Abe Stark was a Jewish-American

American Jews

American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...

 businessman and politician. Born in New York City, he became a tailor

Tailor

A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...

 and owned a clothing store at 1514 Pitkin Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

.

A sign for Abe Stark's clothing store, placed directly under the Ebbets Field

Ebbets Field

Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...

 scoreboard in right-center field, told players “Hit Sign, Win Suit. Abe Stark. Brooklyn's Leading Clothier.” Any player to hit the sign with a fly ball would get a free suit from Abe's store.
Due to the fielding of Brooklyn Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

 right fielders Dixie Walker

Dixie Walker

Fred E. "Dixie" Walker was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees , Chicago White Sox , Detroit Tigers , Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates...

 and Carl Furillo

Carl Furillo

Carl Anthony Furillo , nicknamed "The Reading Rifle" and "Skoonj," was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...

, Stark awarded very few suits. It has been said that, as long as the sign was up, the only opposing player to hit the sign on the fly was Mel Ott

Mel Ott

Melvin Thomas Ott , nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants . Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...

 of the arch-rival New York Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

. What is known is that, upon the suggestion of a customer who pointed out how many free suits Furillo saved Stark from having to give, Stark gave Furillo a free suit.

Stark became so famous as a result of his sign, being seen first on movie newsreels and then on television, he was able to rise through City politics to serve as president of the city council

New York City Council

The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...

 from 1954 to 1961, and as borough president

Borough president

Borough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...

of Brooklyn from 1962 to 1970.

An Ice Skating rink on Surf Ave. in Brooklyn is named after Stark.