The festival not only tastes great, it supports a great cause. TASTE Williamsburg Greenpoint is produced by The Firehouse North Brooklyn Community Center (formerly known as Northside Town Hall), an organization “working to renovate and operate the former Engine Co. 212 Firehouse for Community activity. The Firehouse will provide a permanent home to neighborhood social justice organizations for continued advocacy and direct services to Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The Firehouse fosters civic and cultural engagement with original arts programming and community gatherings.” Other community organizations, like North Brooklyn Angles, a coalition of neighbors helping neighbors fight food and housing insecurity, and Billion Oyster Project, a harbor restoration and citizen science organization, also made it to the fest.
Photo by Julia Moak
As the festival got underway amid sunny skies, live music and games, booze was flowing and bites were flying off the shelf. Some restaurants even ran out of food before the festival was over. Scroll down for a look at some of the fabulous food, drink, and local purveyors in attendance!
Quinoa and Lentil Balls from Abracadabra Brooklyn. Photo by Julia MoakDu’s Donuts. Photo by Julia MoakSweet Crepes from Le Gamin. Photo by Julia MoakA local pour from Widow Jane. Photo by Julia MoakThe crew from Lighthouse. Photo by Julia Moak
We might live in the concrete jungle, but according to this fantastic interactive tree map made by the New York City Parks department, Greenpoint is blessed with arboreal abundance. Our lovely neighborhood trees benefit from the care of volunteer environmental stewards, known as Citizen Pruners.
The Citizen Pruner course trains and certifies New Yorkers in “tree care, biology, identification and pruning.” Sarah explains that all of these skills and areas of knowledge are intertwined when it comes to properly caring for New York’s Trees, because knowing about a tree’s species, and the specific challenges that species has with weather or growth, helps inform how you prune it.
Trees New York is the only organization in the city that trains and certifies Citizen Pruners, and only certified Citizen Pruners can legally prune street trees in New York. Trees New York certifies about 200 Citizen Pruners every year, but Greenpoint residents are particularly lucky. Anyone who lives in zip code 11222 is eligible for the Greening Greenpoint Scholarship, and can take the course for just $15, thanks to funding from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund!Continue reading →
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange. If you’re a fan of filmmaker and master of weirdness David Lynch, you are probably obsessed with his most famous of works, (duh, Twin Peaks) which has recently been rebooted on Showtime. And, if you’re a fan, you’ll probably want to check out this flash tat event at Three Kings (572 Manhattan Ave) next Thursday! Tattoo artist Amanda Rodriguez is hosting a special Twin Peaks flash day from 12pm-10pm, where you can get designs ranging from The Bang Bang Bar’s logo (omg!) to an adorable log that reads “ASK IT” underneath to a One Eyed Jacks poker chip. You can peep the available designs on Amanda’s Insta account. Prices range from $100-450, and if you want to reserve a space in line, there’s a $50 deposit required. You can email her for deposit info: [email protected]. I mean, you should just go for it. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it. Don’t wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee.Or even a tattoo.
Greenpoint Beer & Ale (7 N 15th St) has a bigger than big Oktoberfest planned this year so make plans now to join them Sept. 23rd through Oct. 1st! They’ll be tapping two super rare gravity kegs from Franconia and featuring four guest drafts from Munich: Mahrs Saphire Weisse, Monchshof Festbier & Ayinger Oktoberfest.
Mug holding contest at 5pm each Saturday! Come dressed in an Oktoberfest costume and receive a COMPLIMENTARY BEER.
Oktoberfest food specials include Sausages with Red Cabbage and Schnitzel.
Zach Broussard, Future Marathon Runner. Via Kickstarter
Why run when you could walk? That seems to be question guiding this fall’s newest athletic not-quite-feat: The New York Sorta Marathon. Organized by comedian and former Greenpointer Zach Broussard, the Sorta Marathon is the first short marathon. Instead of 26.2 miles, the length of a traditional marathon, the race clocks in at just .2 miles.
Broussard explores some hard truths about marathons in his YouTube promo video for the event, including this rock-hard reality: 26.2 miles is way too long for most people. Designed to be a race anyone can finish, the event’s Kickstarter page exalts, “finally, a marathon FOR THE PEOPLE.” Broussard knows that not all of us have the time or the ability to train for a traditional race, but that we all face challenges personally or globally. So, how can we feel good? Skip the running and go straight to the runner’s-high! He told me, “lots of our online experience is watching people brag about things that are sometimes out of our own reach. So I thought it would be fun to create an event that allowed literally anyone the chance to brag about some crazy accomplishment.”Continue reading →
The end of the old Kosciuszko Bridge. Via Brooklyn Paper
So far this summer, New Yorkers have reacted to the demolition of the Old Kosciuszko Bridge in a variety of expressive ways. There were the illicit parties held on the Bridge ahead of the scheduled July demolition, and the group of urban vigilantes ready to defend the bridge from demise with wolves and swords.
