Though best known for representing Massachusetts for 47 years in the Senate, Ted Kennedy was also known to gourmands in Brooklyn Heights.
In June, 2001, Kennedy and his niece Caroline dined at the now-defunct (but well-remembered) La Bouillabaisse on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights — invited there by owner Neil Ganic, who had met Kennedy previously.
Our legendary photographer Tom Callan — the Weegee of Brooklyn Heights — was naturally on hand. He picks up the story from there:
“They had dinner, I took photos, and everyone left, except for Sen. Kennedy,” Callan recalled on Wednesday, hours after the senator’s death was reported around the world.
“At that point, it was just myself and Kennedy standing on the sidewalk on Atlantic Avenue. Kennedy told me he needed to get to the airport. I told him he had two choices: a car service right next door or he could grab a yellow cab on Clinton Street.
“He asked me to walk with him to Clinton Street, he flagged down a cab and off he went.”
Callan never saw Kennedy in the flesh again.
