Government
A Local Grocery Store Unchanged Since 1939
John Cortese, 92, has been working at Golden Gate Fancy Fruits & Vegetables in Brooklyn since he was 14 years old.
On The Job is a series of conversations with the people who keep neighborhoods running.
“You better tell me what you’re looking for, because I haven’t got anything set out yet,” John Cortese calls out from his perch by the cash register, his back against stacks of Barilla pasta and jars of tomato sauce. It’s around 9:45 a.m. —a hot, sunny day—and Golden Gate Fancy Fruits & Vegetables at the south end of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn has just welcomed its first customer.