This past November, we announced that Northern Territory would be hibernating for the winter and planned to reopen this Spring (as in now) for their final year at the corner of Franklin and Meserole Avenue before the building is razed for new development. Sadly, Nothern Territory will remain officially closed.
Jamie Toll, photo by Ian Hartsoe.
Why the sudden change of plans? Even though their lease is up at the end of the year, Northern Territory “came to an agreement with the new landlord” to be out in a few months and make way for the seven-story office and manufacturing building that is slated to be built. Continue reading →
Manhattan Avenue isn’t the only Greenpoint shopping corridor experiencing a rapid change in its businesses. The stretch of Franklin Street from N. 15 Street to Commercial Street has seen a shakeup in the past year with the closings and openings of longtime and new businesses. Here’s the latest:
Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. (7 N. 15th St.) and Northern Territory (12 Franklin St.) share the same block that is soon-to-be-razed to make way for a new office building. Northern Territory is closed for the winter and will reopen for the final year at its current location this spring. Meanwhile, Greenpoint Beer celebrated its final night on New Year’s Eve at its current location and the owners are busy preparing their new 1150 Manhattan Ave. location for a tentative spring opening.
Just across the street from Northern Territory, the House of Vans (25 Franklin St.) concert venue and skate park opened in 2010 and closed last August with a goodbye set from NYC legends Interpol. The space is now on the market for $77,000 per month.
(Courtesy of House of Vans)Shayz Lounge
Shayz Lounge (130 Franklin St.) announced on Thursday that January 20th will be the neighborhood bar’s final night of operation after spending a decade in Greenpoint on Franklin Street. Continue reading →
Come and say goodbye in person to the Northern Territory crew at their Winter Hibernation Party this Saturday, Nov. 17, from 4 p.m. – close. Greenpointers will be guest bartending with pumpkin spice hot mulled apple cider, a favorite from our Samhain Fall Market.
Northern Territory (12 Franklin St.) is closing for the winter, and summer 2019 will be the popular bar’s last at the current Franklin Street location.
You can come to say goodbye in person to the Northern Territory crew at their Winter Hibernation Party on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 4 p.m. – close, where Greenpointers staff will be guest bartending with pumpkin spice hot mulled apple cider, a crowd favorite from our Samhain Fall Market.
Owner Jamie Toll says the cold winter months bring a large reduction of customers along with significantly less foot traffic near the once-barren waterfront region at the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
Yoga on the rooftop at Northern Territory, via Northern Territory
Yoga doesn’t have to be a quiet, sober meditative experience owned by ommmmm’s — this weekend (Sunday, 8/12) you can get your drink on while you downward dog, at Northern Territory (12 Franklin St). The bar’s rooftop will play host to Drunk Yoga, a series of classes that take the pressure out of the practice. Class starts at 10am, and costs $35—which includes two glasses of wine. Bring your own mat.
(2016) A Poland supporter walks down Nassau Avenue with facepaint and a Polish flag before the Poland-Portugal match. Photo: Erik Keithley
For the next month or so soccer fans in Greenpoint will be in the throes of World Cup mania. Normally placid people will dress head to toe in the uniforms of the nations they support, drape themselves in flags and even paint their faces. They will scream at the top of their lungs and experience either great joy or complete sadness before the final match in Russia brings the madness to a close on July fifteenth. Billions of people around the world watch the match and the thirty-two countries who are in the cup often grind to a halt when the national team plays. Sadly, the American Men’s National Team did not qualify, so American fans will have to support other nations.
One of the teams in the world cup this year is Poland and hundreds of locals will hit local bars decked in red and white, but local Mexicans, Germans, English, Koreans and other nationalities will turn up at local water holes to cheer their teams on. Here are some of the most popular venues to watch the match!
(2016) Poland fans gather in numbers to watch the Poland vs. Portugal game, and to enjoy Keg and Lantern’s tasty handcrafted beers. Photo: Erik Keithley
KEG & LANTERN | 97 Nassau Ave Keg and Lantern on Nassau Avenue has a great vibe. They have many screens and a great selection of beer and snacks. The only problem is that the place might be packed for some of the bigger matches. Continue reading →
Greenpoint Open Studios (GOS) returns with more than 400 local artists, who will open up their studios to the public to showcase their works. Free and open to everyone! Visitors will have the opportunity to engage directly with artists in their own spaces, including painters, sculptors, video and installation artists, photographers, printmakers, ceramicists, designers, architects and more. This year GOS is offering several guided tours, workshops and additional fun art events all over the neighborhood. Full schedule of events (including a Launch Party at Java Studios Friday night, Wrap Party at Northern Territory Sunday night) and tour registrations can be found here. A map of all the artists’ studios can be found here.
* Extreme Cities: On Water Contamination and Urban Adaptation @ A/D/O (29 Norman Ave.), 6:30pm, FREE, The future of cities and their role in mitigating climate change. RSVP ^ Evergreen Review @ Bizarre Bar (12 Jefferson St.), 7pm, FREE, readings, prizes and more, More Info * War Witch: The Art of the Curse @ Catland (987 Flushing Ave.), 7pm, $20, jinxes, hexes, curses and challenging the ethics of witchcraft, Buy Tix ♫ Menjuje, Rose Cologne, Purracuda @ Tender Trap (66 Greenpoint Avenue.), 8:00pm, $7, More Info
THURSDAY 5/31
☺Physically Bold Comedy Show @ Pine Box Rock Shop (12 Grattan St.), 7pm, FREE, More Info Buy Tix ♫ TEST/Bandit/Organ Dealer/Chepang/Bea$ters @ St. Vitus (1120 Manhattan Ave.), 8pm, $10, Buy Tix ♫ Starina and I Am The Polish Army @ Troost (1011 Manhattan Ave.), 9pm, FREE, More Info ♫ 3 Year Anniversary: Friends b2b Family ~up and down~@ Black Flamingo (168 Borinquen Pl.), 10pm, FREE, Black Flamingo’s celebrating its 3 year anniversary, RSVP Continue reading →
Java Studios, the location of this year’s Greenpoint Open Studios Launch Party
We’ve been building up to this, neighbs! Greenpoint Open Studios returns this weekend, Saturday and Sunday June 2–3. Get your steps in, visit parts of the hood you’ve yet to explore, and check out local art! Along with this annual celebration, there’s a host of other goings-on taking place in the coming week — check out more below.
