Weismantel's Showboat [1936-1997] (Gone)

Brooklyn, New York

Weismantel's Showboat was a "casino restaurant" (i.e. banquet hall) shaped like an ocean liner. Built in 1936 to replace owner John Weismantel's old hotel, it was described on its postcards as "something new and smart for refined people" with "three Broadway revues nightly." Despite its nautical exterior, the Showboat did not brag about its seafood. The boat was officially the "Gladys W.," named after Weismantel's daughter.

Weismantel was a boxing promoter who dropped dead in 1938. His family ran the place until it was sold to Mickey Alan, a singing waiter who also had boxing connections. The place operated as Mickey Alan's Showboat from 1966 until it went up in flames in 1997.

While tearing down the Showboat ruins for a supermarket in 1999, workers discovered a brick-arched sub-basement that ran from a hidden entrance in the kitchen to Cypress Hills Cemetery across the street. Weismantel may have used it to smuggle booze into the hotel during Prohibition.