The former New Warsaw Bakery occupied 848 Lorimer St. via Google Maps)
The luxury development is between Nassau and Driggs Avenue at the former site of New Warsaw Bakery facing McCarren Park.
The Grand McCarren is six-stories with 52 residential units and a street-level parking facility and is next to other recent luxury developments bordering the park, 868 and 906 Lorimer Street.
848 Lorimer St.’s affordable lottery lists four units at 80 percent of the area median income level and 12 units at 130 percent of the AMI.
848 Lorimer St. affordable lottery units at 80 percent AMI:
A studio is available for $1,114 per month one occupant earning between $45,086 – $58,480 per year. Continue reading →
Kitchenware retailer Whisk (231 Bedford Ave.) is closing their Williamsburg location on April 30th after their landlord raised the rent by 44% to over $26,000 per month, Whisk posted on social media on Sunday.
Rent at their 231 Bedford Ave. space was originally $8,625 per month when the business opened on Bedford Ave. and N. 4 St. in 2008, the note explains.
On April 30 we will close our Whisk here on Bedford Avenue. As the owner and creator of Whisk, it pains me to say goodbye. And so I wrote you this love letter to express my adoration for you and to tell you of my decision. It is a story of greed, commercial banking and the distortion of “fair” market rents.
When we opened Whisk on November 26, 2008, our rent was $8,625/month; it ended at $18,452/month. The thing is, we could sustain that high rent. We are a great, busy store and online retailers have not cut into our sales enough to hurt us. But to renew our lease for just 5 years, our landlords asked for no less than $26,500/month, or a 44% increase. To accept that rent would mean increasing prices and depressing wages. And that’s not the contribution I want to make.
So how did it come to be that it’s $26,500 or leave? I believe the story goes like this: Developers identify Williamsburg as the cool place to be. Developers seek loans to amass more land ownership. Banks underwriting these mortgages demand to know payments can be met via higher rent rolls. “We like chain stores for tenants,” they say. Williamsburg businesses shift from independent, unique services to large American and multinational businesses seeking to grow their brand. Can’t actually pay the high rent demand? “No matter,” say these businesses. “It’s an advertising investment!” Private equity supported brands want in; food chains want in; heck, all the banks want in! Big landlords are happy and finally so too are the small landlords who can now say “me too!” on high rent demands.
And therein we see why Whisk has to leave you. I love you for having passed through our doors so many times over all these years. You chose to shop locally; you chose to support Whisk. I am grateful for all my staff now and those of the past. We built Whisk together and I am a better person for all that I’ve learned. I am going to miss Whisk on Bedford so deeply.
And here’s where I make my plea to you to help build a better future. One, honor your neighborhood and decide how to spend wisely. There’s no need to prop up businesses that don’t serve a good purpose; but there’s every reason in the world to support the ones that do. Two, ask yourself: what do you want from your community? Small business decimation does not happen without structural consent, without community consent. Cities like Paris and San Francisco are working to create change. We can too. Help keep this discussion alive by emailing me at [email protected] Let’s talk about a vacancy tax; let’s talk about zoning; let’s talk about a no formula chain policy; let’s talk about online vs brick and mortar sales taxes. There are no easy fixes but we won’t get to a better place without investing in the tough discussion.
Please keep the love for Whisk strong by shopping NOW at our Bedford Avenue store where nearly all items are 30-50% off AND by shopping at our other two locations:
933 Broadway, between 21st and 22nd Streets, Flatiron district (212.477.8680) 197 Atlantic Avenue, close to Court St, downtown Brooklyn (718.852.2665)
The landmarked Williamsburgh Savings Bank in South Williamsburg will soon have a much taller neighbor.
Renderings of 159 Broadway were revealed for the 26-story, 277-foot, mixed-use development featuring a hotel and 21 condos with an expected completion of summer 2021.
Rendering: City Realty
The development from Cornell Realty who purchased the site for $26.2 million, according to YIMBY: Continue reading →
“The Way of the Cross” parade and reenactment by the local church St. Anthony of Padua – St. Alphonsus (862 Manhattan Ave.) began on Dupont Street around 1:30 p.m. today and proceeded South on Franklin Street with an impressive cast of costumed actors. The procession marks the Good Friday Christian holiday, or the Friday prior to Easter. The annual procession is one of the most interesting and theatrical events to catch on the streets of Greenpoint; see the footage we captured from today’s festivities:
Have you noticed the stunning restored stained glass at The Greenpoint Palace (206 Nassau Ave.) or the beautiful light fixtures at Anella (222 Franklin St.)? They’re the creations of Friend of All Glass founder Flannery Cronin who helped to recently open FOA Collective, an artist-run home good collective at 89 Freeman St.
The new shop quietly opened last December, but the official grand opening is May 3rd to coincide with the completion of the custom-designed glass wall in the rear of the shop and the launch of a first Friday initiative where neaby business will extend their hours to 9 p.m. for the summer months.