The city itself decided on a more muted end to the 1939 span that crosses Newtown Creek, connecting Greenpoint to Maspeth, Queens, than these events, or even the Bridge’s namesake, Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Revolutionary hero in both Poland and the United States, might warrant. Instead of the scheduled July explosion, the main span of the bridge was lowered onto a barge in Newtown Creek.
But, anyone who was hoping the bridge would go out with a bang can get psyched. According to Brooklyn Paper and DNAinfo, head of the 94th Precinct, Captain Peter Rose, has announced that the Brooklyn and Queens approaches of the old bridge will be detonated in a controlled explosion around 5am on Sunday, September 24.
That date is tentatively scheduled, and may be subject to change depending on a variety of factors including weather, but that hasn’t stopped the Newtown Creek Alliance from creating a map of the best places to watch the demolition. Check it out here to stake out your spot for the Big Bang!
Hey babes. We love the change of seasons for a few reasons: themed holidays, fancy drinks, new projects, great shows, and art. And, one of our top favorite reasons? New clothes. Oh yes, it’s one of the best things—what new pieces can add some fit and flair to your wardrobe?
In God We Trust (70 Greenpoint Ave) outdid themselves again this season. With clean lines, cool jumpsuits, and sassy bomber jackets, this autumn season is full of attitude and lots of swag style. Browse some stellar styles and drop it like it’s hot. Continue reading →
Thee Oh Sees! Photo: Thomas Girard, via Warsaw on Instagram
It’s always a treat when Thee Oh Sees go on tour and play a few shows in Brooklyn. I always make it a point to go at least once because it’s nothing short of awesome. Thee Oh Sees psyched out the crowd at the Warsaw (261 Driggs Avenue) with dynamic jams with loud-meets-fast-riffs. Continue reading →
Tomorrow night (Tues, 9/19) at Film Noir Cinema (122 Meserole Ave), the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies presents NYC-based author, performer and miscreant Grady Hendrix, who will chat about his latest book, Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction, followed by a panel discussion with the talented artists behind some of the most disturbing horror novel covers of all time. After trolling the shelves of secondhand shops and used bookstores, Grady was inspired to pen a detailed history of horror fiction’s big boom in the late ’70s and early-to-mid ’80s. Three big-hit books kicked off the popular category: Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist and The Other. Prior to that, “Horror was not a genre,” says Grady.
After their colossal success, publishers saw a ripe new market, and a moneymaking opportunity—and the crazy cover graphics were essentially advertisements for the books themselves. Some of the smaller horror publishers couldn’t afford B-list or even C-list writers, so they’d put all of their budgets into hiring the best cover artists. “They knew the one chance they had to sell this book was the cover art,” Grady says. “You want to stand out… and you’ve got one chance.” And the more over-the-top the cover art was, the better. Grady’s seen ’em all: from a skeleton delivering mail to Nazi leprechauns to killer crabs, horror art was definitely having its heyday. Continue reading →
Angus Andrew comes to Greenpoint to perform his first solo album as Liars. (photo credit: liarsliarsliars.com)
Angus Andrew dropped a new Liars album last month on Mute Records, and is performing at Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave) on September 21. YVETTE and Idgy Dean will open. You can get tickets here, and check out the album here.
The new album, titled TFCF (Theme From Crying Fountain), is the first album since the departure of founding member Aaron Hemphill. The live show will have band members from Bamabara, and will include songs previously recorded but not released by Liars.
We caught up with Andrew during his break between the European and US tours to discuss the making of TFCF – which included a couple years of self-imposed isolation in the Australian bush. We also can’t wait to catch his show in Greenpoint and see first hand what he’s been up to down under.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Greenpointers: You’ve been based in the States for a long time, but wrote this album in Australia. What brought you back there in the first place?
Angus Andrew: There was a lot pulling me back there. I’d wanted to move back there for a long time actually, but it’s very tricky when you are a touring band to be based out there, but eventually… I made the leave… and thankfully got a good amount of time with my dad before he passed away and so it was really a good thing for me to do… I live in a pretty isolated spot which you can only get to by boat.Continue reading →
