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Old-Fashioned Court Street Veggie Shop to Reopen as Neighborhood Bar

 Jim & Andy's will open as a neighborhood bar while retaining the old grocery store's atmosphere.
Jim & Andy's Market on Court Street
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COBBLE HILL — From beets to brews.

Jim & Andy, a former veggie shop on Court Street, is set to open as a neighborhood bar, serving local beers and spirits made in New York City and Brooklyn.

After selling vegetables from a horse-cart during the '50s, Jim Cincotta opened the shop in the 1970s and named it after him and his partner, Andy, who split from the business years ago.

While the store closed in January, three years after Jim died, the 600-square-foot space will soon serve as a watering hole, keeping the old shop’s memory alive, said Toly Dubinsky, 44, who is opening the bar at 208 Court St.

“New is not going to work here,” said the Cobble Hill restaurateur, who used to own Smith Kitchen.

The bar was approved for a wine and liquor license by the Community Board 6 permits and licenses committee last week, and the application will be reviewed at the general committee meeting on Wednesday.

For years, Italian families of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens would stop by Jim & Andy for their fresh, hard-to-find traditional vegetables, said Dubinsky, making the shop a neighborhood staple.

Dubinsky is hoping to save its old-fashioned look and feel, restoring its wooden flooring, white metal ceiling and keeping the original sign that’s hung over Court Street for decades.

He also plans to create custom wallpaper based on a photograph of Jim Cincotta’s old horse-cart, which was given to him by Cincotta’s son, Carmine, who now owns the building.

Dubinsky plans to open the bar at the end of the year.

“It’s.. history,” he said. “Why should we destroy history?”