Emily is a long-time Greenpoint resident and advocate who believes strongly in local economy and the power of community. At Greenpointers, she hopes to connect you to your neighbors and help our community retain it's personality and distinct Greenpoint spirit through highlighting local stories, businesses and opportunities.
(sponsored post) Girl with Yellow Rose, Marjorie Strider; vintage tableware; Village Braider; The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss, first edition first printing
Maybe you’re one of those people who, no matter where you find yourself, has to stop into any used bookstore you see. Or, maybe you can’t pass a shop with mid-century furniture or vintage jewelry. After all, what if there’s a first edition of Sister Carrie hiding in a stack, just waiting to be discovered? What if there’s an amazing lamp or rare Heywood Wakefield coffee table that will complete your living room?
If that sounds like you, you should know about the Brooklyn Antiques and Book Fair, coming to the brand-new, 40,000-square-foot Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint, Sept. 13-14, 10am to 5pm. More than 100 antiques dealers and rare book sellers will be at the event, peddling their wares.
The brand-new Brooklyn Expo Center at 79 Franklin Street
Exhibitors from all over the county will be displaying furniture, jewelry, paintings, pottery, prints, vintage and antiquarian books on every subject, prints, manuscripts and more. If you want to be among the first to get a peek at what’s for sale, come to the opening night preview on Friday, Sept. 12, 7:30-9:30pm. The event is a benefit for the Greenpoint branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and refreshments will be provided by Brooklyn Brewery and Milk Truck. (Mmm… grilled cheese and beer.) Tickets for this event cost $25.
Weekend passes for the Brooklyn Antiques and Book Fair are $12 for adults, though you can get a $6 discount by bringing a new children’s book to donate to the Brooke Jackman Foundation or a $5 discount by signing up for Brooklyn Antiques and Book Fair updates. Children get in for free.
Greenpoint is a neighborhood with many spirited small business owners. It’s essential for a great business to also have a great, active web presence. CDL500 is a small local business that provides customized creative and consulting services for other small to medium sized businesses. They create full websites starting at $1000 with 2 week turn around, and social media community management starting at $150/week.
CDL500 works with brands and businesses from Brooklyn to Philadelphia to California. CDL500 also has a roster of Brooklyn clients, including Sweet Chick, Brooklyn Night Bazaar and The Woods. If you’re interested in seeing their work, you can check out their entire creative portfolio, which is accessible on CDL500 website.
Contact chad [at] cdl500 [dot] com and mention Greenpointers for 15% off your first order. No idea is too big or small. CDL500 is open to work with most budgets, so get in touch.
Every year around July 1st, Wil Tyler, the son of Pie Lady & Son, begins The Peach Watch. The peach growers of Georgia send word that theirs are ready, but Wil stays put. In the next week or two, he’ll hear from South Carolina and Virginia, too, but he won’t act on it. He always waits for fresh, delicious peaches from the bordering state of New Jersey. Luckily for Greenpoint pie lovers, Pie Lady & Son is now baking with peaches from Sunny Slope Farm in Bridgeton, NJ. “Everyone likes peach pie, if they like pie at all,” says Wil with a laugh. Yet there are subtleties to people’s preferences, so Pie Lady & Son has three varieties of peach pie on their seasonal menu. (Wil’s personal favorite is their Classic Peach Pie, coupled with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.) They also offer Peach Pie with Walnut-Crumble Top and Peach Raspberry Pie. “We always like to serve a pie with contrasting flavors, such as sweet and tart, throughout the year,” he says.
Pie Lady & Son got started in the early 1990s, when Wil Tyler was just a boy, and his Mom, Deborah, started baking pies. She learned the art of baking while studying in England and working in the college kitchen. There she watched the lead baker, a woman who made huge batches of all-butter piecrust and who “didn’t even measure the water” in her recipes. “People have such trepidation about pie crusts, yet this lady was fearless. I didn’t come back with a recipe, but I came home inspired by her style — by her fearlessness,” Deborah explains.
Years later, when Deborah was a single mother with three kids all under age 10, this inspiration and her need for income led her to bake pies from home. She advertised them with a sign on the road and conducted her sales from the back porch. She also sold at a farmers market in Nyack and got a big break when a customer who was a food writer for The New York Times, celebrated her pies in print. She called her business “The Nyack Pie Kitchen,” but her customers nicknamed her, “The Pie Lady.” Continue reading →
(sponsored) Just a portion of Grindpoint's great skateboarding selection
The G Train shutdown is a great opportunity to liven up your commute. Instead of walking or taking a shuttle, why not make your commute a little more fun by skateboarding? Grindpoint, a new skateboard shop on Nassau Avenue, has everything you need to get started from boards and safety equipment to clothing and accessories. Want a really special board? Grindpoint can build you one custom. Busted your favorite skateboard? Owner Simon Gabrys, a lifelong Greenpoint resident, can also help you with maintenance and does repairs.
