In 1954 Jack & Maria Crifasi, along with their first son, Vincenzo, came to the United States to attain the American Dream. They settled in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Soon afterwards, they opened a fruit and vegetable store on Knickerbocker Avenue. In 1955, Jack and Marie had Salvatore, and in 1961 their third son, Joseph. Between operating a fruit store and raising three young children, they also opened two other establishments, a butcher store and a deli on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City. The three boys helped out at these family stores. They were the stock boys, cashiers, cleanup crew and anything else they needed to pitch in and help out. To this day customers still come in to the offices reminiscing about the fruit store on Knickerbocker Avenue or a story about the old days.
Things were different in those times. Most extended families lived within a few blocks from each other, even lived in the same building. By the mid 1960’s Jack and Maria decided to get out of the food business and Jack became a Union Laborer. Around that time they purchased an Eight-family house on Stockholm St., in which they lived on the first floor. After purchasing other investment properties in 1969 they moved to a detached one family in Middle Village. Moving from Brooklyn to Queens was like moving to the suburbs back then. Like many other communities in Queens, Middle Village had that old-town feeling. Some of that charm and character definitely still exists in Queens today.
Fast forward to 1974, Salvatore Crifasi obtained his real estate salesperson license. Within 5 years, in 1979 he became a Broker and opened up his own office on Metropolitan Avenue off of Forest Avenue in Ridgewood. At that time, that section of Metropolitan Avenue was part of Maspeth and the area code was 212. That same year, Joseph Crifasi received his real estate salesperson license and also worked at that the office while pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Business at St. Francis College. In 1982, Crifasi Real Estate opened its second location at 79-45 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. The following year they expanded the business by obtaining a NYS Mortgage Brokers License. In 1998, after 19 years, they relocated the Ridgewood office to its current location at 62-70 Fresh Pond Road. They solidified their market area in Brooklyn with the opening of a Williamsburg Office in 2002.
In 2003, Crifasi Real Estate expanded their Middle Village office and added additional retail and residential spaces. One years later, in 2004, Salvatore’s son, Sal Joseph, received his Real Estate License while pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. Instead of continuing in the field of Engineering, Sal Joseph stuck with Real Estate and became an Associate Broker with the intention of following in his Father and Uncle’s footsteps. In 2014 Crifasi Real Estate moved its Brooklyn office to 313 Graham Avenue.
Since 1974, Crifasi Real Estate has helped thousands of people attain the American Dream in every aspect of Residential and Commercial Real Estate. Crifasi Real Estate provides professional services to our clients and customers with integrity and a personal touch. We hope to provide you with the same service in the near future.