121 Year Old Great Neck Monument Establishment Built on Heartfelt Trust and Love

When you think of a family-run monument company that has been in business since 1904, most people would assume that the business is slow to move with the times, stuck in their old ways that still work, and possibily, just maybe, has a computer with MS Windows 2003 built in equipped with Internet dial-up. Sorry, not the case.

Shastone Memorials on Northern Boulevard in Great Neck is a 121-year-old monument establishment that continues to work with mourning families who want to order a tasteful stone for their loved one who has recently passed away. Formerly known as "Shastone Monuments," when they were located in a thriving East Village neighborhood at 217 East Houston Street (East Village) in Manhattan until 1999, Shastone Memorials understands that grieving families have just spent thousands on pre-funeral and funeral arrangements and expenses. In addition to the East Village showroom, the Haskel family had a Shastone showroom on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, as well as a thriving plant also in Brooklyn at Harrison Place and Ingraham Street.

For all these years, the business has been done with heart and care, adhering to the wishes of families from all faiths, not just Jewish. They have prospered by adapting to the times and have expanded far and wide, offering online orders throughout Long Island, the New York City tri-state region, and into Connecticut and New Jersey. This is all due to the ownership of Mr. Russell Rosen, who bought Shastone in 1995 from the Haskel family.

"Shastone is still a family-run business, but now built for the 21st Century," said Russell. "We made a promise to the Haskel family to run the business as a family-run business, and today we can help families throughout the tri-state area, from Long Island to New Jersey and everyone in between."

Yes, there are many places selling granite stones that cater to every kind of religion and background, but a company that has been doing this for 121 years? To find the answer, you have to dive back 121 years to Mr. (Aaron) Simon Haskell, the founder of Shastone. A Russian immigrant granite cutter, Mr. Haskel, came to America right after the turn of the 20th Century with his wife Fannie; they had ten children.

The Haskels lived on 110th Street in Manhattan, and when Simon began Shastone Memorials, as S. Haskel & Sons in 1904, when Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House, the Olympic Games were in St. Louis, and it was the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. The Haskel family has furnished granite for monuments and building structures for many generations. Simon immigrated to America in 1904 and continued his craftsmanship. After establishing himself in the granite industry, he formed a company and began importing granite from Europe, particularly from Sweden and Germany. He was the founder of the largest granite fabricating plant on the East Coast of the United States.

Simon's company was awarded contracts to furnish and erect the granite for such edifices as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Theodore Roosevelt State Memorial (now known as the Museum of Natural History), the President Warren G. Harding Memorial, and numerous outstanding buildings in Washington, D.C. In addition to the building industry, S. Haskel and Sons were the largest supplier of granite to the monument industry and established a retail monument outlet known as Shastone Memorials. Because of its individuality and personalized nature, each Shastone memorial is handcrafted.

"Being part of the history of our beautiful city where we supplied granite for some of the most historical structures, like the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, is something to be very proud of," said Russell.

Simon, who passed away in 1927 at the age of either 60 or 61, according to the 1910 US Census, passed the business down to his son William Haskel (1897-1965), and then William passed it down to his son Arnold Haskel. It was Arnold who then sold the business to the Rosens in 1995, now celebrating 30 years of ownership.

Mr. Rosen, who is married with two daughters, bought the business from Arnold Haskel, the son of William Haskel, who ran the business during the early to mid-1900s and acquired it from his father, Simon. Mr. Rosen promised Arnold 30 years ago that he would keep up the "family-run" flavor of Shastone, a promise he made in stone...or I should say granite.

They cannot be compared to production line, ready-made memorials. Today, their Great Neck showroom showcases the creativity of their ideas, and to do so in a manner that is both human and appropriate, expressing the customer's feelings and sentiments through a timeless, everlasting Granite stone.

Shastone Memorials remains a family-owned business, operated by Marvin, Laurel, and Russell Rosen. With great pride, the Rosen family carries on Shastone Memorials' long-established reputation for only the finest in Memorial Art, and they keep the family taste of the 121-year-old monument business.