Our area has been the birthplace of many things: the American porcelain industry, oil refining, but carousels? Who knew? Actually, Greenpoint has a long history of carousel production that goes all the way back to 1850 when Greenpoint’s Eliphalet Scripture off Greenpoint received the first patent for the improvement of the “flying” carousel horse.
Another Greenpoint man would make a name for himself as the creator of some of the most beautiful American carousels. Charles Looff who lived on Leonard Street is arguably the father of the American carousel. The Danish-born Loof, arrived in Greenpoint in 1870 and found employment as a woodworker in a local furniture factory. After work he would take scraps of wood home and carve beautiful carousel animal figures from them. Loof mounted his wooden animals onto a circular platform and created his first merry-go-round. In 1876, he built the carousel at Lucy Vandeveer’s Bathing Pavilion at West Sixth Street and Surf Avenue, Coney Island’s first carousel and first amusement ride. Continue reading →
Local community protesting against closing Engine 212 in 1975
Sip on wine from over 60 prestigious wineries and taste food by top North Brooklyn chefs next Monday, June 26th at The Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave)and help turn a closed local firehouse into a new community and cultural center!
The Williamsburg Wine Bash benefits The Fire House North Brooklyn Community Center, which is close to raising enough funds to create a community center that will host cultural programming, exhibitions, events and classes. It will also be home to Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People’s Firehouse (PFI), two organizations that serve the Greenpoint/Williamsburg community with grassroots organizing, advocacy, outreach/education on environmental justice, affordable housing development, tenant services, and more.
Last Tuesday night, a bit of the tropics came to NYC as Bahamas—the recording name of Canadian musician Afie Jurvanen—played to a sold out crowd at Good Room (98 Meserole Ave). The Greenpoint show preceded a show at Forest Hills Stadium the next night opening for Jack Johnson, whose Brushfire Records released Jurvanen’s second and third albums, Barchords (2012) and Bahamas is Afie (2014). Continue reading →
The Greenpoint Library (107 Norman Ave) is closing for reconstruction at the end of the day on Friday, June 30. With $5 million in funds from the GCEF and more than $6 million from the Brooklyn Public Library, a larger, more modern, and truly green Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center is coming, along with expanded programs and activities. Construction is expected to be complete at the end of 2018. The original Greenpoint Library was constructed in 1906 and only replaced once in the 70’s due to deterioration. Continue reading →
Looks like Greenpoint could be getting another park! The Open Space Alliance and the Department of Transportation are holding a meeting on June 28 to offer the community the chance to give input on possible open space usage underneath the Kosciuszko Bridge. They’ll also be hosting a tour of the proposed park site on June 24th, but the tour is capped at 25 people and currently full.
What: Kosciuszko Bridge Park Community Planning Meeting When: Wednesday, June 28, 6:30 – 8:30 pm Where: The Park House at Bushwick Inlet Park, 86 Kent Avenue (at N. 9th Street) RSVP here
Dobbin St Rooftop | 64 Dobbin St | subscribe to ThisPlace emails for schedule
Event popup ThisPlace regularly hosts drink n draws all over North Brooklyn. The next one is coming up on June 26 at Dobbin St, from 630-9pm. Tickets are $25 and include rosé, but you should bring your own drawing supplies. Since this is happening at sunset, you can bet the light will be magical so you might want to bring colored pencils or pastels. Join the ThisPlace mailing list to stay up-to-date on future drink n draws and other fun events.
Greenpoint Figure Drawing. Photo: Julia Moak
Greenpoint Figure Drawing | 67 West St #303 (Big Object Studio) | Fridays at 7pm
Greenpoint Figure Drawing is a Meetup group that hosts weekly drink n draws, for $15. “In each 3-hr session, we will draw from a live model, beginning with quick poses to warm up, and then gradually extend the pose length to a final 1 hour pose to finish the evening.” The sessions are moderated by two stop motion visual artists. BYOB and BYO art supplies. *Note, the next meetup is Friday June 23rd; there won’t be a drink n draw tonight.Continue reading →
Group Partner, the Instagram darling of the pottery world, has certainly come a long way since their early days at their studio studio on Norman and Lorimer. Headed by Isaac Nichols, the studio has become known for their quirky, iconic boob pots and other equally alluring containers. The pots, designed by Nichols, started out as a hobby that bloomed into a successful ceramics studio business. Continue reading →
Toro Ironworks was always a great spot for the pregame
For the past two years, Toro Ironworks Kitchen & Bar (254 Driggs Ave) has been a go-to spot for tacos, margs, and other Mexican delights. They especially came in handy as a pre-Warsaw dinner or a quick weekday happy hour drink. They were even ahead of the latest jackfruit trend when they debuted jackfruit tacos last year for the vegetarians among us. (You can now get brined jackfruit at Trader Joe’s because it’s #trending.) Alas, all good things must come to an end. Owner Sebouh Yegparian has let us know that today is, unfortunately, Toro Ironworks last day with us. They will be missed.
But they are not going out without a little bit of a celebration. Until the final closing of the doors tonight, they will be offering a “3, 4, 5” promotion. All beers are $3, all margaritas are $4, and all glasses of wine are $5. They do have a limited menu on offer for those of you who want that jackfruit one last time. We should note that they won’t be open until mid-afternoon due to construction on the block. So stop by this afternoon, or on your way home tonight to enjoy their patio one last time, and wish Sebouh well on his next adventure.
Brooklyn Grain Photo Studios (1166 Manhattan Ave #302), in partnership with photographer Roeg Cohen, is presenting “Photographers For Planned Parenthood,” a one-night exhibition and print sale with prints from more than 25 photographers. The show features works generously donated from photographers in various stages of their careers, and all prints are priced less than $300 with all proceeds donated to Planned Parenthood.
Photographers For Planned Parenthood
Friday, June 9 | 6-10pm
Brooklyn Grain Photo Studios | 1166 Manhattan Ave #302 RSVP on Facebook
We’re once again joining in on all the Northside Festival fun with our own official showcase happening tomorrow, June 8th at Bar Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave) starting at 8PM. RSVP here!
