Daniel Gardiner Morris at The Arm. photo: Andy P. Smith
On a quiet stretch of North 7th Street, neighboring the BQE, in the shadows of rising condominiums, lies a glass-front, converted warehouse space. There’s no signage, no buzzer, and from the outside, it’s unclear what is going on inside: a handful of people hover over large gray machines, operating levers and rolling cranks. With just a little imagination it could be a white-walled submarine or some kind of steel widget factory.
“I’ve never hung a sign out front,” says the founder and owner, Daniel Gardiner Morris. “When I have events, I have a little A-Frame sign that I’ll sometimes put on the sidewalk. It’s almost maybe superstitious at this point that I’ve never put a sign up.”
Not knowing what they do in there is one thing. Not knowing it’s there is another—it’s been at that same location since opening in 2004.
Inside, the space is awash in daylight from the large windows. The room itself is longer than it is wide, and lined with silver and grey metal machines, rollers attached, a few rustic wooden cabinets, and in the middle of the room is a grouping of tables topped with posters and wood blocks and artist tools.
Is it beginning to come together? Yes! It’s The Arm (281 N 7th St), Williamsburg’s longstanding public access letterpress studio, which Daniel Gardiner Morris has owned and operated for nearly 15 years.
Earl Kallemeyn, working the letter press. All photos by Kate Truisi. Fresh haircut by David Arce at Tomcats.
To say that Earl Kallemeyn is a throwback is an understatement. Earl’s firm, Kallemeyn Press (130 Dobbin Street), prints with the same technology that Gutenberg used to print his bibles in the early fifteenth century. You might imagine that a man who has built his business on such an obsolete technology would struggle to find business, but this is not so with Kallemeyn. Continue reading →
I have a confession to make – I am horrible with correspondence. It was not until Father’s Day that I realized the gift I had gotten for dad was sitting there, wrapped up in a bag in my room, 8 hours away from where my Dad lives. The post office was already closed, and by the time I was home from work, there was only one place I could rely on to be open – P&P Shipping and Stationery Store (746 Manhattan Avenue.)
As you may recall from this post in March, P&P Shipping opened on Manhattan Avenue, filling a recent void in the local stationary scene. The owner, Sujit, opened the business because he saw the need in the community. Like me, he has had some bad experiences at the Post Office and decided he wanted to offer something better to his neighbors. Continue reading →
It seems like everyday another business is closing in Greenpoint – especially on Manhattan Ave. But great new businesses are also opening, like P&P Shipping & Stationers (746 Manhattan).
In the stationery department we’ve lost Jam Stationery and Greenpoint’s favorite film developing spot – Enla Photo.
Have no fear – you DO NOT need to go to Staples at its cringe worthy, pedestrian unfriendly location anymore.
Filling the void, P& P Shipping & Stationers has opened a big and bright new location that answers your shipping, stationery, office supplies and yes – BELIEVE IT – film developing needs. Continue reading →
