Send hogs and kisses.
It’s a classic New Pork story, but that doesn’t make it any less of a pig deal: After 100 years of tendering loin, this Brooklyn butcher is done bringing home the bacon.
“To our patrons,” begins a heartfelt letter recently posted above a Zagat award, next to a ravioli advertisement and behind a large statue of an aproned pig in the front window of Carroll Gardens’ G. Esposito & Sons Jersey Pork Store. “April 10th will be our last day, it’s tough to say goodbye after 100 years. We thank you for your loyalty. Love, The Espositos.”
Neither The Post nor Eater, which first reported the impending closure, could confirm why the beloved hero-slinging holdout is hanging up the hogs for good.
The family-run pork chopper has been supplying Italian staples to the brownstone belt neighborhood since 1922, when the family patriarch — freshly immigrated from Naples — opened up shop on Columbia Street before later moving to the current location at 357 Court St.
The “Jersey” part of the name harkens back to Espositos’ early days, when all the swine they sold was sourced from New Jersey.
Today, the meat comes from the Carolinas, but the weathered red awning still loudly declares the Garden State’s name right above a white-lettered line about having catering, and the store’s 718 number.
Despite the shifting stock, the three-generation mom and pop spot has always prioritized freshness.
“So we sell a lot more of certain things and a lot less of certain other things but thanks God we’re still here and we’re doing okay,” George Esposito, who co-owns the brick and mortar mortadella seller with his brother, John Esposito, told Gothamist in 2015. “The secret to a business lasting nearly a hundred years is love. Love what you’re doing and put your heart and soul into it.”
The brothers have seen the writing on the butcher block for some time, though, that all the heart, soul and prosciutto di Parma in the world cannot save a landmark local vendor from the wrath of an ever more expensive real estate market.
“The future, unfortunately, is coming to an end,” George Esposito told Bklyner in 2019. “We are getting older. We’re here 100 years. Didn’t push our kids to take over the business, because the way the business is headed.”
“I have no idea how people can pay rent here,” John Esposito told Crain’s in 2012, adding that he was on his feet 12 hours a day and never had a Saturday off.
The neighborhood may soon be bereft of an irreplaceable gem, among the last of a dying breed in this ever-gentrifying town, but at least the man can soon sleep in on a Saturday.