Karbank Blog

Shortly after my father started Karbank Real Estate Company in 1950, he was asked by a client to manage some apartments in a less than desirable part of town.  On Thanksgiving Day that year, he received a phone call from the police saying that there had been an explosion in one of the apartments.  Hat in hand, he explained apologetically to my mother and the other guests at the Thanksgiving dinner that he had to leave to respond to an emergency.

It turned out that a deadbeat tenant at the apartment had skipped-out on his lease in the middle of the night and took the stove with him.  Not bothering to turn off the gas, the tenant plugged the gas line with a potato.  The inevitable explosion, which fortunately injured no one, resulted in my father enduring endless ribbing from family and friends about new recipes for potato-based dishes (flaming potato soufflé, flash roasted potatoes, potatoes baked Alaskan, instant French fries, etc.).  It also convinced my father to get out and stay out of managing residential real estate.

Steven Karbank