Honoring Lamuel Stanislaus (and Hell, Zell way to CRUSH it!)

It's not that I don't THINK about blog-posting every day. I do, I do. And yet, at this busy time of the work and school year, I find myself feeling guilty for indulging my hobby. For instance, so much to say about the changing of rent regulations. Like, watching our newly elected State Senator absolutely crush it...I mean, taking the lead after only days in office, to help sponsor and deliver some of the most important tenant protections in decades. Big, big stuff. Hope you've been following. More on Zell Myrie when I finally get a chance to sit down with him. Thank the Lord we chose the right candidate in that race.

In the meantime, how cool is it to learn about a guy who you probably never met, who did so much for Flatbush and the Grenadian specifically and Caribbean community generally, getting a street named after him and all that? Thx be to Liat Weinstein at the ever-amazing BKLYNR for this delightful and informative read.

Photo and story by Liat Weinstein in BKLYNR

Lamuel used to lay awake at night wondering whether he could pay a $99 a month mortgage for a brick row house situated on Rutland Rd. between Flatbush and Bedford Avenues, his son Eugene Stanislaus remembered.

On Saturday, June 15, 65 years after Lamuel A. Stanislaus purchased the home that kept him up at night, the corner of Flatbush Ave. and Rutland Rd. in Prospect Lefferts was renamed in honor of his contributions to the Caribbean-American community of central Brooklyn. The renaming ceremony brought together family, community members and elected officials to celebrate Stanislaus’ career as a Grenadian diplomat and dentist and featured speeches by those close to him.

Stanislaus’ legacy remains scattered across Brooklyn— through his work on the West Indian Day Parade, an annual celebration of Caribbean culture that draws more than two million participants to Eastern Parkway, and Brooklyn Heights Dental, a family practice he founded in 1956. Yet Stanislaus is most often remembered as an emissary of Grenadian culture in his role as Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations, a position he held from 1985-1990 and again from 1996-2004.

“We grew up on this block, this is where we were raised, with just a terrific father and a terrific mother, always emphasized family and giving all the glory to God was also part of his mantra,” Eugene Stanislaus said. “He was always very active in Caribbean-American politics and he was one of the original founders of the West Indian Day Carnival […] He was involved from the very beginning, organizing the police to come and oversee and the event, and was the first one to attract the politicians to come to the event.”

And as Paul Harvey might say, here's THE REST OF THE STORY.