It’s been a busy year for Five Leaves owner Jud Mongell. In January his ever-popular Greenpoint eatery went bicoastal with the launch of L.A. Chapter, a Five Leaves-inspired restaurant at Ace Hotel LA.
Only three months later and another Five Leaves spin-off is already up and running, this time a little closer to home in the form of Five Leaves Crate, a pop-up cafe in collaboration with Rough Trade NYC (64 North 9th St). Continue reading →
We found out over the weekend that John McGillion, the owner of Lulu’s, is suing his landlord, Guard General Merchandise Corp, for not allowing him to turn the establishment into a gay bar. McGillion told the Post that gay-ifying the bar would boost his customer base and raise profits, allowing him to survive in the now quite competitive Greenpoint nightlife market.
But apparently the lease has a specific homophobic clause forbidding this: “The leased Premises shall be used by Tenant as a restaurant and bar. It shall not be used for adult entertainment and shall not be operated as a gay or lesbian bar and/or restaurant.” Just the grouping of “adult entertainment” and “gay bar” is ridiculous/offensive, but so is including this level of discrimination in a legal document. What if the lease prohibited the bar from catering to blacks or Jews? Imagine that outrage that would cause. Continue reading →
Yesterday morning I decided to go for a run along the river, and I thought to myself Oh hey! I think it’s warm enough to don my shorts today! After finding them in the bottom drawer buried under sweatshirts and long johns, I put on my running shorts, laced up my sneakers, and ran out the door. Down the sidewalk I bounded, happy to feel the sunshine on my skin for the first time this season. Along the way, I stopped to tie my shoe, and, in doing so, came face to face with my bare shins. Gasp! They were looking pretty shabby and neglected—pale, dry, and in need of some TLC. After wrapping up my run, I wrote to my friend and neighbor Adina Grigore (of S.W. Basics) to ask if she had any good skincare recipes to get me glowing again. Well of course she did! And in no time I had a recipe for a gentle exfoliating mask made from simple, basic ingredients (and on a sidenote, it actually sounds like it could be good on a slice of toast!).
I’ve said it before, I only go to Manhattan to visit the dentist, since finding a new dentist is the only thing more painful than going into “the city.” Otherwise I’m very content to stay on this landmass we know as Long Island and within the confines of the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. But travel between the two sometimes illogically results in “having” to go through Manhattan.
With development on the East River waterfront outpacing transportation solutions, commuting remains a hugely unanswered question. In Greenpoint, with much complained about G service (which is only going to get worse before it gets better) and still no East River Ferry service at India St on the known horizon, maybe it isn’t too cockamamy of an idea to imagine a self powered wireless street car that runs along the Queens and Brooklyn waterfront between Astoria and Red Hook. Continue reading →
Can you keep a secret? The Lost Lectures will be in New York City next Friday, April 25th. No, The Lost Lectures isn’t the Indiana Jones film that George Lucas left on the cutting room floor. It’s an emergent series of cutting edge speakers, performances, interactive demos and art installations. Originally from London, The Lost Lectures’s have partnered with Hyperallergic for its New York City debut. Continue reading →
Curbed tipped us off to this offensive map of stereotypes and cliches around the city, created by Joe Larson and posted on his blog, Judgemental Maps. Greenpoint is dominated by “OIL SPILL, Polish People, and Really Cool Coffee Shop”– not a terrible summary. Best of all though is the “Nuclear Industral (spelled wrong) Cesspool.” Even if the makers of this map couldn’t spell the word “industrial,” they did label Newtown Creek as “Mutant Alligators,” which is entirely accurate. If you’re offended, remind yourself that this is a map of STEREOTYPES, not accurate statistical facts.
Once again, we had a super successful market last weekend! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate the season, lounge on the roof deck, and shop for local goods from our fabulous vendors. And special thanks to Yuka Miyata for doing an amazing job organizing it all! Check out market photos here.
Also remember the awesome flowery photo booth that we had upstairs? The photos have arrived and we learned that the attractive level of Greenpointers is ridiculously high. Thanks to Gus Ponce for manning the camera! You can see the results here and tag yourselves!
And now, I’ve made some high school yearbook-style category winners, for your viewing pleasure: Continue reading →
Tomorrow (Sat 4/19) is Record Store Day. This annual event is held at independent record stores all over the country and further afield. It offers many exclusive releases, in store performances, and other fun goodies. Since we have several awesome record stores in our neighborhood, we put together a little resource about what’s happening at each one this weekend. Continue reading →
Many of you might be familiar with the nearby Huxley Envelope building, a fixture sight on the waterfront and an identifier of Greenpoint across the soiled waters of the East River.
Remediation Site Map
But what you might not know is that the entire building and surrounding land could be demolished, as a result of a major brownfield cleanup run by the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), which will purge the area of what they refer to as “hazardous waste and/or petrolium.” An official report found that the cleanup will not post a significant threat to public health …but more on that later. Basically the remediation is going to detox the shitty/toxic soil embedded on our deceivingly pretty waterfront, which I’m sure we can all agree, is a good thing. I mean, this soil has to get clean at some point; that’s the whole idea of a Superfund site. Continue reading →
It’s another night packed with several noteworthy shows. There’s also a new EP by a Greenpoint band Zebros I want to tell you about. Continue reading →
