{{Short description|American businessman and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Abe Stark | image = Abe Stark 1949.jpg | caption = Stark {{circa}} 1949 | office = 4th President of the New York City Council | term_start = January 1, 1954 | term_end = December 31, 1961 | predecessor = Rudolph Halley | successor = Paul R. Screvane | office1 = 15th Brooklyn Borough President | term_start1 = January 1, 1962 | term_end1 = September 8, 1970 | predecessor1 = John F. Hayes | successor1 = Sebastian Leone | party = Democratic | birth_date = September 28, 1894 | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1972|07|02|1894|09|28}} | death_place = | burial = }}

'''Abe Stark''' (September 28, 1894 – July 2, 1972) was an American businessman and politician.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Illson|first1=Murray|title=Abe Stark of Brooklyn, Who Led City Council, Dies|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/07/04/82226200.pdf|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=July 4, 1972|page=20}}</ref><ref name=AJY>{{cite journal|title=Necrology: United States|journal=American Jewish Year Book|year=1973|volume=74|pages=559|url=http://www.ajcarchives.org/ajc_data/files/1973_14_necrology.pdf|accessdate=11 February 2013}}</ref> Born on the Lower East Side in New York City, he became a tailor and owned a clothing store at 1514 Pitkin Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

==Brooklyn Dodgers link== thumb|left|Abe Stark poses with "Watermelon Queen" Mimi Fellers at the Brooklyn Terminal Market Stark's name first became familiar because of the advertising gimmick for his clothing store, a sign placed directly under the Ebbets Field scoreboard in right-center field in 1931, and seen by millions in movie newsreels and then on television. It announced, "Hit Sign, Win Suit. Abe Stark. 1514 Pitkin Ave. Brooklyn's Leading Clothier." Any player who hit the sign on the fly would get a free suit from his store.<ref name=McGee />

Due to the excellent fielding of Brooklyn Dodgers right fielders Dixie Walker and Carl Furillo, Stark awarded very few suits. It has been said that, as long as the sign was up, the only opposing player to hit it on a fly was Mel Ott of the arch-rival New York Giants, who did it twice.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Corio|first1=Ray|title=Question Box|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/12/sports/question-box.html|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=August 12, 1985}}</ref> It has also been said that, upon the suggestion of a customer who pointed out how many free suits Furillo saved Stark from having to give away, Stark gave Furillo a free suit. However, according to teammate Duke Snider, Furillo received only a pair of slacks.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Snider|first1=Duke (with Phil Pepe)|title=Few and Chosen – Defining Dodgers Greatness Across the Eras|date=2006|publisher=Triumph Books|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-57243-805-7|page=113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dRmAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA0|accessdate=2 October 2015}}</ref>

The stories about how few players won free suits are probably more legend than truth. Prior to the famous sign, which measured about 3 feet by 30 feet, there was an even larger one that was hit by batted balls much more frequently. Overton Tremper, a reserve outfielder for the Dodgers, recalled that it covered the right field wall from top to bottom and from the foul line to about 150 to right center field, and Murray Rubin, whose father worked in Stark's store for 40 years, said, "Many balls hit the original Stark sign. My father told me that on some evenings, he altered more suits for players than for paying customers."<ref name=McGee>{{cite book|last1=McGee|first1=Bob|title=The Greatest Ballpark Ever – Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers|date=2005|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London, England|isbn=0-8135-3600-6|pages=111–112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOZyd7v1cDAC&pg=PA1|accessdate=2 October 2015}}</ref>

==Political career== Stark became so well known as a result of his sign that he rose through New York City politics and was elected twice as president of the New York City Council,<ref>{{cite news|title=City Vote 2,205,262 – Riegelman Runs Second, Stark Tops Ticket in New Dealers' Triumph|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/11/04/84610116.pdf|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 4, 1953|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Egan|first1=Leo|title=City Slate Wins, Mayor Carries Ticket – Mrs. Simon Tops Christenberry Vote|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/11/06/84779925.html#84779925.html?pageNumber=1&_suid=14438194667120269983650295798|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 6, 1957|page=1}}</ref> serving in that office from 1954 to 1961, and three times as borough president of Brooklyn,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kihss|first1=Peter|title=City Vote Heavy – Lefkowitz Takes 34% of Total, Screvane and Beame Elected|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/11/08/118522148.html#118522148.html?pageNumber=1&_suid=144381497640304420235581895686|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 8, 1961|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Kihss|first1=Peter|title=Maniscalco Loses on S.I., Badillo Leading in Bronx|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/11/03/95912987.html#issue.html?&_suid=144381595960302390109305369325|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 3, 1965|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Ronan|first1=Thomas P.|title=Incumbent Borough Presidents Win; Abrams Bronx Victor|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/11/05/89383219.html#89383219.html?pageNumber=34&_suid=14438154223830469918047080837|accessdate=2 October 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 5, 1969|page=34}}</ref> holding that office from 1962 to 1970.

==Legacy== [[File:Abe Stark Sports Center jeh.jpg|thumb|right|Abe Stark Rink at Coney Island]] An ice skating rink on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/iceskating/1 City of New York Parks & Recreation] Abe Stark Rink</ref> and an elementary school in Spring Creek, Brooklyn are named after Stark.

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box|title=President of the New York City Council|before=Rudolph Halley|after=Paul R. Screvane|years=1954 &ndash; 1961}} {{succession box | before= John F. Hayes | title= Borough President of Brooklyn | after=Sebastian Leone | years=1962 &ndash; 1970 | }} {{s-end}}

==External links== * [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/abe-stark/ Abe Stark] at SABR Bio Project

{{Brooklyn Borough President}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Abe}} Category:Brooklyn borough presidents Category:1890s births Category:1972 deaths Category:Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Category:20th-century American Jews