PARK SLOPE — The man who sold vinyl records on neighborhood sidewalks for more than 30 years passed away earlier this month, leaving behind a wealth of fond memories even among those who didn't know his name.
Garnet Goodman, 72, died Sept. 8 after a long struggle with cancer, his longtime partner Lynn Opinante told DNAinfo New York.
"He was very unique," Opinante said. "I've never met anybody else like him."
Well-wishers this week created a homemade memorial to Goodman on the spot where he sold his records, a gesture that "meant a lot" to Opinante, she said.
Goodman's smiling face and vast vinyl collection were well-known to commuters going to and from the 2/3 train at Grand Army Plaza, where he spent most days with a line of LPs propped against the Montauk Club's back fence on Plaza Street West.
A homemade memorial to Park Slope's "record man," Garnet Goodman. Photo by TheDustyRebel.
Goodman's encounters with customers could brighten people's days.
"Walking to the subway, I would run into him selling his records and playing music on his boombox, I would have a little dance or he would 'twirl' me and off to work I would go knowing how blessed I was to live in this beautiful neighborhood and have a friend like Garnet,” wrote one admirer on an online tribute page for Goodman.
Goodman loved music of all kinds, especially jazz greats Miles Davis and Jimmy Smith, but also soul, rock and even a little classical, Opinante said. He often played "Sam Cooke at the Copa" on a boombox while he peddled his records, and Cooke's recording of "If I Had a Hammer" was a favorite track, Opinante said.
Goodman, who was born in the Bahamas, came to New York around 1976 and started selling records on the sidewalk sometime in the 1980s, Opinante said.
Goodman was a "good salesman," remembered Opinante. "He liked to talk about music with the customers and he would be totally focused on who he was selling to," she said.
Opinante got to know Goodman while buying records from him about 20 years ago. They became friendly and Opinante started to bring him homemade pasta and marinara sauce because she worried about the long hours Goodman spent standing outside with few breaks. The two had their first date at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and eventually moved in together in Park Slope.
Goodman's vinyl collection grew with the help of neighbors who would contact him when they were emptying closets of old records.
"When people asked him how he got his collection, he would tell them, 'I'm blessed,'" Opinante said.
Opinante said Goodman never lost his sunny outlook even as cancer spread to his bones and spine and he entered hospice. "He had a great attitude," Opinante said. "Even when he was dying of cancer, he didn't complain about his situation. He was still smiling, still laughing."
In recent years the couple were regulars at Old First Reformed Church on Carroll Street and Seventh Avenue, where they were both members of an intense spiritual study group, said Pastor Daniel Meeter.
Goodman was friendly with Park Slope residents from all walks of life, from the panhandlers he shared the streets with to the professional opera singer Jeffrey Mandelbaum, who will sing at an upcoming memorial service, Meeter said.
“Garnet as out there because he loved being out there,” Meeter said of Goodman's long hours on the streets. “He had such a knowledge of music and he loved to talk about it.”
The men who make their livings on local sidewalks, Meeter said, "are as much a part of the Park Slope community as the children in strollers. It's the side of Park Slope that it's not a glorified side of Park Slope, but it’s a real side of Park Slope.”
Meeter, who once bought a boxed set of Mahler symphonies from Goodman, said Goodman loved poetry and shared some verses inspired by Muhammad Ali at a church service last spring after his cancer became more serious.
Goodman told his fellow parishioners that he was grateful for the gift of life and for Opinante's love, a video of the moment shows.
He said he didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him, and that he wanted to be remembered this way: "Riding on my horse of hope, dressed in the armor of defense, the helmet of endurance upon my head, the reins of courage in my hands, I'm looking up and moving on to the land of love."
Goodman will be remembered at a memorial service Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. at Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll St. All are welcome.
