Melissa and Aneesha from Catalina’s Let Love Reign series
Catalina Kulczar is the best kind of photographer: selfless. Her portraits illuminate the beauty in others, and her projects — individually crafted and triumphantly executed — are marked by a social justice bent that lets underrepresented voices sing. Her many and diverse photography series have included moving portraits of girls celebrating their quinceañera and portraits, both loving and poignant, of same-sex couples awaiting marriage equality. That last project is the inspiration for a new book she discussed with Greenpointers — a queer-affirming anthology she’s looking to publish with the help of a Kickstarter. We caught up with the local photographer to discuss her passion projects, inspirations, and favorite neighborhood hangouts.
Greenpointers: How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
Catalina Kulczar: I have lived in Brooklyn since 2011 — three years in Fort Greene, then we moved to Greenpoint in summer 2014.
Do you have a favorite neighborhood spot?
I love going to Brooklyn Label. I love how much natural light fills the place year-round, and the staff there is always friendly and welcoming.
A Rendering of the Timber Bridge between Greenpoint and LIC
The good folks at Creme / Jun Aizaki Architecture and Design are hoping to bridge the gap between Greenpoint and Long Island City with a floating bridge connecting Manhattan and Vernon Avenues across Newtown Creek.
Doesn’t the Pulaski Bridge already do almost exactly that? You might ask. The project, known as the Timber Bridge at LongPoint Corridor, seeks to do it better. According to the project’s Master Plan, the Timber Bridge would reduce the 12-minute trek across the Pulaski Bridge into a 2 minute jaunt.
Beyond that, the project calls for “a renovation of the street at Manhattan Landing, a pedestrian bridge across Newtown Creek, waterfront restoration and expansion on both sides of the bridge, and a pedestrian route across the LIRR railyard.” Continue reading →
Looking for a new gig or side hustle? Check out this round up of some Greenpoint-based jobs.
A restaurant needs a line cook. “We butcher fish and whole animals in-house, produce our own charcuterie, and also feature a strong repertoire of vegetarian and vegan recipes.” —could this be Cherry Point? New Mexican spot Oxomoco, housed in Greenpoint’s tiniest standalone building, is looking for bartenders, servers, hosts, barracks, cooks, and dishwashers. Calexico has an open position for a daytime cashier. Greenpoint-based nature camp, wBees Forest School needs summer camp teachers for their “nature-based and arts-rich summer camp”. The Richardson is looking for some experienced bartenders. A family-owned cafe in GP put out the call for a new barista. A jewelry line is looking to fill two internship roles: production and operations. Sanctuary Salon is looking for a new stylistto join their team. Kickstarter has 10 engineering roles (and more) open. Atlas Obscura has 3 editorial fellowship positionsup for grabs.
A rendering of the proposed L-ternative Pontoon Bridge, via Kickstarter
L-pocalypse looms just a year away, and the MTA doesn’t appear particularly interested in dealing with it, so New York residents have taken up the mantel of transit vigilantism, and moved forward with plans of their own. Last month Parker Shinn took to Kickstarter to drum up community support for an “L-ternative” Pontoon Bridge, which would run across the East River from North 8th Street in Williamsburg to East 10th Street in Manhattan. The Bridge would support 2 lanes of bus traffic, two lanes of bike traffic and command a $1 toll. It would also connect commuters to the Bedford Avenue L-train, and crosstown bus service along 14th street. Continue reading →
WHAT: Art + Feminism Edit-a-thon 2018 WHERE: Kickstarter HQ | 58 Kent Street WHEN: Sunday, March 4th | 11am-5pm MORE INFO: bring a laptop, refreshments & lunch provided, FREE, RSVP Here, Facebook invite
A 2011 Women & Wikimedia survey found that only 9% of Wikipedia’s editors identify themselves as female. And in fact, this word cloud from the survey shows in graphic detail how women have been treated on the platform through name calling (bitch, cunt, hysterical, witch and prostitute are among them). Last year, Art+Feminism, Kickstarter, along with other partners and local neighbors banded together to help close the gender gap on one of the world’s largest public reference websites. At 2017’s event, 35 editors and added over 20,300 words across 58 articles. Continue reading →
