In the back of my mind I kind of know restaurants are disgusting, I just choose not to think about it because I need to eat. Even a fancy “A” rated restaurant has some seriously gross stuff going on. Restaurant grades are dolled out based on health code violations; an A restaurant can have no more than 13 points in their most recent inspection. For example, if a restaurant is found to have an ill employee in the kitchen they receive 10 points for the violation. So, an inspector can go to a restaurant, witness a sick person handling your food and that restaurant can still earn a top health rating. If you were eating while reading this article, go ahead and stop right now.
An opossum recently spotted in Greenpoint that I assume is freely allowed in our food storage facilities.
As gross as some aspects of eating out can be, a lot happens to your food before it even gets to your favorite restaurant. But don’t worry, Senator Chuck Schumer has added better food regulation to his plate.
Senator Schumer is asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review its policies and increase the amount of inspections to food distributors after discovering nasty stuff going on at a food distribution company based in Greenpoint. As reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the New Yung Wah Trading Co. headquarters, located at 311 Richardson Street, has big vermin control and storage problems at some of its warehouses. Continue reading →
Did you lose your wedding band on Nassau Avenue this past weekend? A Greenpointers reader found it and posted this ad on craigslist. We hope that it goes back to its rightful owner in time for Valentine’s Day!
Well, if you heard we’re in the throes of a serious winter blizzard. So while most of us should be home right now sipping a hot toddy and snuggling up on the couch, some of us are trudging home, hoping to snag a few essential items before Governor Cuomo’s travel ban goes into effect come 11 pm. By 11 pm all subway and buses will stop running and the Governor expects all non-essential vehicles to stay off the roads or expect a ticket.
The latest weather models now show Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx being some of the hardest hit with estimates of 24″ inches to 36″ of snow. Yikes! Supplies are dwindling fast at our local grocery and hardware stores, but if you need to get something essential Greenpointers has you covered for the time being. Continue reading →
Hey, hey Greenpoint! We’re already three weeks into 2015 and a lot has gone down, some of it good, some of it ugly, and some of it downright funny. In the spirit of community, Greenpointers is happy to announce the addition of Word on the Curb—the latest source of juicy gossip lifted off the street and out of your lips.
So without further adieu, let’s tackle some issues plaguing Greenpointers these days: Continue reading →
Well, folks, Greenpoint has its own “bandit.” DNAinfo reported this supreme loser is a “mustachioed bandit… a hungry hipster with an eye for fashion.” On January 1st, he stole an “A.P.C topcoat, estimated to be worth $600, a pair of Oliver Peoples sunglasses, which usually go for $400, and a Jack Spade wallet filled with credit cards, from the stylish Mediterranean eatery Anella.” The next day, in a display of epic genius, the suspect purchased groceries with stolen credit cards at the Manhattan Ave C-Town.
If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or go to their website.
New Warsaw Bakery. Photo credit: Wojtek Maslanka via Nowy Dziennik
Move over bread, something new is cooking at 866-868 Lorimer Street home to the famed New Warsaw Bakery. Right before the turn of the New Year, the Swidzinski family, who provided Greenpointers with tasty bread for the past 20 years, and the Cisek family of the neighboring Brooklyn Electric Co, inked a deal with Chatham Developers to sell their spaces to make way for, you guessed it, more luxury condos. Continue reading →
For all of you who felt so left out when Citi Bike didn’t include your beloved Greenpoint in its initial bike share launch, they will be expanding soon to a block near you. Come find out all about it tonight (1/13) at Community Board 1′s “Learn About Citi Bike” event at Swinging 60′s Senior Center (211 Ainslie St) at 6:30pm.
NYCDOT will present and NYC Bike Share staff will be on hand to answer questions about Citi Bike’s expansion in Brooklyn’s Community Board 1.
And for those of you who don’t need to commute using Citi Bikes, there is always impromptu spinning…
John Reardon is getting ready to tattoo a woman in her mid-twenties when I arrive early at the Greenpoint Tattoo Company for our interview. It is a Saturday afternoon, and a cheery song by Of Montreal is playing over the speakers. The walls are covered in framed prints of tattoos, and a book by Reardon on the subject rests near a stack of Vice magazines. The woman has brought along a guy friend for moral support, but the process goes so quickly that she doesn’t even have time to grimace.
After a few moments, the woman gets up to check her arm in the mirror, proclaims the tattoo to be “awesome,” and leaves to meet friends for brunch at Slick Willie a few blocks away. Since John’s schedule is packed today, with another appointment in fifteen minutes, I turn on my recorder and we dive right into the questions. Continue reading →
Is this what you want Barge Park to look like? Photo rendering: NYC City Planning
Parks. Everybody loves them. They are green, full of trees, and the perfect escape for people seeking refuge from NYC’s concrete jungle. But these days the word ‘park’ is unfortunately a matter of semantics. According some, tossing some green astroturf on the ground, installing a couple of plastic benches along a cement walkway, and sprinkling a couple of real plants here and there for good measure is considered a park.
We all know Greenpoint is hardly green, but thanks to the infusion of developer money and some motivated city officials, we are about to get two brand spanking new parks. How they look and smell, well…that’s where we come in. Continue reading →
Ok, let’s be real, Greenpoint. We all ate and drank ourselves into oblivion during the holidays and now that 2015 is here, it’s New Year Resolutions time! But as usual, they are going to be challenged. Hey, we all like to indulge as much as the next guy, but it wouldn’t hurt to start this year off on the right track and actually finish what we start. Easier said than done, right? Fortunately, owner and health coach Dy from Human@Ease has a program that guides people through the process of getting fit, focused and committed; as a result, it’s a lot less intimidating… and it works! Continue reading →
