New Film Deals With Struggles of Sheepshead Bay Seafood Business
BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK — It’s highly unlikely that Santa Claus ever rode atop a lobster. But that’s the motif for the giant balloon that is displayed at Jordan’s Lobster Dock in Sheepshead Bay every Christmas.
This same balloon was on display under the Manhattan Bridge, in Brooklyn Bridge Park, in advance of Friday’s preview of the new movie, “Brooklyn Lobster,” starring Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin, and directed by Kevin Jordan.
Kevin’s a member of the family that owns Jordan’s Lobster Dock in Sheepshead Bay, on which the story is based. “Brooklyn Lobster” is also “presented by Martin Scorsese,” meaning that the well-known filmmaker, who employed Jordan on a number of projects and knew him from NYU film school, agreed to throw his prestige behind the project.
At the press conference, Aiello said that while he’s starred in a number of Brooklyn-based films, such as “Do the Right Thing” and “City Hall,” “all those web sites that say I’m from Brooklyn are wrong. I was born on 68th Street in Manhattan. But I always wanted to live here.”
Basically, the movie is based on the real-life struggle of Jordan’s Lobster Dock, located on Knapp Street, to avoid foreclosure. Jordan’s father Bill, who also came to the press conference, took out a loan in the ’90s to build a new building (which now houses a Friday’s) on his property.
However, the Connecticut-based bank, which was in trouble with the government, was closed, and the federal banking authorities basically “called back the loan.” The case is still in court.
Kevin Jordan, who has also directed a comedy called “Goat on Fire and Smelling Fish,” grew up spending much of his time working in the store — “on the wall, there’s a picture of me at the age of 5, sweeping up the place.” He shot “Brooklyn Lobster” in 25 days, for less than $200,000.
Aiello said that when he first saw the screenplay, “I thought it was a documentary about lobsters. I don’t eat anything that swims, so I had a problem with that.” However, when he read it, he decided he had to play the part “even though there was no money,” and called Jordan — at 3 in the morning.
Speaking about another low-budget, ethnic oriented film (the Jordans are Italian-American, despite the name), Aiello said, “When ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ came out, nobody wanted to touch it. Then Tom Hanks put his prestige behind it, and it became a top film.
“We’re hoping the same thing will happen with this one.” The film opens Friday at the UA Regal in Sheepshead Bay and at the Village East on Second Avenue in Manhattan.
The movie star admitted that before “Brooklyn Lobster” started shooting there, he hadn’t spent a lot of time in Sheepshead Bay, but he did go to the famed comedy club Pips, on Emmons Avenue.
Lobster Cantonese,
On Column B
Borough President Marty Markowitz was also at the press conference, and he related, “When I was growing up in the early ’50s, the only lobster we saw was Lobster Cantonese on Column B of the Chinese menu, and it was always out of our price range.”
The borough president said that because of his conservative Jewish upbringing, he has never eaten lobster, other shellfish or pork to this day, but his wife, from a less observant family, “more than makes up for it.”
This movie, Markowitz said, as well as others including “The Squid and the Whale” and “Open Water,” not to mention the musical version of “The Producers,” “ensures that Brooklyn has become Hollywood East.”
As for Jordan’s Lobster Dock, it’s not a restaurant but a wholesale and retail lobster and seafood business (although it now has a restaurant attached to it). It started in 1938 in Greenwich Village, then moved to Sheepshead Bay in 1966. The family also has a store on Long Island and once had one on City Island.
A postscript — the musical director for the movie was Cousin Brucie. Sadly, the B-52s’ song “Rock Lobster” is not included. In addition, Aiello once lived in the same Bronx apartment building as Eagle managing editor Raanan Geberer.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2005
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