The 61 Franklin St Garden‘s annual summer cocktail benefit party is happening Wednesday, May 23 from 6:30 – 8:30pm at The Diamond (43 Franklin Street). Expect live music by local musician Chris Morrissey, and a BBQ with sausages on the back patio. And, a raffle! Each $15 ticket purchase includes one free drink. Tickets are available here, and you can also donate too if you can’t attend. All proceeds go towards the Garden.
Several local small businesses have donated gift certificates or items worth $40 – $75 including:
Jeremy Wilson, Bar Manager at Ramona with the Painting the Daybreaks cocktail
Need a new signature drink as your summer of frosé becomes a very distant memory? Ramona’s bar manager Jeremy Wilson takes this tricky life decision off your plate in this week’s installment of our winter survival guide. Check out our previous winter guide interviews here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Greenpointers: Is there a favorite cocktail that you have on the menu that you could recommend if you want to feel more uplifted in the winter months?
Jeremy Wilson: We usually come up with a couple of hot drinks for the winter. We have the hot toddy that we always do called Elsa’s Toddy, named after our sister bar. Especially when it’s snowing, people come in and ask for it. It’s rye whiskey, lemon juice, maple syrup that’s cut with water, fresh mint, hot water and angostura bitters on top. It’s pretty clean and refreshing and just makes you feel better.
GP: What are some other drinks that you’d recommend at this time of year?
JW: The other drink would be the Black Book which is bourbon, honey, lemon, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and jalapeño. The cinnamon really comes out in the forefront and the jalapeño lingers at the end. A lot of people think it tastes like Christmas. We also have a cocktail called Painting the Daybreaks which is for the relief fund for Puerto Rico and it’s coconut, tequila, cinnamon, cassis, orange rind, lime juice, and coconut La Croix on top. It’s a very big, loud drink and it’s really good. When you use cinnamon, coconut and tequila with other ingredients, you can make a pretty great holiday cocktail.Continue reading →
Steffanie Ostrowski, Floor Manager of Word Brooklyn.
What types of books are your fellow Greenpointers curling up with this winter? More winter survival tips are coming your way this week, this time we get some solid literary recommendations from Word Bookstore’s Brooklyn floor manager Steffanie Ostrowski.
BOOKS: WORD BROOKLYN| 126 Franklin Street Steffanie Ostrowski, Floor Manager
Greenpointers: What types of books are currently the most popular at the Greenpoint store?
Steffanie Ostrowski: I think that in general, everyone is looking for a lot of social science books so that they can learn about things that are going on today. Also, there’s the escapism of fiction so that they don’t have to deal with the world, so people are getting the new fiction that’s coming out. When Pete Souza’s Obama book came out, that was our big ticket item. Now it’s out of stock everywhere because everyone just wanted to remember.Continue reading →
Franklin Guesthouse’s restaurant space was finally occupied when Bar Glory opened in August under the stewardship of restauranteur Sara Conklin (of Greenpoint’s beloved Glasserie). The restaurant forges its own identity through an inventive and inspired combination of culinary influences. Chef Jeff Kouba’s eclectic menu takes risks in the mashup of flavors and textures with delightful and surprising results. The food is largely influenced by Central Asian and Far Eastern flavors but takes liberties with Uzbek, Thai, and Korean flavors. Its environs can be described as refined rustic-chic decor and cozy ambiance that feels slightly more casual then Glasserie. Continue reading →
“We had a hint there might be an interest in this book.”
That hint was raising over $800,000 on Kickstarter to reissue the New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual. But before the online support and incredible demand, this lucrative endeavor began more innocently — with buried treasure.
“We found one of the original manuals in our old office’s basement,” Jesse Reed said of the copy he and his business partner Hamish Smyth discovered and — through enormous fundraising — reissued for public consumption.
New Yorkers love griping about the subway, so it may come as a surprise that this manual elicited such fervid response, but these backers are seeking more than just a handsome coffee table book or conversation starter.
Standards Manual storefront on Franklin Street in Greenpoint. Photo by Ian Hartsoe
“We knew designers were into it, but once we launched the Kickstarter we found other audiences, and one was people who live in New York City,” Reed said. “They saw the manual and subway signs for the first time as designed objects, and it struck a chord with a lot of people who ride the subway every day. If you were here in the ’70s or earlier, you knew how horrible the signage was, and then you see the manual and how it’s now made.”
