Greenpoint
Veronica People’s Club Open in Greenpoint
Greenpoint's got (yet) another new bar, this one from the owner of Heathers in the East village. Located at 105 Franklin Street, Veronica People's Club is named partly after Winona Ryder’s character in Heathers, and partly after an old sign found at the site, which identifies it as a former Polish punk rock club called “Peoples Club.” Gothamist says that the bar will soon have “Sunday suppers featuring a rotating series of guest chefs.” And according to the Greenpoint Gazette, tamales will be offered “on especially busy evenings, so people won’t have to leave the bar in search of delicious food.” During the day, coffee and pastries are served via the street-facing window. For full details, visit the bar's facebook page.
McCarren Tennis Court Get Full Makeover
Incredible news for Brooklyn tennis players: Ten weeks after a group of regulars at the McCarren Park tennis courts got together to finance and resurface one of the long-neglected courts, American Express has stepped up to redo the other six! "As part of the Fresh Courts program, the remaining courts will be completely resurfaced and renovated, and upon project completion, McCarren Park will contain six full-sized, 78-foot courts, and two permanent 36-foot courts for the QuickStart play format," says the press release. Congrats to the McCarren Tennis non-profit that got this done.
American Express Teams with USTA For "Fresh Courts" Programs [USTA]
DIY Reno Project in McCarren Park [Brownstoner]
Ambitious Plans for Two New Waterfront Piers
The Bloomberg administration wants a private company to build two large new piers on the Greenpoint waterfront. Yesterday, the city's Economic Development Corp. began soliciting bids to create for the two projects, reports The New York Post. One of the piers would be built on 18,000 square feet of mostly-submerged land at the end of Java Street; another would be at the end of India Street. Both would connect to the 14-mile Greenway. “We look forward to responses that will seek to rejuvenate an underutilized portion of the Greenpoint waterfront and will allow local residents and visitors to access the waterfront,” said David Lombino, an EDC spokesman.
City Bringing Two Piers to Greenpoint [NY Post]
Greenpoint Props Go for $12.3 Mil
Two big properties in Greenpoint have recently changed hands for a total of $12.3 million dollars, according to a Crain's article on Friday. 535 Leonard Street, which was once PS 59 and then the home to the Polish Legion of American Veterans, was bought for $2.3 Million and will be converted into an 18-unit condo. "Since Greenpoint was changing from a Polish neighborhood to a more ethnically mixed, younger neighborhood, the Legion thought it would be best to sell the property," said Neil Dolgin, the VP of the company who represented the Legion, in the Crain's article. The other site, at 365 Kingsland Avenue, is a 114,000-square-foot development site that will continue to be used as an industrial storage facility. It sold for $10 million.
In Greenpoint Sales, Poles Out, Condos In [Crain's]
12.3M of Land Sells in Greenpont [The Real Deal] GMAP
7-Eleven Poised to Open in Greenpoint
With lights on and Slurpee machines installed, a new 7-Eleven in Greenpoint appears ready to open any day now. It's about time! It was exactly a year ago that signage first popped up in the window of the old Halpern-Perlow storefront at 883 Manhattan Avenue trumpeting the coming of the Slurpee chain. The build-out, however, has proved painfully slow. Given that many of the delis in this area tend to close on the early side, the 24-hour convenience of 7-Eleven may win it some fans; others will probably lament the arrival of another chain to a stretch that already includes a McDonald’s and Starbucks. How do you view this addition to the neighborhood? GMAP
Closing Bell: Please Open Soon!
Over at New York Shitty, Miss Heather spotted a desperate plea posted on an under-construction laundromat a few weeks ago. "Dear laundromat," it read, "Please finish construction soon so I can give you all of my money. I have at least seventy pounds of dirty laundry with your name on it! p.s. if you need help with construction I am good with a hammer." This person is apparently willing to hold out, as they recently posted another note saying, "Please Open Soon! I seriously cannot even wait one day longer. The pile in my room is HUGE!!" At 70 pounds of laundry and growing, we hope for their sake this laundromat gets a move on.
