The Joseph Brothers: Elder Statesmen of Fulton

The Joseph Brothers opened F + S Tires in 1985, making their business one of the oldest on Fulton Street in Fort Greene.

The three brothers from Haiti, Fequiere, Cernol and Scern, endured many rough years repairing tires before the neighborhood rebounded into what it is today.

Now, F + S Tires seems somewhat out of place on the block between S. Oxford Street and S. Portland Avenue, which has the restaurant, the wine store, and beer garden nearby.

But the Josephs built a dedicated following over 26 years of business, and have no plans to move from their premium location at S. Oxford Street despite constant offers for their building.

“I’m proud when someone talks about Fulton because I know what it was like when it was bad,” Fequiere Joseph said.

He added that back in 1991, when he immigrated from Haiti to Brooklyn to help run the business, the neighborhood was so sketchy that cab drivers refused to drop passengers off there.

“It was a mess!” he said. “Anything you wanted you could get for $5 right at this corner. Women, crack — anything! You did not want to be here after 6 p.m.”

In the 1990s the brothers would begin the day by collecting 30 empty bottles of Colt 45 left there overnight.

“I’m glad the neighborhood became what it is today,” Fequiere Joseph said.

But he bristles at the suggestion — one that he says is often expressed to him — that F +S Tires business does not belong.

“We were the first here! But now they want us gone, say we don’t fit,” he said. “But I’m here, they can’t put me out.”