The stained glass wall at FOA Collective
FOA Collective currently hosts 13 designers, artists, and creators who contribute a monthly membership fee along with a commitment to work two days per month at the shop.
Artist members in the collective receive 100% of the proceeds from sales helping customers to directly support the FOA Collective’s artists and designers:
With the growing retail and food scene at the northernmost stretch of Franklin St. a first Friday series for the summer will help to bring more foot traffic and customers to the area. “We’ll have events and feature specific artists eventually,” said FOA Collective founding artist Flannery Cronin. Continue reading →
We are just a week away from the Cuomo non-shutdown of the L train, as the unreviewed Canarsie Tunnel repair plan officially starts April 26 to fix the damage incurred during Hurricane Sandy, with expected completion in the summer of 2020.
Starting Friday (4/26), commuters between Brooklyn and Manhattan can expect L service to slow to 20-minute increments beginning at 8 p.m. through 5 a.m. on weeknights; more details on the non-shutdown from the MTA:
Weekdays
5 AM to 10 PM
Regular L service, reducing at 8 PM
Weeknights
10 PM to 1:30 AM
Reduced L service
Weeknights
1:30 AM to 5 AM
Regular L service (every 20 minutes)
Weekends
6 AM to 1:30 AM
Reduced L service
Weekend nights
1:30 AM to 6 AM
Regular L service (every 20 minutes)
With the revised approach, L customers will have normal service during the highest ridership times.
Weeknights: 8 PM to 5 AM L trains run every 20 minutes between Brooklyn and Manhattan and every 10 minutes within Brooklyn. Service will ramp down starting at 8 PM to make room for work trains. Overnight, between 1:30 AM and 5 AM, the service runs at its normal frequency, with L trains running every 20 minutes.
Weekends: 8 PM Friday until 5 AM Monday, L trains run 20 minutes between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and every 10 minutes within Brooklyn. Overnight, between 1:30 AM and 5 AM, service runs at its normal frequency, with L trains running every 20 minutes.
L trains will run every 10 minutes within Brooklyn thanks to extra “overlay” trains between Lorimer St and Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy. We’ll be running these trains during the busiest times L service is impacted by tunnel work (10 PM- 1:30 AM weeknights and 6 AM to 1:30 AM weekends). Service on the L will be reduced nights and weekends. We’ll be enhancing M, G, 7, and bus service to provide alternatives.
The new alternative service map (via MTA)
To compensate for reduced L train service, The MTA says it plans to increase the frequency of G, M and 7 trains:
M service
Weeknights, we’ll extend the hours of normal weekday service into Manhattan, between 10PM and 1:30 AM. After 10 PM on weeknights, we’ll extend M service up to 96 St-2 Av on the Q , instead of to Queens Blvd.
Weekends, we’ll extend service from Essex St to 96 St-2 Av. M trains will run every 8 minutes instead of every 10 minutes during the day.
G service
Weeknights we’ll be running 5 additional G trips between 8:30 PM and 1:30 AM. On weekends, trains will run every 8 minutes instead of every 10 minutes during the day.
7 service
Weeknights, we’ll run 5 additional trips from 8:30 PM to midnight. On weekends, 7 trains will continue to run every 4 to 7 ½ minutes.
New free transfers
Between Livonia St on the L and Junius St on the 3
Between Hewes St/Lorimer St on the J and M and Broadway on the G
A new “Williamsburg Link” bus will run between the Bedford L station and the Hewes Street J/M station stopping at the Metropolitan Avenue G/L station and Marcy Avenue J/M station en route.
We are introducing a new bus, the Williamsburg Link. It will operate on two routes, one clockwise (B92) and one counterclockwise (B91). This bus will provide double the bus service we normally do when there is no L service during weekend and weeknight construction work.
These buses provide connection between:
the Bedford Av L,
Metropolitan Av- Lorimer St G / L,
Marcy Av J / M, and
Hewes St J /M (B92 only).
Weekday nights
B91
B92
8 PM-9 PM
Every 9 minutes
Every 9 minutes
9 PM-12 AM
Every 5 minutes
Every 5 minutes
12 AM-5 AM
Every 10 minutes
Every 10 minutes
Weekends
B91
B92
5 AM-8 AM
Every 10 minutes
Every 10 minutes
8 AM-10 PM
Every 3 minutes
Every 3 minutes
10 PM-12 AM
Every 5 minutes
Every 5 minutes
12 AM-1:30 AM
Every 10 minutes
Every 10 minutes
The M14A regular bus service in Manhattan will run every four to five minutes across 14th Street from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. and to the Delancey-Essex J/M station every seven to ten minutes.
P.S. 34 Green Team Parents describe the show in a statement:
The Eco-Fashion Show raises awareness about the environmental impacts of consumption and waste, and involves the students in designing and then debuting their designs made out of recycled and upcycled items. The kids spend several months learning, designing, and creating their costumes, and the program is supported by the National Wildlife Foundation. The theme of this year’s show is wildlife, and students have selected species and have written narratives that explain how their species impact their environment and how humans impact the species (e.g., poaching, habitat loss, pollution, water scarcity, etc.).