Whether you’re jogging down Franklin Street or getting an early morning spin class in at the Greenpoint YMCA (99 Meserole Ave), or even perhaps flowing through a peaceful sweat at Usha Veda Yoga (1006 Manhattan Ave), the best part of any workout, really, is when you’re done.
As you catch your breath and dab away the sweat you get to focus on the next best thing—and no we aren’t talking about an ab sequence to follow or even an extra sprint-mile here—we’re talking post-workout eats! It is time to fuel up, because you deserve it! Lucky for us, Greenpoint has almost as many healthy grab n’ go spots as it does dark-lit bars and Polish bakeries. Whether you are getting your sweat on in the early morning or grinding it out after work in the evening, here are the best spots to fuel back up—and not feel bad about being completely sweaty and out of breath.
Brooklyn Standard – 188 Nassau Ave Don’t get your sports bra in a tangle, the Brooklyn Standard is nothing like The Standard Hotel. This natural foods deli/coffee shop/bakery/enhanced-Bodega is perfect for anyone who needs something healthy at 7 a.m. and on. The neighborhood spot is open from 7-11 p.m. daily and offers breakfast all day along with an impressive selection of fresh squeezed juices and protein-packed smoothies. Enjoying your run around McGolrick park and need a kale, apple, lemon juice before you officially start your day? Brooklyn Standard is your spot. Continue reading →
At the beginning of this year, things looked bleak food-wise on Franklin StreetCassette, Jimmy’s, Brooklyn Label, Mr. Souvlaki, and Mrs. Kim’s had all gone dark during the end of 2016 or first few months of 2017. The space in Franklin Guesthouse that looks like it should be a restaurant was most definitely not yet a restaurant. We could still get sandwiches at Eagle Trading Company (258 Franklin St), tacos at Vamos Al Tequila (162 Frankin St), or enjoy the back garden of Anella (222 Franklin St), but the empty restaurants reminded us of what we couldn’t have. Luckily, those holes have been slowly filling in and this fall will be glorious for Franklin St.
First, there was Chez Ma Tante (90 Calyer St) in the former Jimmy’s space (yes, go get the beef tartare). Of course, one of our newest chill spots is Threes at Franklin + Kent (113 Franklin St). Then, we noticed that the Franklin Guesthouse restaurant space is finally fully operational. The new spot at 214 Franklin Street is called “BarGlory” and is the sister restaurant of Glasserie.The menu is a little light with most of the sections only giving you three options, but there does seem to be something for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. The dishes incorporate a number of East Asian ingredients including Korean kuksu, Japanese togarashi noodles, and Chinese tea eggs. The cocktails are going for $13, with several pét-nat, draft wine, and beer options. Currently, they are only open for dinner, with breakfast and lunch coming soon. Continue reading →
At about 12:30 am Saturday morning, NYPD responded to a call of a cyclist hit by a driver on Franklin Street at Noble Street. The 27-year-old male cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene and the accident has been labeled a hit-and-run. According to Gothamist, “An initial investigation by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad determined that the cyclist was biking on Franklin Street when he was struck by the garbage truck driver who was moving south on Franklin. The garbage truck driver then left the scene after striking the cyclist.” The police are still looking for the truck which is described as a green and white sanitation truck with yellow writing.
By Saturday, neighbors had learned that the deceased was a member of the community. Neftaly Ramirez was a beloved employee at Paulie Gee’s and had been biking to his home in Alphabet City after a shift at the restaurant. Paulie Gee’s was closed in mourning Saturday. 110 Franklin Street is the future home of Paulie Gee’s slice shop.
The Little Glass Slipper teems with flowers this spring in Greenpoint.
There’s something about the flower arrangements at Greenpoint’s The Little Glass Slipper (200 Franklin St). It could be that shop owner, Cary Pereyra-Imbert, takes great care in selecting the flowers she uses, or that the shop itself serves as a small oasis among the condo construction surrounding the neighborhood. Either way, you always leave feeling like you’ve gotten a special treat. Continue reading →
