Namaste
1202 Cortelyou RoadNamaste Restaurant (1202 Cortelyou Rd) opened in July 2022 in the same space occupied for 20 years by the popular Mexican restaurant, Cinco de Mayo. It had been a luncheonette and ice cream parlor for 30 years before then. From 1917 to 1930 it was a shoe store (H E Jones Shoe Shops and W. McPhee Shoes). Finally, its inaugural tenant from 1903 to 1916 was a famous dentist named Dr. Albert Stevenson.
Dr. Albert Henry Stevenson’s dad died in 1896 when Albert was 12. and he worked his way through dental school, setting up practice in the new building owned by his grandmother at the corner of Westminster & Cortelyou in 1906. He would also reside at 221 Westminster and 358 E 17th Street before his untimely death in 1920 after a brief illness. In 1926 the Dental Society of the State of NY named a medal in his honor which was presented to children who demonstrated the best technique in brushing their teeth and in 1940 Dr. Stevenson was among the first eleven dentists inducted into the Dental Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Bossert Hotel, a few blocks from where Albert was born. The second floor of 1202 Cortelyou continued as a dental office for many years, as evidenced by the 1940 photos below.