# Wobble Before You Gobble @ Le Fond (105 Norman Ave) Thanksgiving Eve cocktail party! Cut loose a lil’ before heading out of town. $6 aperitif specials, including house recipe Kir Royale and warm mulled wine, More info ♫ Thanksgiving Fest Trivia Night @ The Well (272 Meserole St), 8pm, FREE, Live music the whole night, trivia is free to play, and we are giving out amazing prizes to the top teams, More info ♫ Modern English w/ The Veldt @ Rough Trade (64 N 9th St), 8pm, $20, Buy tix ♫ Tiki Disco: Thanksgiving Eve | Lloydski/ Andy Pry/ Eli Escobar @ Output (74 Wythe Ave), 10pm, $20, Buy tix ♫ Nicky Siano’s Native New Yorker – Thanksgiving Eve & Love Tempo @ Good Room (98 Meserole Ave), 10pm, $15, Feel The Magic on the Dance floor while the Master of Disco Soul takes you on a Journey to the beginnings of NYC Nightlife Culture, Buy tix ♫ MORE LIFE: Drake Night @ Baby’s All Right (146 Broadway), 11pm, $10, Buy tix
* TENT Ministries’ Annual Thanksgiving @ Maria Hernandez Park (92 Irving Pl), 10am, FREE, Free hot food, delicious desserts, uplifting music, free sneakers, coats, frozen turkeys, and other giveaways, and most importantly, there will be prayer and fellowship, More info ♦ ‘Clue’ on a Loop with Brandy and Board Games! @ Videology (308 Bedford Ave), 4pm, FREE-ish, Happy Thanksgiving, monsieurs and mademoiselles. You’re cordially invited to a day full of mystery, board games, brandy, pumpkin pie, and MURDER (as the Thanksgiving tradition goes), More info ♫ A Night of Thanks @ Cape House (2 Knickerbocker Ave), 8pm, FREE, A night of friends, celebration, music and live art. Let’s turn a tragic holiday into a celebration of friendship and recognition of camaraderie, More info Continue reading →
New York living would be way too lonely without our furry friends by our side, who provide us cuddles and kisses not only when we refuse to leave our apartments in the dead of winter, but also increasingly commonly at work. Dog friendly offices are totally on trend right now, but with crowded subways and a recent backlash on “fake” service dogs, bringing your pup to and fro around the city is becoming more of a challenge. Especially if you want your dog bag to match your personal sense of style.
Longtime North Brooklyn resident Tennille Teague was frustrated at the lack of stylish options to tote her lovable daschund Mo to and from work every day. Dogs need to be in a carrier of some type if you take them on the subway, ferry or in a cab—and most of the available doggie travel bags at big box retailers or online come in rather obnoxious colors or patterns, and don’t really fall in line with the fashion forward sensibility of hip New Yorkers. And aside from looks, there were other features Tennille wasn’t able to find in a doggie travel bag—a well-designed pocket for accessible poop bags, detachable straps, a leather bottom with metal feet, or one end open for the dog’s head to peek out, for example. And even if a bag had one of those traits, it didn’t have them all.
So after more than a year of design and production exploration, Tennille is ready to unleash Jaxx Hound onto the NYC dog scene. Jaxx Hound’s cleverly designed bags, collars and leashes will be produced nearby in Jersey, in production by the end of the year and ready to ship out in early 2018, if she meets her Kickstarter goal of $39,000. To support Jaxx Hound with a $25 pledge, you can rock the McGolrick dog run with a cute “Pup Culture” tee which features illustrations of dogs reimagined as celebs: Billdog Murray, Meryl Sheepdog and Bernese Sanders. And if you’re dying to get your hands on one of the bags, a pledge of $225 will get you one in classic black, grey, navy or olive green. And while that might seem like a lot to some, in the realm of locally-made and ultra-stylish dog fashion (with 5% of proceeds going to NYC shelter Animal Haven) the price makes sense. Your best friend and daily companion is worth whatever it costs. The Jaxx Hound Kickstarter ends in a few weeks; hook up your pup with the chic-est way to travel, before everybody else is doing it.
Thomas Middleditch in Entanglement, Dir. Jason James, showing at the Brooklyn Film Festival 2017
This Friday, June 2nd kicks off the 20th annual Brooklyn Film Festival, which will screen over 122 narrative features, documentaries, narrative and documentary shorts, animated and experimental films from 32 countries spread over six continents. Two of the festival’s venues are in Greenpoint: Windmill Studios NYC (300 Kingsland Ave) and the Kickstarter headquarters(58 Kent St)—also the site for the BFF Exchange—a day of free panels, and a happy hour sponsored by Stella Artois on Saturday June 10th.Continue reading →
