Say goodbye to the Kitchen Sink

Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor was once a teenage rite of passage, and generations of Richmond Hill residents remember indulging in the Kitchen Sink.
Today, however, the shop on Hillside Avenue sits dark; its last trademark 25-scoop sundae was served on Saturday, November 24.
Owner Alla Mikit sold the store, according to reports, as well as the two apartments above it.
Newspapers cover the shop’s front windows. Take-out menus mix with the fallen leaves along the street, serving as nostalgic reminders of the delights the restaurant once offered.
“It was cool,” said Jaime Plasencia. “I used to bring my girlfriends here. It was a quiet place to eat.”
Jahn’s had been in Richmond Hill since the 1930s, according to Richmond Hill historian Nancy Cataldi. The store, which mixed sweet treats with history, featured a nickelodeon piano and brass and copper soda fountains.
Plasencia said he came to the shop a few times when he was a youngster, but hadn’t been back in a while.
He described Jahn’s as “beautiful” and “old school,” adding it was a nice connection to the past because ice cream shops like this are not as common as they used to be.
“I’m sad to see them go,” Plasencia said. “They’ve been around for a long time.”
According to the Richmond Hill Historical Society web site, the first Jahn’s franchise opened in the Bronx in 1897 and quickly became a staple for New York youth.
Eventually Jahn’s locations opened in Queens and Brooklyn and were a destination for kids in the 1950s.
In the decades since, many have closed.
The only Jahn’s still open is located in Jackson Heights.
“You heard for the past year that they were struggling,” said Nick Moukas, co-owner of the Jackson Heights Jahn’s. “But you never thought it would happen.”
Moukas said he is sad that the Richmond Hill store closed, but he is looking forward to the challenge of being the only Jahn’s left to continue the tradition.
He added that for many, visiting the ice cream shop was an essential part of childhood.
“It was a part of life,” Moukas said. “After school, after the movies, after graduation you’d always go to Jahn’s for ice cream.”