“Everybody Is at a Loss”: An Iconic Brooklyn Bakery Has Closed

Lords Bakery, a cornerstone of the Flatbush community for over four decades, abruptly closed this week, shocking locals and stoking concerns over gentrification.

The building’s landlord has taken possession of the property at 2135 Nostrand Avenue, near Flatbush Avenue, according to a Marshall’s notice on the door dated March 25. A hand-written sign says the business is “permanently closed.”

The old-school bakery was one of the last holdouts on the heavily developed intersection of Flatbush and Nostrand avenues, known locally as the Junction. “They are like the Kings Theatre,” says Kenneth Mbonu, president of the neighborhood’s Business Improvement District. “They are a known historic location in the community.”

On Monday, the bakery opened in the morning: but instead of selling its famed red velvet cake and other baked goods, workers gave them away for free. The bakery’s pastry shelves were then rolled out onto the sidewalk. Once everything was gone, the carts were brought back inside. The restaurant was boarded up that same day.

On Tuesday, the bakery launched a GoFundMe to save the business. It has a goal of raising $100,000. “We have explored every avenue to cut costs and increase efficiency, but without substantial financial support, our options are limited,” the fundraiser says. “Your generous contributions will support immediate expenses and enable vital upgrades and innovations, ensuring Lords Bakery’s long-term sustainability.”

Shelley Worrell, founder of the local group I Am Caribbeing, calls Lords a Brooklyn institution. “If you’re talking about standalone bakeries, I don’t think there’s anywhere more iconic than Lords,” she says.

Worrell fears the business was pushed out to make room for an incoming development. Several storefronts on Nostrand Avenue are up for rent, including Fisherman’s Cove, a Jamaican chain located next door at 2137 Nostrand Avenue, near Flatbush Avenue. “It’s a sign that gentrification has finally hit this part of Brooklyn,” she says.

The bakery’s original owner, Herb Geller, sold the building to Southwind Realty Corporation, a Florida-based developer, in 2019, city records show. Mbonu says it’s likely that the bakery changed owners at that time, too. “Otherwise, things wouldn’t be happening this way,” he says. “Everybody is at a loss.”

Lords has been open for over 40 years, according to its website, although the exact history is disputed. Mbonu estimates the bakery could be over 50 years old. In 2015, the New York Daily News called it 60 years old, which would mean it opened in the 1950s.

Geller once called the business an American bakery; it was known for its Jewish and Caribbean pastries. “As demographics changed in the neighborhood, we’ve changed,” he said in 2011. “Whatever our customers want is what we make.” One of the most popular items, its red velvet cake, was added to the menu in the 2000s.