If you’re going to Hail Mary (68 Greenpoint Ave), a new diner-like restaurant with an open and homey air befitting of Greenpoint, it’s best to take a crowd and some extra money.
The ambience is cozy, quaint and nostalgic—made for a group of friends or family. The busy, patterned wallpaper, upholstery and bits of Americana transport you back to an earlier era, while the dim lamp lighting, antique-style tables and open kitchen in the back room reflect more typical Brooklyn design trends. There’s some old school rap music playing lightly in the background. And you will meet the husband and wife co-owners and co-chefs, Sohla and Ham El- Waylly, who come out humbly and unannounced to serve you, offer menu recommendations and explain what’s on the plate. Continue reading →
Toby Buggiani describes his 4-year-old wine bar and restaurant as “a tiny, quirky space” where he gets elbow-deep in pizza dough and fresh vegetables on the daily. It’s a quiet little nook in Greenpoint (159 Greenpoint Avenue) where the things he loves can thrive: inventive art, plant-based cuisine, natural wine, and an ethos rooted in simplicity.
Adelina’s is a fairly young restaurant, but its story began back in the 1980s between the street art scene in Greenwich village and a humble kitchen outside of Tuscany.
“Most of what we do here is rooted in my history and what I believe in. Arthas a lot to do with that, actually,” Buggiani explains. “I was born in Italy, but we moved to New York City in the late 1970s for my father’s work as a painter, sculptor, and performance artist. I pretty much grew up in Greenwich village during the late 80s and early 90s surrounded by a lot of artists and musicians, friends of my parents and so on.” Continue reading →
Darlings, The One Well is closing a few weeks earlier than planned. That means you can have a lovely time and the closing reception today! Head on over to 165 Greenpoint Avenue from 4 pm on for drinks, shopping, musical performances, and honoring the shop’s space. For more info, check out the Facebook invite.
Last Monday neighborhood residents were witness to a rare sighting of the locally famous and indigenous/ursine hoops fan, KnickerBear. Standing near the corner of West Street and Greenpoint Ave. crying his hard, marble eyes out with middle fingers raised to the sky, KnickerBear let the north Brooklyn neighborhood know exactly what he thought of it–and of his team’s defense recently getting turned into Swiss cheese by Deron Williams and the rest of the Brooklyn Nets.
Just when you thought film crews on our streets couldn’t get any more annoying, the producers of “The Knick” decided to dump all of their waste into the sewers on Milton Street after filming a storm. Well they got an unintended stormy scene from the Milton Street Block Association who were justifiably upset by this illegal action. Dear Steven Soderbergh, we are especially sensitive about illegal dumping in our neighborhood!
Walking over the Pulaski Bridge will get a lot safer next year when a new bike lane will replace a lane currently being used by speeding drivers. In the short term, this may actually lead to more accidents for bicyclists, but let’s hope it works itself out. (Daily News)
As most of you probably know, Banksy spent the past month putting up his legendary street art throughout NYC. Some people love it, some people hate it and others just don’t understand, but every property owner in NYC who got their building painted by the famous artist cashed in on the new addition except one guy in Greenpoint. (Gothamist)
In addition to not enjoying free famous street art, some Debbie Downers in our neighborhood made a big deal about silencing our friends at Adelina’s “quietest DJ night in Brooklyn” because absolute silence is what you should expect when you move into an apartment above a restaurant on Greenpoint Avenue.
In local foodie news, move over Cronut lovers, this article from Brooklyn Based about made to order cinnamon buns from Greenpoint’s River Styx looks amazing and I want one of these right now!
And finally, in developer news, have you seen this Leonard Street church that got transformed into expensive condos? Regardless of what you think about the changing neighborhood, can you at least admit that the restoration from drab vinyl siding to beautiful bricks at least brightens up the block? (Daily News)
Saturday night’s Greenpointers-sponsored showcase at Coco66 turned out to not only yield an impressive lineup of bands from near and far, but it also brought to light some pretty badass women musicians on the indie scene (more on that in a bit). Opener and Julliard-trained St. Lenox kicked off the evening’s festivities with a unique sound that blended classical, electonica and soul genres with powerful vocals to accompany – a spot-on prelude for what was to come.
Have you stopped by the one well on Greenpoint Ave, yet? It’s an amazingly curated shopping experience. Kerry, the owner, has an great eye not only for picking out unique vintage finds and the wares of local makers, but she also puts on great art exhibitions.
Tonight, Friday June 8th, is the Opening Reception for Where They Swam/Other Relics, a photographic exhibition by Gina Pollack that documents the pre-construction of the soon to be re-opened McCarren Park Pool in 2009.
Would you believe a bag is what brought Kerry & Gina together? Gina loved a bag in the one well, which she found on a KRRB, an online flea market for locals. (Think Craigslist has a baby with Pinterest.) “On a whim,” Gina sent Kerry her website, and now Gina is for the first time is having “my own show, my own work.”
Like all multitasking creative Greenpointers, Gina has a pretty cool day job, designing a book for street artist JRs, Inside Out Project, who is known for his outstanding gigantic portraits on the landscapes of flavellas in Brazil and the South Bronx.
