At the beginning of the summer, Greenpoint received its very own location of Manhattan’s French bakery & café du jour, Maman (80 Kent Street). It has quickly become a great place to pick up some pastries or a light sandwich, or possibly an ice cream sandwich when it was hot out. What has been missing is the heartier brunch fare found at their other locations. Similar to their current offerings, Maman’s brunch has something for everyone; there is healthy fare alongside the decidedly decadent with a few exclusive items for each location. And that part of the equation begins tomorrow when our Maman begins offering brunch in their beautiful upstairs space! Like the downstairs, the second level is all very Provençal-chic with rustic light-painted wood, hanging plants, and a fake fireplace opposite a floral black-and-white wall. Continue reading →
The fight for Bushwck Inlet Park has made one of our community issues very clear: Greenpoint & Williamsburg get the short end of the stick when it comes to green space. We simply don’t have enough of it. This trickles into another issue: we also don’t have many community gardens or places that aren’t packed on the weekend where we can put our fingers in the dirt. In Greenpoint, we’re limited to the 61 Franklin Street Community Garden and the Java Street Community Garden. This lack of uncrowded green space where we can relax with neighbors, help plant a few things, and enjoy a nice evening sunset is what makes The Farm on Kent one of our hidden little gems. And tomorrow, they’ll be celebrating this glorious summer by becoming a sunset beer garden! Continue reading →
OddFellows Ice Cream Co. in Williamsburg. All images via oddfellowsnyc.com
As co-founder Mohan Kumar tells it, OddFellows in Williamsburg has an origin as sweet as its ice cream.
“When Holiday was pregnant Sam [Mason] brought over ice cream, and she loved it. At the time I was looking to get out of what I was doing in real estate finance and do something more entrepreneurial, more creative,” Kumar shared. “A couple days later, she said, ‘Why don’t you talk to Sam about opening an ice cream shop?’ I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ I approached Sam about that over a beer, I had half a business plan already written out, and that’s how it started.”Continue reading →
Traffic cones line portions of the curb and roadway as the work begins.
A stretch of Kent Avenue in south Williamsburg is being updated to include a two-way bicycle greenway, along with improvements to calm motorists and conform the roadway to traffic patterns above and below the area.
The sunlit halls of Green Desk's Co-working space at 240 Kent
(Sponsored)
Co-working spaces are more than just a passing trend–they seem to be the wave of the future for small businesses and start-ups, especially in Brooklyn. This is exactly the case at Green Desk‘s 240 Kent location, where you’ll find a husband-and-wife-run sex toy business down the hall from a kids health food campaign, both upstairs from a new age-y crystal boutique.
The business and retail owners at 240 Kent are vocal about the leeway for experimentation and growth that the space affords them.
“It’s great because we have the flexbility of trying out our business to see if it works,” said Raymond Ng of Essbar Juicing, located on the ground floor of the building, which is exclusively devoted to retail and food outlets.
The ground floor space, which opened in July, is Brooklyn’s answer to the Chelsea Market, with a maze of speciality food vendors, handmade clothing retailers, and vintage sellers, expanding the options available to anyone talking a stroll along the Kent Avenue waterfront. Once a barren warehouse zone, we’ve watched the whole area undergo a major revamp–from the East River Ferry to the Brooklyn Flea and the Edge (and a bevy of other modern high rises). Now, with the advent of this rapidly expanding co-working/retail establishment, the stretch of Kent between N. 12th and N.1st is quickly becoming a hub of young businesses.
Whether you’re craving a French Toast Cupcake (a la Brooklyn Cupcake or an “Vape Pen” to curb a smoking habit (from Vapor Lounge NY), the stores at 240 Kent are well worth exploring.
The ground floor space, which opened in July, is Brooklyn’s answer to the Chelsea Market, with a maze of speciality food vendors, handmade clothing retailers, and vintage sellers, expanding the options available to anyone talking a stroll along the Kent Avenue waterfront. Once a barren warehouse zone, we’ve watched the whole area undergo a major revamp–from the East River Ferry to the Brooklyn Flea and the Edge (and a bevy of other modern high rises). Now, with the advent of this rapidly expanding co-working/retail establishment, the stretch of Kent between N. 12th and N.1st is quickly becoming a hub of young businesses.
