Hoping to check out one of the free jazz concerts offered by Medgar Evers that we’d heard about on Brooklynian, we were out and about in the neighborhood this past Friday. Unfortunately, it seems we arrived an hour too early – so we took to walking around the neighborhood to kill some time. As we let aimlessness guide our steps, we were suddenly overwhelmed with the scent of … couldn’t quite place our nose on it … but it was some type of familiar spice or spices … maybe … pepper. Following the scent like a search dog, we eventually encountered the Morris J. Golombeck building, located at 960 Franklin Avenue.Photo Credit: Nostrand Park (Morris J. Golombeck – Importers of Spices)

The sign atop the door to the building – “Morris J. Golombeck, Inc. – Importers of Spices” – resolved the mystery for us. A spice depot! From the unkempt looks of the building, we thought that perhaps the spice business was no longer in operation and that the smell was a phantom from years past. We tried to peek inside, to no avail; the windows were blocked up. As it turns out, the business is still viable. Who’d have thunk that a hub of the centuries-old spice trade would end up in our own Crown Heights backyard.

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