For Where They Swam, Gina operated like a street artist in order to get shots inside the pool by climbing over construction zone barricades.
Coverage of Brooklyn Community Board 1’s Public Hearing & Board Meeting 10/5/2011
Waterfront Concerts The waterfront concerts by Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, was a main topic. The concerts will move north, from the state-owned East River State Park to a paved lot owned by the NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation (Kent Ave @ N 11th & 12th) The new location has several benefits, including fewer residents and since it’s city-owned more of OSA’s revenue ($90,000/year more in state licensing fees) will go towards improving CB1 parks.
Paved Lot, New Venue For Waterfront Concerts
The concerts stir up strong emotions on all sides but OSA has local support because it engages the community board and is proactive when addressing neighborhood concerns. Neighbors raised specific concerns about the events that followed this summer’s Widespread Panic show, where NOX-peddlers and unruly crowds were the last straw for many locals. Previous complaints of littering on side streets have been addressed by offering volunteers free tickets in exchange for neighborhood clean-up after shows, and this practice has been successful and will likely be continued next season. A call was made for access to OSA’s accounting to see how revenue goes toward local parks. Another public hearing regarding the concerts will be held on 10/20 @ Swinging 60s Senior Center (211 Ainslie) 6:30.
The Charleston
If you been at The Charleston or within blocks, you know it’s frequented by people who enjoy drinking, smoking and not using their inside voices. A few community members would like to see the renewal of their sidewalk cafe permit (which allows tables out front) denied. They presented legitimate concerns: the sidewalk is already narrow by bike racks and trees, so the space in between is frequently occupied by smokers overflowing from the table area. This raises concern for sidewalk permits for bars in general, even those that are more considerate. It would be a surprise to see the tables in front of The Charleston much longer as they didn’t show up to defend their permit renewal.
Transportation The corner of Greenpoint & Humboldt will be given the honorific name of “Cosimo’s Way” to honor the late Cosimo Tristani’s service to the community. The presentation given by Andre Aviles, his friend from ages seventeen to sixty-three, was moving and heartfelt.
More controversial was the talk of street redesigns concerning the Greenpoint Ave. bicycle lanes. Specifically, the transportation committee voiced strong disagreement, backed up by a contested motion from the community board as a whole, not to support a street redesign proposal for Greenpoint Ave. from McGuinness to the bridge that would involve the loss of all parking on this stretch, about 50 spaces. It should be noted that this proposal, made by DOT, was preliminary and discussions are ongoing. It was recognized that the current layout is dangerous to both cars and cyclists and changes must be made.
As someone who bikes regularly on Greenpoint Ave, something needs to be done on this stretch. The most serious dangers are speeding drivers who swerve into the bike lane to avoid waiting for car ahead making left turns. However, it is important that the redesign protects the bikes lanes better without sacrificing all parking or loading zones for businesses.
Redesigns are also planned for the Greenpoint Ave Bridge and the Queens side of Greenpoint Ave, which is plagued by double-parking and a headache-inducing traffic pattern.
Filming in Greenpoint Greenpoint is well-known as a filming destination and the community board seemed united in its criticisms of the burdens of filming on the neighborhood. The main complaint stems from the loss of parking, especially for businesses on Manhattan Ave. Specifically, complaints were raised about the tendency for crews to clear streets hours prior to shooting, leaving locals wondering why businesses lose loading areas for 12 hrs in order to shoot a ten-minute shot. If you film in Greenpoint, a word of advice is to meet the community board and explain your position. The board spoke very favorably of one company that approached them prior to filming. The film industry creates good jobs for Greenpointers and New York, so the “go back to Hollywood” sentiment expressed by some was lacking nuance.
October 20, 6:30 pm (211 Ainslie Street) Public hearing regarding Open Space Alliance and waterfront shows October 25, 6:30 pm @ Community Board (435 Graham) Land use committee meeting, including a discussion on expanding the Greenpoint historic district. October 27, 6:30 @ Community Board (435 Graham) Public safety meeting. More detailed info on local safety issues and liquor licenses.
We’re having another open warehouse sale at our Greenpoint office next Thursday, 8/25. The event is from 5pm – 8pm with free beverages provided throughout. We’ll have a bunch of limited vinyl, tees, posters, sale items and more. Full details are on the flyer and there are more details here.
Insound Warehouse Sale
Thursday August 25, 2011 5pm-8pm
61 Greenpoint Ave, Suite 225
Between Franklin & West
It’s way too hot out there to do anything other than enjoy the air conditioning, have a few beers and enjoy Bingo with Bobby Tisdale at Black Rabbit.
BOBBY BINGO TONIGHT – 8pm!
Excellent prizes – including VIP passes to Eugene Mirman’s show at the Williamsburg Waterfront. Golden Dobber winner will be named tonight as well. Don’t miss it. What else can you do in this heat. Drink beer and play bingo!
Bobby Bingo
Thursday July 21, 2011 at 8pm Black Rabbit
91 Greenpoint Avenue
