daughters. She came by to take a visit to see what the shop looked like today. She recalled the shop being so big when she was a little girl, and now as an adult it seemed so little! This was a really fun “before and after” to show you. Last stop on the 19 Liberty Street restoration will be before and after photos of the interior!

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13 Comment

  • Excellent job with this story! This city has such a rich history, it’s incredible to see the juxtaposition of the old and the new, the blight and the restoration all in one shot. Thanks to Nancy and Kermit who had the vision and the ability to follow through!

  • Excellent job with this story! This city has such a rich history, it’s incredible to see the juxtaposition of the old and the new, the blight and the restoration all in one shot. Thanks to Nancy and Kermit who had the vision and the ability to follow through!

  • Great story and a great restoration

  • Great story and a great restoration

  • The Newburgh Free Library is very happy to have helped with this research. The Local History Collection is a wonderful resource and we even have geneological tourists coming in regularly tracing their family roots and investing in the city’s economy — perhaps a brochure could be put together for them featuring our treasures such as Simple Gifts and Goodies. I am so glad you included a photo of the P. Bros. entrance tiles. Judge Patsalos really deserves the credit for so graciously providing those wonderful family photos to us for the future. Newburgh Restoration is doing wonderful work highlighting the many historic features and creative people in Newburgh.

  • The Newburgh Free Library is very happy to have helped with this research. The Local History Collection is a wonderful resource and we even have geneological tourists coming in regularly tracing their family roots and investing in the city’s economy — perhaps a brochure could be put together for them featuring our treasures such as Simple Gifts and Goodies. I am so glad you included a photo of the P. Bros. entrance tiles. Judge Patsalos really deserves the credit for so graciously providing those wonderful family photos to us for the future. Newburgh Restoration is doing wonderful work highlighting the many historic features and creative people in Newburgh.

  • Interesting, good progress overall

  • This is great ! It looks fantastic !

  • This is an amazing reno! I love it!

  • Nancy and Kermit, I like what you guys have done in restoring the building. The colors are great and I hope that you have tenants upstairs to help you with the mortgage on the property!

  • Nancy and Kermit, I like what you guys have done in restoring the building. The colors are great and I hope that you have tenants upstairs to help you with the mortgage on the property!