If checking your list twice (or even thrice) has you feeling burnt out, we’ve compiled a list of very Greenpoint-y things for even the pickiest recipient you’re shopping for this year. Secure your holiday gifts and support local businesses at the same time. Win-win.
Disco ball diffuser
For the essential oil lover (ideally not the pyramid scheme kind) in your life, or, alternatively, just someone suffering from NYC radiator heat, Lockwood has a disco ball diffuser to make humidifying a party with both rotating and color-changing options.
Olive candle
Leave it to Big Night to have a gift for the dirty martini lover who has everything. Their olive-shaped candle made in collaboration with culinary-shaped-candle aficionados Nata Concept Store boasts a neroli, jasmine, and orange blossom scent and is the perfect addition to any bar cart. (They also sell an olive pillow, olive taper candle, and other shaped candles like pasta and butter.)
Trash can pen holder
Here’s a gift that doubles as a soft nudge for someone to get their life together. OnlyNY‘s trash can pen holder made for City of New York Department of Sanitation will not promise to magically transform any messy desks, but it can at least serve as a reminder. The holder is an officially licensed replica of a real, live DSNY garbage can, and proceeds from its sale benefit the City of New York.
Everything bagel bonbons
The everything bagel is quintessentially New York, and pastry chef and chocolatier Jessica Minghi is celebrating that fact — with a twist. Through her shop, Borough Chocolates at 181 Norman Avenue, Minghi has been selling Brooklyn-inspired artisan bonbons since 2021. Earlier this year, Minghi added everything bagel bonbons to the shop’s rotation. Featuring house-made everything seed mix (sans onion), a cream cheese ganache, and white chocolate cast, these satisfy both a sweet tooth and a strong desire to call out slow walkers (just don’t try to order them scooped out).
Tote bag workshop
If you know someone who actually doesn’t have enough tote bags somehow, up the ante with one that’s better than some free corporate branded swag. Brooklyn Craft Company is hosting multiple tote bag sewing 101 sessions throughout December and January, and total beginners are welcome. The workshops — held at their location at 165 Greenpoint Avenue — will teach basic sewing machine skills, accurate fabric cutting, pinning and sewing seams, creating lining, attaching straps, and more.
Ninja 101 class
From sewing 101 to ninja 101, Greenpoint truly does have everything. American Ninja Warrior enthusiasts can now get a taste of the competition at Ferox Ninja Park gym as they learn skills like the warped wall, cliffhanger, laches, balance, and more in the 18+ Ninja 101 class. And hey, if the ninja career doesn’t pan out, the same skills will probably also lend themselves to a VITAL membership.
Build your own spice kit
This gift is equally great for both kitchen wizards and those who’ve been accused of tragically under seasoning. Never fear a meal at a friend’s house again with Edy’s Grocer‘s build-your-own spice kit, a gift box of any four Edy’s spices from dried mint to dukkah to pickling spices, and beyond.
A vintage paperback
If the number of thrift stores and consignment shops around the neighborhood hasn’t tipped you off, vintage is in, and Burnt Books is the perfect answer to what to get your bookworm friend whose to-be-read list is miles long. Burnt Books, in the back of Hey Kids! Comics at 157 Huron Street, specializes in giving old books a new life, like Judy Blume’s adult novel Wifey, a collection of Hemingway’s short stories, and many others both fiction and non.
Grinch hair clip
If your little one is in the throes of the terrible twos — or just loves Dr. Seuss — this hair clip is sure to make their heart grow three sizes. The vintage-inspired Grinch hair clip at Parachute Brooklyn is designed for both kids and kids at heart, with a lightweight feel and strong-gripping teeth that still won’t feel like they’re ripping hair out.
Newtown Creek Alliance hat
No Greenpoint gift list would be complete without an ode to our most iconic polluted waterway. And, especially, the people working to get it cleaned up! The Newtown Creek Alliance logo dad hat comes in three colorways as an opportunity to proudly rep your support for restoring and revitalizing one of our most notorious Superfund sites.
For even more odds and ends and artisan gifts, our Greenpointers Holiday Market is coming up this Sunday, December 10, featuring over 70 curated vendors at 67 West St (Greenpoint Loft).