Exclusive | Junior's celebrates 75 years of getting opinionated, politically divided New Yorkers to agree on at least one thing

"New York's got no shortage of landmarks, each one recognized the world over. The Empire State Building. The Statue of Liberty. Rockefeller Center. And a slice of Junior's cheesecake. This week marks 75 years since one of the Big Apple's most beloved addresses first opened its doors in Downtown Brooklyn. Almost ever since, opinionated New Yorkers of all stripes have been able to find common ground, and a good meal, under the iconic neon sign at the corner at Flatbush and DeKalb Aves."

""It's the quintessential New York restaurant," three-term borough president Marty Markowitz, 80, and a fan since the age of 17, told The Post. "If I was going on a second date with someone, I'd take them there." Everybody shows up at Junior's. Back in his late-90s Hizzoner heyday, former mayor Rudy Giuliani called the restaurant "one of the tastes that makes the city what it is.""

""There's people I meet who say, 'My parents went on their first date at Junior's' or 'I had my high school graduation there,'" Alan Rosen, third-generation owner whose grandfather Harry first opened Junior's in the autumn of 1950, told The Post. "It's an honor, quite frankly.'" The restaurant might have ended up being just another noshery in a city full of them - but the New York-style cheesecake really made the place stand out."

Junior's opened in Downtown Brooklyn in autumn 1950 and has operated under three generations of the Rosen family. The restaurant sits beneath an iconic neon sign at Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues and functions as a gathering spot for diverse New Yorkers, including politicians, entertainers, and longtime patrons celebrating milestones. The signature New York-style cheesecake sits on a sponge-cake crust and is made with full-fat cream cheese; the bakery uses about four million pounds of cream cheese annually. The cheesecake achieved citywide fame and attracted acclaim from food critics, while the establishment became intertwined with Brooklyn cultural life and personal memories across generations.

Read at New York Post