Greenpoint Open Studios Where: Artists’ studios all over Greenpoint! Saturday, June 2nd & Sunday, June 3rd | 12pm-6pm More info, FREE More than 400 local artists will open their studios to the public for a peek inside their craft. From paintings, sculptures, film, photography, weaving/textiles, ceramics, and more, there are seasoned artists to be visited and emerging artists to be discovered in the northernmost tip of Brooklyn. Plus, talks, tours, workshops and parties. Stay updated on all activities and events by joining the mailing list, liking on Facebook, and following on Instagram @greenpointopenstudios. Full event schedule here.
Greenpoint Open Studios Launch Party Java Studios | 252 Java Street Friday, June 1 from 7:30–11:30 PM More info, free Join us to kick off Greenpoint Open Studios 2018 in style, at local art space Java Studios! Art, performance, music, drinks, tacos, and more.
Greenpoint Open Studios Wrap Party Northern Territory | 12 Franklin Street Sunday, June 3 from 6:30–11 PM More info, free Join other local creatives to wind down the art-filled weekend festivities on Northern Territory‘s beautiful rooftop with beer, food, music, good vibes, and a view of the Manhattan skyline. Participating Greenpoint Open Studios 2018 artists get one FREE beer by Founders Brewing!
♫ Adult Purim Bash @ The Williamsburg Hotel (96 Wythe Ave), 6:30pm, $18, Megillah reading – Open bar – Hors d’oeuvres – Photo booth – Live music, Buy tix ♦ Film Screening Benefit: She’s Gotta Have It @ Dobbin St (64 Dobbin St), 7pm, $20, Dobbin St will be transformed into a luxury movie lounge with popcorn, chips, candy, ice cream sandwiches, cake pops, & chocolate mousse; cash bar & giveaways, Buy tix * Trivia Night @ Archestratus Books + Food (160 Huron St), 8pm, FREE, Expect categories to be various, beer innumerable, arancine aplenty, RSVP ♦ Waiting for Guffman @ Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave), 8pm, FREE, Screening takes place in our Main Ballroom! Seating is first come first served, More info ☺ New Greta Has Friends @ Vital Joint (109 Meserole St), 9pm, $5, We’re inviting an ALL STAR lineup of standups to inspire our improv set! More info
THURSDAY 3/1
♫ John Nolan (of Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run) @ Union Pool (484 Union Ave), 7:30pm, $15, Buy tix ♫ Diet Cig, Great Grandpa, The Spook School @ Elsewhere (599 Johnson Ave), 8pm, $17, Buy tix ♫ The Undercover Dream Lovers, Future Generations, Wilder Maker @ Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave), 8pm, $10, Buy tix ♫ Minimal Disco w/ Connie & Mira Fahrenheit @ Rose Gold (96 Morgan Ave), 10pm, FREE, New York DJs Connie Yin and Mira Fahrenheit come together once a month to get weird and play top-quality tunes, from Minimal to Disco… anything goes! More info Continue reading →
Artist Jamie Toll on the rooftop of his bar, Northern Territory. Photo by Ian Hartsoe.
He might be the last cowboy in Brooklyn. Like those adventurers of yesteryear, Jamie Toll (that’s MRToll to you) wandered to a new land seeking adventure and opportunity. An immigrant from Australia, Toll moved to New York in 2003 and quickly rose from local bartender to worldly artist to social justice guru. His work has spanned continents and mediums; his cracked-open, silicone eggs scattered about the US border highlighting the fragility of the immigrant experience caught the attention of the United Nations who employed Toll to travel to El Salvador and Turkey to build community through street art. Alongside his wife, Toll is also crafting a documentary called I Am Migration. Based on their cross-country journey handing out free DNA tests, the film aims to unearth the perceptions of whiteness and blood purity, tackling racism and xenophobia along the way. Meanwhile in Greenpoint, he creates jubilant birds and clay eggs and cartoonish skulls that are peppered around the neighborhood as Easter eggs for residents to discover.
Toll is simultaneously planning, tackling, and executing a number of projects. Before this interview, he said he prefers to delve into just one and discuss its impact as opposed to scanning over many and diluting their effects. And so we discussed his one true love: Brooklyn. (“I’ve never put up art in Manhattan,” he says with pride.) He’s forthright, but don’t mistake this for harshness; Toll exudes compassion, is masterfully warm, and radiates an envious amount of charisma. Maybe it’s the Aussie accent, or the casual way he sipped a whiskey during our interview. He was in his own bar after all — the summer hotspot and winter hideaway Northern Territory, located at 12 Franklin Street. Perched on a barstool, he’s excited yet at ease, and it’s contagious. After getting to know Toll for an hour or so, it’s not hard to feel gravitationally bound to him, even as he tells you that in two years’ time his cozy bar will close. Come March 2020, Northern Territory’s lease won’t be renewed and the building will make way for a high-rise office space. This is just another verse in the dirge of local bars being bought out, but as with cowboys, another adventure is always on the horizon.
THURSDAY 5/31
