Happy Weekend Greenpointers! On Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a crackdown on crowds in NYC parks with the NYPD now limiting the number of visitors to Domino Park.
The first distribution of the Food for Brooklyn food pantry is Saturday (today) from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the First Polish Baptist Church (55 Sutton St.).
Beloved restaurants and cafes continued to reopen this week with limited hours for the first time since the start of the pandemic, including Adelina’s (159 Greenpoint Ave.), Bakeri (105 Freeman St.), Ovenly (31 Greenpoint Ave.), Vamos Al Tequila (162 Franklin St.), Five Leaves ( 18 Bedford Ave.) and Jimmy’s Diner (577 Union Ave.).
On Sunday, the McGolrick Park Farmers Market is open from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. for those looking to find a ‘fresh’ last minute gift for Mother’s Day. Homecoming (107 Franklin St.) is also taking Mother’s Day orders for contactless pickup and delivery.
The 94th Precinct remains on the trail of the suspected storefront window smasher after a series of Greenpoint businesses were targeted.
Stay safe out there, or preferably in there, and in the meantime, catch up on this week’s headlines from around the neighborhood:
Construction on the Greenpoint Library has resumed. (Greenpointers)
North Brooklyn Mutual Aid has grown to over 500 volunteers helping neighbors during the coronavirus crisis. (Greenpointers)
Meet the founder of Greenpoint Cidery and find how business has changed in our weekly spotlight. (Greenpointers)
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is canceled for the first time since WWII. (Greenpointers)
Owner of Headrush Barbershop Gustavo Montenegro has started to see customers in his home as his business is considered ‘non-essential. ‘(NY 1)
A 26-story hotel and office building is planned for 107 S 6th St. where a four-story building currently stands. (NY YIMBY)
Rock climbing gym Brooklyn Boulders takes legal action to get out of a Williamsburg lease. (The Real Deal)
This East Williamsburg suit maker is now a mask and gown maker. (Brooklyn Paper)
A Greenpoint artist is turning her apartment windows into an art gallery. (Time Out)
Tacombi in Williamsburg was flooded by hungry patrons on Cinco de Mayo. (Eater)
Controversy is growing over social distancing arrests in Brooklyn. (Gothamist)
The recent news about the plight of workers in mid-west meat-processing plants, workers who are coming down with the virus and dying as a result of unsafe working conditions, made me wonder if we do not have something similar in Greenpoint.
When I used to visit the huge Acme Fish processing plant on their retail “fish Fridays”, I could not help but notice the many workers going in & out of the hidden fish processing areas.
Is the plant still operating? Are the workers as safe and protected as possible? Have precautions been taken to keep workers apart? Have they been provided with the proper protective equipment such as masks, gloves and face shields? Are they being tested? Can they take paid sick leave and quarantine if they are ill? Or are they forced to choose beween starvation and risking the lives of their fellow employees?
This might be an excellent place for a journalist to investigate, to interview workers, etc. — especially with regard to low-wage and immigrant employees who might be afraid to speak up. They, their families, and the wider community need to be safe.
Workers cannot be sacrificial lemming “warriors” for self-serving President Bone Spurs, as he yells “full speed ahead” amid the Covid-19 icebergs that are still all around us.