10 Things To Do in Brooklyn On Your Labor Day Staycation

Staycationing on a holiday weekend is sheer bliss for crowd wary Brooklynites. Restaurants are empty. The streets are calm. No stress to get out of or back into the city. So don’t be bummed if your friends donn’t invite you to their douchey rental on Fire Island or your boyfriend decides to go on a dude camping trip.

Brooklyn is yours this weekend!

10 Things To Do in Brooklyn On Your Labor Day Staycation

1. “Have fun with the folks, I’ll be drinking this Old Fashioned, baby!” Start off the weekend in the right spirit, with the right spirits. While you’re sipping an expertly made cocktail, laugh at the idea of sitting in tunnel traffic with your girlfriend’s annoying dog whining in your ear.  Try Brooklyn Social in Carroll Gardens (335 Smith St), Dutch Kills in Long Island City or The Richardson in Greenpoint.

2. How about a movie? If you’re not too cool to watch blockbuster Hollywood films, then you have to watch Batman The Dark Night Rises this weekend! Take the East River Ferry to Kips Bay Theatre on 2nd Ave & 34th St. If you’re worried you’ll get bedbugs, check out Searching for Sugarman at Nighthawk, which is the best story you’ve never heard.

3. Picnic! We have all fallen in love with the newly opened WNYC Transmitter Park at the end of Greenpoint Ave. That weeping willow is a stunner! Pick up a Cheddar and Chutney Sandwich from Eastern District or get a picnic pack to go from Lobster Joint. When you want some sweet, Ovenly’s Peanut Butter Cookies are rated the best in NYC by Time Out. Need a good read? Head over to WORD (126 Franklin St) and pick up a copy of Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World’s Most Polluted Places.

4. Epic Ride. All your friends are doing it!  Pump up your tires, get your shammy butter out and take a long ride to Coney Island or Rockaway Beach. While in Coney Island do two things for me. 1. Get whiplash on the Cyclone! 2. Get a square slice from L&B. In Rockaway, eat along the boardwalk and grab a kite from The Kite Machine.

5. Check out some music on Saturday! Ride over the Pulaski Bridge to LIC on Saturday for PS1 Warm Up with James Holden, Kassem Mosse, Om Unit, Silent Diane. You can’t miss Wendy, the giant blue smog eating architectural installation. Not heavy enough? Pentagram, Agnostic Front, Poison Idea, Negative Approach and Xibalba are playing the Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave). More into the DIY scene? Check out Muchmore’s line-up (2 Havemeyer St): Celestial Shore, Strange Shapes, Leapling, Half Waif.

6. EAT FANCY! Think about it: you aren’t wasting money on gas or plane tickets so treat yourself to a fancy pants meal and keep it local. In Bushwick, Northeast Kingdom (18 Wyckoff Ave) always delivers right from the farm. Try the Broccoli Salad, which is tempura and pickled broccoli on a puree of broccoli. They should call it Broccoli Heaven.

7. Go for a run! If you’re like me, you’re always complaining that you don’t get enough exercise. So close your laptop and get off your butt. There won’t be as much truck fumes filling your lungs on Wythe Ave. Or take a more tree lined route up Driggs to the McCarren Park running track. Feeling heroic? Head down to Kent Ave to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Listen to a really long song on your ipod to make the time go faster. My favorite is Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I know it’s corny but its like 13 minutes long! Reward your efforts with a New Orleans Style Iced Coffee from Blue Bottle. Not into running? Break out your roller blades! All the cool people will be out of town so you don’t have to be embarrassed. Just don’t forget your fanny pack!

8. Prepare a fresh local brunch. There are three amazing local markets in the area: Saturday at McCarren Park & Cooper and McGolrick Parks on Sunday. You can get everything you need to make a delicious brunch from the eggs to the bacon to the potatoes. We recently had Lincoln Restler over for brunch a made sauteed zucchinis, fried potatoes with carrots seasoned with steak seasoning and simple fried eggs. Easy and delicious. Remember to compost! (Podcast coming soon!)

9. BBQ not a to do! BBQs should be just easy and laid back, but the inner hostess in you gets all anal about everything, right? Calm down and say to yourself: “I’m just going to go out back and light up the grill. Whoever shows up shows up.” If only it were that easy! Who to invite? Scroll down and invite the last 10 people whom you texted or called – those are your favorite friends. Tell them to bring whatever and whomever. Need meat? Turkey burgers! Get ground turkey from DiPaola Turkey Farm at the McCarren Green Market on Saturdays. Want to know the secret to great turkey burgers? CUMIN! On Sunday Brooklyn Cured sets up at McGolrick Park Farmers Market and has tons of sausage. Or just take a short cut and pick up BBQ Pulled Pork from the Meat Hook!

10. Call your parents, or if you’re lucky to still have them, your grandparents! Or call someone who you never have time to talk to.

Staying in Brooklyn for Labor Day? What are you plans for the weekend?