Introduction
For the full history of this address, see Central Cafe — 629 Ferry Avenue.
In 1954 Jean Mihalick and Bronislawa Wardach acquired the Central Cafe from Samuel Wasiluk and renamed it Cindy’s Central Cafe. In 1961 Samuel Berelman acquired the bar and operated it briefly as Cindy’s Bar. In partnership with Raymond Payton and Joan Payton, 629 Ferry Avenue operated as Payton’s Place until 1972, when it was renamed The Velvet Lounge. In 1967 Flash Wilson, who was still working in bars as late as 1999, was managing Payton’s Place.
Samuel Berelman died in the summer of 1976 after a lengthy illness. The Paytons held the real estate, but apparently not the license, and that appears to have spelled the end of the bar at 629 Ferry Avenue. In the spring of 1977, the State of New Jersey took the land on Ferry Avenue which the bar had stood, and everything else on Ferry Avenue between the railroad tracks and Master Street, to build Interstate I-676.