” Find out about the best baby products at Rattled Expo!
NYC’s raddest baby + family fair,Rattled Expo, will take place in Greenpoint on Sunday, August 24! Combining an eclectic mix of eco-friendly baby products, modern ideas and services for new parents, Rattled Expo is a unique event for young, urban families who appreciate eco-conscious, stylish, locally made goods.
The carefully curated marketplace will include new/vintage kids’ clothing, nannies, playgroups, doctors, music/art lessons, schools, handmade toys, diaper services, doulas and more!
Kids (and perhaps some adults) will enjoy free face painting from Brooklyn Balloon Company and an open juice bar courtesy of Bundle Organics. Food samples, live music, games and raffle prizes all day!!!
Adults $5, Kids free! The Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, Sunday August 24, 12pm-4pm; Rattled Expo
(sponsored) Meet friends old and new at The Moonlight Mile on Franklin Street!
It’s fun to cheer a new local business on, so we thought we’d check in on Greenpoint’s whiskey and cocktail joint, The Moonlight Mile. Five months in, I found that the bar has grown to include even more of what makes it great– expert cocktails, carefully selected whiskey, music, and community.
The Moonlight Mile is a rare space in which the bar is not only responding to the customers needs, but works to include the customer in every aspect of their service and setting. The Moonlight Mile is centered around creating community and a space for neighbors to get to know each other. This is in part because the owners, Garry and Rebecca Embry, are Greenpoint neighbors as well as business owners, and supporting the community is what drives their decisions. There are many ways to participate beyond drinking a great cocktail, whiskey or beer. Continue reading →
When Bedford Slims joined our Summer Market, we were pretty impressed. We at Greenpointers are always encouraged by the entrepeneurial spirit of fellow Brooklynites, and it’s getting more sophisticated all the time. Bedford Slims vapourettes aren’t only a local business, they are sold at local businesses, including seven Greenpoint stores, like P&P !
Bedford Slims take the popular e-cigarette smoking alternative and add unexpected benefits– making recyclable and better all-around with small batch, classy flavors like Southern Tobacco, Turkish Cut, and Root. (And I admit, I’m most excited about the Clove flavor, but that’s my inner goth talking!)
Many of my friends swear by Bedford Slims vapourettes as a smoking alternative– there are no known side effects that cause the level of damage that regular cigarettes do. If you don’t know what a vapourette is, check out the cute video above!
(sponsored) Show your Greenpoint Pride with a Brooklyn Flag!
The Brooklyn Flag Project is a call for entries for flag designs that represent the Brooklyn neighborhood that you know and love! We will print and produce the winning flags in Brooklyn and sell them on our site. We want you to imagine these flags hanging loud and proud in your neighbor’s apartment, your local coffee shop, outside the window of your favorite restaurant, and inside your home office. This project is all about celebrating our wonderful borough, the diversity of its many neighborhoods, and the creative people that live in it. The grand prize winner will win $1000 and royalties. There are also multiple cash prizes. Click here for details!
Accepting responsibility is the first step to change. This is what Dishan Elise, owner of [email protected], teaches through her The BEST Plan program developed for individuals who want positive change in their health and well-being. However, they get more than they bargained for when they realize this change permeates throughout their families, communities, and even the planet.
“BEST” is an acronym for “Balance, Energy, Strength, and Tranquility”. It is a 12-week program that covers all aspects of health and well-being. This complete program provides the tools for radical transformation. You can see some real life examples here. The BEST Plan is designed to deal with past conditioning and emotional obstacles related to nutrition and to break the addiction to processed foods. Dishan says “Clients are educated on proper diet and exercise and we incorporate methods to strengthen and improve all systems of the body.”
Seeing how impactful the plan was for her members, whom she calls her “BESTies”, she decided the way to have the most positive impact on our planet was to bring The BEST Plan to everyone. She understood that she wasn’t the only fitness facility bringing positive change to people’s lives, but also knew that The BEST Plan was unique in that it covers everything a body needs. In reflecting on this, her idea for a comprehensive coaching platform was born which she calls BEST.everywhere. Continue reading →
(sponsored) Jade Elzien in her shop, Violet Pepper.
When Franklin Street first started to become a shopping destination, one of the first people I met there was Jade Elzien, who was then working at one of Greenpoint’s earliest boutiques, Dalaga. Her upbeat attitude, warmth and genuine personality helped me feel comfortable and excited for what the neighborhood had in store. So it was very exciting to find out that she was opening her OWN boutique, Violet Pepper (688 Manhattan Ave.) last summer.
To celebrate the shop’s first year, Violet Pepper‘s hosting a big celebration with sales Friday July 25-Sunday 27th. Everything will be 20% off and sale items an extra 20% off. On Saturday the 26th there will be an added bonus of Brooklyn Brewery beers!
A little more about Jade and her journey from friendly Greenpoint neighbor to independent Greenpoint business owner after the jump! Continue reading →
