An Homage to Crest Hardware

We mourn the closing of Crest Hardware. Without the community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the 2010’s, the Self-Portrait Project wouldn’t be what it is today, and without Crest Hardware, the contour of the neighborhood would be entirely different. Losing Crest means more than just losing a core component of Williamsburg’s soul: it signals the end of an era.

I first met Joe and Liza Franquinha in the late aughts, through the legendary Jelly Pool Parties in the formerly empty McCarren Park Pool, and in particular, at the fantastic Remember Paper party held across the street from the hardware store in 2010, where we hosted a full-size installation, one of the first of its kind. Joe and Liza’s constant support of artists in the neighborhood could be seen at the annual Crest Fests — singular celebrations of creativity and community, at which we set up in 2011 + 2012 — and the Crest Hardware Art Shows. It took one stroll through the art-filled aisles of the business to understand that Crest wasn’t your typical hardware store; it was imbued with more life than most.

Indicative of said life was the Franquinha’s bringing the wonderful Garden Center into being. The greenhouse — humid, welcoming, literally warm — was a place where lives were nurtured. Like so many others, I fell in love during COVID while living around the corner. Licia and I would stop by the store to pick up pots, plants, soil: all the things we needed to feed the basil on our roof, while simultaneously tending to what grew between us. Later, we set up a semi-permanent mirror in one corner of the greenhouse for others to document their own journeys. Lives found official starts at Crest Hardware, too — like the beautiful wedding of Jessica and Elliot, at which we had the honor of setting up one of our photo booths.

If life is a cycle, may the death of Crest provide the sustenance for something beautiful to grow in its stead — if not comparable in kind, then in impact. May all the years of giving to the community find a way back to Joe, Liza, and Crest Hardware.

Crest Fest Self-Portraits

Crest Fest | June 18, 2011

Crest Fest | June 30, 2012