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Fulton Street's Last Tire Shop to be Replaced by Hungry Ghost Cafe

By Janet Upadhye | August 22, 2013 7:30am
 Hungry Ghost will soon replace F&S Tires in Fort Greene.
Hungry Ghost
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FORT GREENE — The rubber has met the road for F&S Tires in Fort Greene.

F&S had a 27-year run on Fulton Street but was forced to close last year. Posh coffee house Hungry Ghost will soon take its place, Brownstoner first reported.

"It's the end of an era," said a neighbor who declined to give his name walking past construction workers dismantling the familiar red and yellow sign that read "Flats Fixed."

On a strip where tires shops once dominated the landscape, F&S was the sole remaining holdout.

But in 2011 the three Haitian brothers who owned the shop were forced to close their doors temporarily after storing more than 100 tires without a permit. More than 3,000 community members signed a petition in support of the brothers, helping the store to reopen.

"Thank you, neighbors!!" R&S owners wrote in black marker on a yellowed clipping of The New York Times article that documented the fight and still hangs in the storefront's windows. "We are back!! 4 good!!"

But F&S ultimately lost the war with the city and Hungry Ghost is now renovating the space at Fulton and South Oxford streets for an expected October opening.

This is the second location for the popular cafe, which serves homemade kombucha tea, almond coffee and raspberry muffins with big chunks of candied ginger. The cafe's first outpost opened on Flatbush Avenue and Sixth Avenue in Prospect Heights less than a year ago, and has gained a devoted following among the laptop crowd.

Owner Murat Uyaroglu, who also runs the Prospect Perk Café, joined forces with 26-year-old Justin Boshell to launch the Fort Greene location.

The duo is paying $7,000 dollars in monthly rent, Brownstoner noted, for prime real estate that shares a block with popular Habana Outpost and the Greene Grape wine shop.

Uyaroglu did not immediately return requests for comment.