BBBBB (Buket’s Bunny Boy Beach Bed), 2017, oil on canvas, by Buket Savci
These are dark times, there’s no denying it. From political unrest and environmental crisis to smaller gripes like seasonal allergies and MTA woes, it’s easy to get bogged down in this concrete jungle we call home. But Buket Savci, this week’s featured artist, is here with a salve in her magnificently colorful and fantastically buoyant works. Buket’s paintings, along with Jacob Hicks’, will be the inaugural works at Wrong Side of the River (67 West Street, Suite 312) now through May 3. Their exhibition, Wonderland, is a welcome balm to our times and a stunning exercise in collaborative creativity. Below, we get to know Buket and her work, but most importantly her contagious and relentless optimism.
Greenpointers: How long have you been in Brooklyn?
Buket Savci: I live and work in Brooklyn; I’ve been in Bushwick for a little over three years. Before that I lived in Astoria for almost 10 years. But I’ve had my studio in Greenpoint since I received my MFA from New York Academy of Art in 2012. I also studied painting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
Your Wonderland series is so fun! What was the inspiration for that at Wrong Side of the River?
I am so glad to hear you enjoy our title for the show. I have been working on these series of paintings for a few years now, which are about the fleeting moments of pure joy and happiness. I create paintings addressing the ephemerality of happiness while using objects like balloons as a metaphor for our short lived contentment.
I really enjoy using saturated vivid colors, and I think everything else is so negative and dark so at least my paintings should be colorful and fun. That’s why I use the colors that makes me happy, and I enjoy including humor in my art. But actually I am not that joyful. Life is not easy and I had my share of traumas. Unfortunately a few years ago I had a major depression and even my psychiatrist was constantly telling me that my art will save me. Painting is my passion, and it is this wonderland where anything can happen, so I choose to make it fun and colorful like a playground.
Passengers, 2018, oil on canvas, by Buket Savci
There is this profound quote from a Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet; he asks to Abidin Dino, who was a famous Turkish artist. “Could you make a painting of happiness?” So all these led me to question what is real happiness, when and how we feel real joy, and how do I express this through painting.
Painting lets me live these fleeting moments in detail and throughly over a course of weeks even months. I want to create a niche of fantasy, where both the figures and I as the painter can be just like a child — innocent and playful, carefree and bold. A visual playground far away from all the darkness enclosing us outside and inside, blossomed through sincerity and trust.
Inside the dining space at A/D/O (courtesy of A/D/O)
Opening on Monday (4/22) inside of A/D/O (29 Norman Ave.), Sunday in Brooklyn (348 Wythe Ave.) will introduce their new food and bar program at the space where Norman previously operated.
The new restaurant “Provisions by Sunday” will be open every day 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. and will feature an abbreviated menu of their signature brunch menu items and cocktails. The space and restaurant will be available to host private events of up to 600 guests as well.
The “Provisions by Sunday” residency will run through early summer, and the Sunday in Brooklyn team said that a brand new restaurant at A/D/O is to follow in a statement, .
Ultimately, the Sunday Hospitality team (Todd Enany, Adam Landsman, Jaime Young) will reimagine the food and beverage experience at A/D/O, launching a brand new restaurant with partners JT Vuong and George Padilla (formerly of Williamsburg favorites, Okonomi and YUJI Ramen). Together, they are excited to build a new home in this burgeoning neighborhood and to share their community-minded philosophies and guest-focused experiences.
A new feature of the service at Provisions by Sunday gives customers the ability to place orders from their phones. “There will be people in the space helping to sort of take orders…instead of trying to flag someone down to order food or drinks, you’ll be able to order from your phone whenever you want something,” said Adam Landsman from Sunday in Brooklyn.
While the popular live jazz brunch from the Norman-era is not expected to make a return, Landsman said that the interactivity of art, design and food in one space was a major draw and that art installations by A/D/O are planned.
Provisions by Sunday hours will be 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. every day.
Egg & Cheese Sandwich with gochujang aioli, cheddar, crispy potatoes, briocheAvocado Toast with ricotta, roasted nuts and seeds, chili, Sunflower sproutsRice Bowl with kale, six-minute egg, seasonal veg, seeds, sprouts, kale
The rain stayed away, and the neighbors came in! Thanks to all of our visitors who came out on April 7 to support our Flower Power Spring Market at the Greenpoint Loft. Attendees enjoyed nail painting, yoga on the roof deck with Hosh Yoga, Dreamcatcher workshops with Living the Dreamcatcher, and more. To dive deeper into all the springtime festivities, take a look at some of our event photos below, or visit our Facebook album here. Thanks to all who joined us, and be on the lookout for news about the next market!
Over at the bar, our friends kept us hydrated with bevies like BABE Wine, Greenpoint Beer, and a specialty cocktail. Lots of lovely drinks for lovely neighbors. Don’t forget to water the flowers! Continue reading →
