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Loyal pork patrons line up to say goodbye to ‘heart of Carroll Gardens’ after 101-year run
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Apr 11, 2023
Modified Apr 11, 2023
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Catalina Gonella
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Apr 11, 2023
Modified Apr 11, 2023
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Customers lined up outside the iconic G. Esposito & Sons Jersey Pork Store in Carroll Gardens to say their final goodbyes on Monday after 101 years of feeding the neighborhood.
The butcher and sandwich shop first announced two weeks ago that it would be closing for good. Since then, it has filled 20 times the usual number of weekly orders, according to brothers and owners John and George Esposito.
“We left a mark in this neighborhood that is unbelievable,” George Esposito said. “The response that we got from the neighborhood is outstanding, and we're getting the best farewell that we could have ever imagined.”
Brothers George and John Esposito are the third generation of their family to run the store.
Catalina Gonella
But they didn’t make any sales on their last day in business on Monday. Instead, they put out sandwiches, slices of cake and glasses of bubbly for the teary-eyed locals who dropped in.
Sandra Lambert has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years. She visited the store with her husband Joe on Monday to say goodbye.
“They’re going to be missed in a thousand different ways by a million different people,” Lambert said. “Our kids grew up with rice balls and eggplant parm, and all the delicious things made them grow. This right here is the heart of Carroll Gardens, these shops and especially the pork store. All of the delicacies and hospitality is why people come to Carroll Gardens.”
The iconic pig statue outside the shop is driven away as the doors close for good.
Courtesy G. Esposito & Sons
The farewell on Monday included the rescue of a fiberglass pig that stood in front of the store for more than 50 years. George Esposito said firefighters at nearby Ladder Company 101 were regulars at the shop and asked to save the pig.
Owners and patrons of the store described the pig’s departure as a somber, touching moment.
“The pig that was out front was a touchstone – literally a touchstone — to, I don’t even know how many thousands of kids. They come, they take their picture, they touch him, they imagine stealing him and putting him in their room,” Lambert said.
The family-run store opened in 1922, when Carroll Gardens was largely home to Italian immigrants who worked on the nearby docks. Brothers George and John Esposito were the third generation of their family to run the store.
Susie and Robert Groccia say they'll miss the neighborhood staple.
Catalina Gonella
The store was a staple for people like Susie Groccia, 78, who dropped in with her husband Richie on Monday to wish the owners farewell.
“I’ve been coming here my whole life,” Groccia said. “Their food was delicious, the sausage was the best we've ever had in our life.”
As a lifelong resident of Carroll Gardens, Groccia has watched the area change. The store was one of the remaining relics of what the neighborhood once was.
“Italian people eat a lot, so I think for us we'll miss it more than, you know, the neighborhood, the way it's changed now,” she said.
The brothers are now ready to retire. George Esposito said they tried looking for people to replace them, and even received offers from people trying to buy the store, but couldn’t find the right fit.
“Me and my brother are getting older and the kind of work that we do that we dedicate ourselves into this business just can't be done by guys in their upper 60s and mid-60s,” he said.
But he was approached by several people about making a cookbook.
"I think about it for sure. It's not gonna be right away,” George Esposito said. “I'm gonna, you know, reflect and take time and think about it and take it one step at a time. You know? And I know it would do great."
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