Manhattan Avenue shines bright (Image via John Gurion)
Happy Friday Greenpointers! It’s feeling frigid out there, but if you venture out of the apartment then you might want to visit the opening reception of the exhibition Weird Nature at Greenpoint Terminal Gallery (67 West St. #320) open from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Over at the Greenpoint Gallery (90 McGuinness Blvd) tonight from 8 p.m. to midnight, two floors of gallery space will display local art for the gallery’s first salon show of the year, along with live music.
If you couldn’t make it to the monthly Brooklyn Community Board 1 meeting last Tuesday where the local National Grid pipeline project was debated, video of the entire meeting is available here.
Surveillance video shows the suspect in St. Anthony’s on Sunday.
A 33-year-old man entered the Greenpoint Catholic church St. Anthony of Padua – St. Alphonsus (862 Manhattan Ave.) and vandalized a parish last Sunday.
A video posted by the Brooklyn Diocese shows the man pouring an unidentified red liquid on a table at the front of the church during mass last Sunday at around 9:30 a.m. Continue reading →
A pizzeria is coming to 93 Norman Ave. where Carmine’s Pizza and most recently Norman Cafe were located.
Happy weekend Greenpointers! A photo exhibition featuring photos from 1990s era Williamsurg opens tonight at 383 Bushwick Ave. from 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.
On Saturday, a new Greenpoint-based art collective will host its debut show featuring the works of 12 members at Brooklyn Bliss (1048 Manhattan Ave.).
Looking ahead to next Tuesday, there’s the monthly Brooklyn Community Board 1 public meeting with a jam-packed agenda including a presentation from National Grid on a contentious local gas main construction project.
For more events check out what’s happening and in the meantime catch up on this week’s headlines:
A longtime Greenpoint Italian restaurant is making some changes to their menu to start the new year after transitioning the restaurant to a 100 percent plant-based menu.
Il Funghetto pizza (sauce, mozzarella, cremini mushroom & fresh parsley)
Adelina’s (159 Greenpoint Ave.) transitioned to a fully vegetarian and vegan menu last year and as of January 1st, the restaurant has stopped making their usual pizza fritta (fried pizza) and is now focused on a style of pizza known as pinsa Romana made with fermented dough.
This style of pizza is light in gluten with a crust that is crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle and “much more digestible than a standard pizza due to the minimum 48 hour fermentation and very high hydration,” according to Adelina’s owner Toby Buggiani.
Pizza offerings on the new menu are split between vegan and vegetarian options and range in price from $11 for the la Marinara (double sauce, fried caper & oregano) to $17 for the la Burrata pizza (sauce, topped with post oven pesto, stracciatella & arugula).
la Burrata (sauce, topped with post oven pesto, stracciatella & arugula)
Look out for their rotating list of natural wines and their “Meet the Wine Maker” sessions, usually held on Wednesday nights.
Ria Bella Pizza has been closed since early December.
It’s now a new year, but the changes in the neighborhood continued during the holiday season with the closure of both a Greenpoint pizzeria and a longtime neighborhood shop in Williamsburg, along a few business openings.
Closures:
Greenpoint appears to be down one spectacular pizza spot as the Paul Giamatti approved Ria Bella (1049 Manhattan Ave.), which opened in 2014, has been closed since early December.
The Sicilian style pies were reason enough to venture to the northernmost stretch of Manhattan Avenue, and concerned customers have contacted Greenpointers asking if the business is reopening as no official closing announcement was made. We reached out to the owners and are waiting to hear back, but Ria Bella’s Yelp page lists the business as closed.
Fuego 718 Store in Williamsburg is now closed
Over in Williamsburg, Fuego 718 Store (249 Grand St.), a neighborhood shop with colorful handmade goods from Mexico and around the world opened in 2004 and closed last week after 16 years of business.
My gratitude to you is huge and indescribable! What a great pleasure to have walked with you and the hand of so many artisans, artists, women and men whose creations and art have pulled a smile from our lips, they have brought us happiness to our lives and the lives of those we love so much!
Over the past decade, luxury development has proliferated around East River State Park, but dive bar prices can now be found on the corner of N. 8th Street and Kent Avenue at Dolly’s Swing and Dive (101 Kent Ave.), the newest Williamsburg watering hole complete with a jukebox and a throwback vibe to the 1930s – 1970s.
To complement the reasonably-priced drinks, the menu features pub classics like house-baked pretzels and smaller bites like vegetarian taquitos. Winter hours (Nov. 1st – April 1st) are Mon. – Fri. from 3 p.m. – 4 a.m., and Sat. – Sun. from 12 p.m. – 4 a.m.
Just a quick walk up Kent Avenue to the corner of Grand Street, Two Hands (262 Kent Ave.), also celebrated its grand opening last week. The Australian-inspired restaurant has a clean, Instagram-friendly aesthetic likely to draw a brunch crowd seeking out avocado toast and açaí bowls.
If you’re celebrating Hannukah or want to join in the festivities, The Chabad of Greenpoint will host an outdoor menorah lighting at the corner of Greenpoint Avenue and Franklin Street on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
On a sad and serious development this holiday week, Kong Chae Choi, manager of the recently closed Young Fruit (192 Nassau Ave.) for over 30 years, has been missing since Monday, December 23rd when he was last seen leaving his former workplace.
Have a safe weekend and catch up on this week’s headlines:
New York’s Safe Way Home Act, which started from Greenpoint resident Deborah Spiroff’s crowdfunding campaign to provide sexual assault victims free transportation home from the hospital following treatment, is now officially law.
Governor Cuomo signed the act into law this week and Senate Bill S3966A, as it’s known, goes into effect in three months, NBC reports.
Concerns were raised by Spiroff for sexual assault survivors who have to walk home alone after being discharged from Wyckoff Heights Medical Center where she has volunteered in the Violence Intervention Treatment Program for three years.
“I’ve had more than one case where after the person has been treated they’re just released, and they literally were walking home from Wycoff Hospital at 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock in the morning,” Spiroff told Greenpointers last winter when the bill was first introduced. Continue reading →
Kong Chae Choi has been missing since Monday 12/23.
Kong Chae Choi, who managed the recently closed Young Fruit (192 Nassau Ave.) for over 30 years, has been missing since Monday, December 23rd.
Choi was last seen on Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the closed Young Fruit in Greenpoint at 192 Nassau Ave. His daughter Grace has contacted the NYPD and is looking for any information: “It is with great sadness (and anxiety) I write this, in hopes that the community may help with our family’s search…He is a loving father and family man and we wish for nothing more than his safe return.”
If you have any information please call 917-575-7976 :
Name: Kong Chae Choi Height: 5’5 Weight:160 Age: 67 Car: White 2009 Ford Econoline Plates: JDZ7412
Happy Holiday weekend Greenpointers! Look and listen for the “Evergreenpoint Carolers” tonight near the G train entrance at India Street starting at 7 p.m. and ending at The Springs (224 Franklin Street) at around 8:30 p.m.
If you missed this week’s meeting on the search for a site to build a new Greenpoint elementary school the entire meeting was streamed by Councilmember Stephen Levin.
Looking ahead to the weekend, on Saturday NYPD’s Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, along with Santa and superhero friends, will deliver presents in the neighborhood for their 4th Annual Sleigh Ride starting at 10 a.m.
This Saturday, NYPD’s Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, along with Santa and superhero friends, will deliver presents in the neighborhood for their 4th Annual Sleigh Ride starting at 10 a.m.
This year more than 7,000 toys will be delivered by a 50 truck caravan loaded with gifts for local kids from Greenpoint to East New York.
