After reading Stanley Kaplan’s autobiography “Test Pilot” I became interested in discovering the exact location of the first “Stanley H. Kaplan Educational Center.” The book describes how Kaplan began teaching in the basement of his home before moving to a dedicated office nearby.
A few days of sleuthing through old phone books revealed the address of that first educational center – 1701 Quentin Road in Brooklyn. Here’s a scan from a 1965 Brooklyn phone directory :
The scan is a bit blurry, but thankfully Stanley paid for some added visibility! The second address, 3931 Bedford Avenue, was Kaplan’s residence.
Here’s how Kaplan describes his decision to expand beyond his Bedford Avenue basement and open his first center:
Note how, Kaplan refers to the center being on East Seventeenth street rather than being on Quentin Road. That’s technically correct, as the building was actually on the corner of Quentin Road and East Seventeenth. Here’s a look at the building in 2022, from Google Maps:
There is a small entrance just around the corner on the left side of the building. That’s likely the one that was used by Kaplan’s students. Here’s an image from 2024:
I don’t know precisely when Kaplan opened this center (his autobiography just says it happened “one day”), but it was operating as early as 1961, when he placed this message in the yearbook of the Yeshiva University High School for Boys:
Stanley was evidentially successful, as a second Kaplan Educational center was soon opened one block away at 1675 East 16th Street in Brooklyn. Below is an advertisement placed in The Fordham Ram in 1969 which mentions that address. It is worth mentioning that before this time Kaplan “eschewed direct advertising” and “found print advertising distasteful” (source).
The East 16th street location is described in “Test Pilot” thusly:
The text indicates that he opened this location in 1967. It is also referred to in “The Big Test” by Nicholas Lemann. Here is a picture of the location in 2022:
At some point, the center left this spot and moved two doors down to the old bank building at 1602 Kings Highway and operated from there until at least 2015, according to some Yelp Reviews. Here’s a photo from 2011:
Note the Kaplan signage at bottom left and top center. In images from 2024 you can still make out remnants of the Kaplan signage up top – the only trace of Kaplan’s 50-year presence in this neighborhood.
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As a special bonus, here’s a listing from a 1959 phone directory for Stanley Kaplan’s father, Julius Kaplan:
In “Test Pilot” Stanley Kaplan refers both to growing up on Avenue K and to his father’s work as a plumber. He also mentions that as a young man he taught his very first classes in the basement of that family home.