Happy weekend Greenpointers!
A special Pride weekend edition of the McCarren Park gatherings will go down with a socially distant dance party hosted by Black Lives Matter Friday at 7 p.m., one month after the nightly gatherings started. A drag queen-led bike ride ahead of the dance party will begin at Maria Hernandez Park at 5:30 p.m. arriving in Greenpoint around 7 p.m..
There’s also public health stats to celebrate today. NY reported the U.S.’s lowest coronavirus infection rate on Friday, following five days of NYC’s Phase 2 reopening. The city achieves Phase 3 status on July 6th when restaurants can return to indoor dining at up to 50% capacity. NYC Parks will also see the return of nets for the reopening of basketball, tennis and handball courts. Masks or face coverings and social distancing are still required to keep transmission of the virus low.
A number of community-led volunteer garbage cleanups will take place this weekend including a Transmitter Park cleanup Saturday at 10 a.m. and a McCarren Park cleanup Sunday at 12 p.m. All volunteers are welcome in helping out and are encouraged to wear face coverings and to bring a garbage bag and gloves (a volunteer cleanup ending at Greenpoint Landing collected 40 bags last weekend).
The kiddos will also have their time in the park this weekend. A Kid’s Peace Movement march is planned with a kickoff rally in McCarren Park Saturday at 11 a.m. Later on Saturday, the 7 p.m. gathering will honor recent graduates complete with “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Have a happy and safe Pride weekend and in the meantime catch up on this week’s headlines from around the neighborhood:
- Meet Riley Goodside, the public health poster child for pandemic NYC. (Greenpointers)
- North Brooklyn’s primary election results leave a number of races up in the air while absentee ballots are counted. (Greenpointers)
- Pueblo Querido opened a second shop in Williamsburg outfitted with impressive Colombian artistry. (Greenpointers)
- Royal Hawaiian Shave Ice is offering a colorful cool-down treat in Greenpoint. (Greenpointers)
- Under the K Bridge Park will be ready in just a few weeks. (Greenpointers)
- Outdoor dining in NYC has ‘full block potential,’ closed to traffic on weekends. (NY1)
- Bedford Cheese Shop is now closed on Bedford Avenue but the Manhattan location remains open. (Greenpointers)
- Mike’s Hot Honey is now offering free dip cups for pizzerias. (Greenpointers)
- Meet Linda Minucci, a native Greenpointer who is up for reelection, holding onto her seat for decades. (Greenpointers)
- Blue Hill Farms is expanding its pickup area to include Greenpoint. (Greenpointers)
- Empty Hotels could be reimagined as affordable housing. (The CITY)
- Levain Bakery’s first Brooklyn location will open on N 4 Street in Williamsburg July 1st. (Greenpointers)
- NYC Marathon is canceled this year due to, you guessed it, coronavirus. (BK Reader)
- A 30-year-old man was shot and killed outside of Williamsburg Houses on Tuesday. (NY Post)
- Could an East River bridge for pedestrians and cyclists work? (NY Times)
- Permits were filed for a four-story residential building at 204 Withers St. (NY YIMBY)