Bedford Cheese Shop closed its Williamsburg location on Sunday. (Image via Bedford Cheese Shop)
A North Williamsburg mainstay of 17 years, independently-owned Bedford Cheese Shop (265 Bedford Ave.) is now closed following the final day of business last Sunday.
The cheese shops’ Manhattan location, which opened in 2012 at 67 Irving Place remains open, leaving behind a storefront on the local avenue for which the business is named.
Relocating in 2016 from the original location on the corner of N 4. Street and Bedford Avenue, the 265 Bedford Ave. shop continued in the same spirit as the first location with an outstanding selection of cheeses and instructional classes, along with the addition of a wine bar.
Levain Bakery is opening in july in Williamsburg. (Image via LEvain Bakery)
New York City-based Levain Bakery will bring its famous cookies and baked goods to the other side of the East River next month with the opening of a Williamsburg location.
With five other locations in Manhattan and one in the Hamptons, Levain Bakery’s Williamsburg shop will be the first in Brooklyn.
After more than two decades in the Upper West Side and Harlem, the bakery started expanding last year opening three new locations in Manhattan, and co-founders Connie McDonald and Pam Weeks are planning for a national expansion as well with a Washington D.C. bakery.
The Williamsburg bakery will be located at 164 N 4 St. which is nearby the Whole Foods on Bedford Avenue, and an opening date is set for July 1st.
Levain bakery fans can expect to see the signature chocolate chip cookies walnut cookies along with loaf cakes, roll and breads, and pastries as the menu will be similar to the original location. The bakery’s hours will be 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. everyday.
More retail is taking it to the sidewalks of Greenpoint as the Phase 2 reopening in NYC starts on Monday.
Happy weekend Greenpointers! It’s a Saturday Summer Solstice and what better way is there to kickoff the longest day of the year than cleaning up your neighborhood? To help remedy overflowing garbage cans, a volunteer Transmitter Park cleanup session is happening today starting at 10 a.m. and all are welcome to join (bring masks, gloves and trash bags if possible).
Yesterday was the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, which is on track to become an official New York State holiday. A number of murals in support of the Black Lives Matter movement were painted on Greenpoint walls in recent days, and Eckford Street Studio is currently holding a call for proposals for a BLM mural to be painted on the facade of the 70 Eckford St. studio. Two proposals will be chosen, one each for July and August.
Early voting for the June 23rd democratic primaries remains open through Sunday, and regular voting takes place on Tuesday; find your poll site here.
The Phase 2 reopening of NYC commences on Monday with barbershops and outdoor dining at restaurants set to resume along with the reopening of playgrounds. Still not permitted are malls, gyms, in-door movie theaters and amusement parks.
Coming up next week is Brooklyn Community Board 1’s monthly public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, but public space is limited for the virtual meeting. Those who wish to speak for up to two minutes during the public portion must register ahead of time by sending an email to [email protected]
A lottery to get on the wait-list for affordable apartments at 197 Freeman St. is live on the NYC Housing Connect website. (Image via Google Maps)
An NYC housing waitlist lottery is now open for studios and one and two bedroom apartments in a newly constructed 20 unit residential rental building at 197 Freeman St. Randomly selected “apparently eligible” applicants will be placed on a wait list for future openings at one of the five affordable apartments in the building.
Rents in the lottery start at $2,100 per month for a studio and cost as much as $3,219 per month for a two-bedroom apartment. And as with all of the units listed, applicants must earn 130% of the area median income to qualify. Applications for the waitlist, which has 200 spaces, are due by July 14th via the NYC Housing Connect website or by mail.
The building is located between Manhattan Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard and was completed in 2017. Amenities at 197 Freeman St. are listed as a laundry room, fitness center, shared roof deck, garage access and bike storage.
One of the many overflowing garbage cans in McGolrick Park last weekend. (Via North Brooklyn Parks Alliance)
It’s Wednesday Greenpointers, and welcome to our mid-week check in where we share the news of the week so far, and provide a heads up on happenings around the neighborhood; remember to signup for the Greenpointers newsletter:
Looking to have a recipe published while supporting social justice initiatives? Greenpoint bookstore Archestratus is accepting recipe submissions through Saturday June 20, for their first in an ongoing community cookbook series with “contributions from anywhere and everyone,” entitled “ARCHESTRATUS COMMUNITY: ‘Vol. 1 / FIRE WALK WITH US.” All proceeds will be donated to organizations supporting Black Live Matter.
Word Books (126 Franklin St.) is also donating 10% of the sale of select authors’ books through June 21 to the social justice cause of their choice; read more about the Word Association initiative here.
The McCarren Park gatherings have continued for nearly 20 consecutive nights calling for police reforms in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. A gathering is planned once again for Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
The drive-in held a test-run at the end of May and is now open to the public. Screenings through Sunday include “Footloose” (6/17), “Dreamgirls” (6/18), “Anchorman” (6/19), “Grease” (6/20) and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (6/21).
Greenpoint’s only UPS store is now open at 206b Nassau Ave.
The options for shipping and receiving packages in Greenpoint increased last week with the arrival of the neighborhood’s new and only UPS Store (106 B Nassau Ave.)
Greenpoint has experienced its share of mail delivery woes over the years and Assemblyman Joe Lentol even requested that the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General audit USPS mail delivery in North Brooklyn last year.
Green space is a premium in North Brooklyn and access to the fenced-off 50 Kent park is welcomed news for quarantine weary residents who are utilizing local parks as summer approaches. A petition to open 50 Kent for public recreation began circling on Monday gaining over 300 signatures.
An opening date is set for Thursday, July 9th, when the fence will be unlocked for “passive use only” on Thursdays – Sundays from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; dogs and sports will not be allowed, according to FBIP.
The four candidates on the ballot include the incumbent, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, second year challenger Suraj Patel, and progressive upstarts Lauren Ashcraft and Peter Harrison.
A new mural in Greenpoint depicting Breonna Taylor, who was a victim of a police shooting in her home in Louisville this year (Image via Greenpoint Glass)
Happy weekend Greenpointers! The McCarren Park gatherings for George Floyd continued every night this week as police reforms swept through Albany with the repeal of 50-a, among other measures meant to increase accountability.
Protests over the North Brooklyn Pipeline will also continue on Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m. as National Grid’s new natural gas infrastructure makes its way toward Greenpoint.