Photo by New York Shitty
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
Closed: Bagels by the Park and Gowanus Yacht Club
Pardon Me For Asking posted this photo of the hand-written sign on the door to Bagels by the Park on the corner of Smith and President. The blog reports that both the bagel place and GYC were shut down on Friday, "though the Yacht Club re-opened for business on Sunday to admit crowds during the US-England game. (Conveniently, the Health Department sticker was covered up during that time.)" A commenter on a previous PMFA post writes, "I'm pretty sure the Yacht Club/Bagels by the Park and Union Smith Cafe [which was also shut down last week] are all owned by the same people. Sounds like they might have pissed of the wrong person at the health dept."
Brooklyn Bar and Restaurant Openings, and a Closing
Grub Street offers a first look at Old Rooster, a beer garden opening later this month at 221 N. 4th Street, near Roebling Street, in Williamsburg: "The 70-person backyard with a deck and tables cut to accommodate the trees will be partly covered, but the equally sized interior should also be a draw during good weather and bad, thanks to thick, handmade wooden tables and exposed stone archways and walls"... The Skinny Pig checks out the Williamsburg's new Italian spot, Osteria Il Paiolo, on North 6th street between Berry and Wythe... The Brooklyn Paper says that the owners of Chavella's are opening a restaurant on the corner of Franklin and Sterling: "The eatery will not be a second outpost of Chavella’s, but odds are it will be delicious." ... And the Brooklyn Paper also reports: "We’re sad to say that owing to rent issues, Prospect Heights staple Tavern on Dean will be shutting for good at the end of the month. Say your goodbyes at the eatery’s farewell block party on June 26."
Breeders vs. Hipsters: Calling Dibs on Williamsburg Hang-Outs
A Williamsburg Dad and Eater commenter offers a list designating which bars and restaurants should be child-free and which are kid-friendly. For example, Daddy tells the childless-hipster-set that Diner belongs to his team: "definitely ours -- just go late -- you can have it after 9:30p! [steak will be gone though -- :<( ]." Should somebody be drawing up boundaries like these for every neighborhood?
After the jump: The Food Lovers’ Guide to Brooklyn, new breakfast spot in Ditmas Park, Greenpoint Food Market shuts down, and Brooklyn's best burgers...
Eagle Street Rooftop Farm Up Close
The Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, a 6,000-square-foot project atop a warehouse in Greenpoint, opened for its second season in April; we finally stopped by for a close look at the organic operation this week. The farm’s CSA program, running June-November, is currently full, but Sunday Market Days are a chance for the public to purchase from the harvest. Annie Novak, the farm’s operator for 2010, says that kale, radishes, and salad mixes are among the best crops right now. In addition, rooftop honey is harvested from two beehives (with plans to install two more this year). You can also taste these local products at various area restaurants, including Anella, Eat, Marlow & Sons, Manducati Rustica, Pauli Gee’s, Vesta, and at the monthly Greenpoint Food Market. Besides providing local produce and operating a viable green rooftop farm, Eagle Street’s main mission is to spread urban agricultural knowledge and provide opportunities for community members to be directly involved in growing the produce they buy. Toward that end, volunteers are welcome and each Sunday at 2pm the farm hosts a workshop on a varying agricultural topic. This Sunday, join experts from the Lower East Side Ecology Center, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the Western Queens Compost Initiative and North Brooklyn Composting Project for a session on composting. More information is available on the group's website. GMAP
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
Is Greenpoint the Next Williamsburg?
Eater recently mentioned that Calexico is expanding to Greenpoint and the owner of LES spots Spitzer's Corner and Fat Baby signed a lease "on a 6,000 square foot former industrial bakery in Greenpoint." Now, Greg Morabito for Eater maps out 13 of the neighborhood's food and drink destinations and writes, "Over the past few years the neighborhood has seen an influx of young, ambitious chefs, bar and bakery owners opening up places that offer some of the thrills of downtown Manhattan, at a generally lower price point... The change is somewhat akin to what happened in neighboring Williamsburg a few years ago." (Photo collage by Eater)
Brooklyn Restaurant Buzz
The New York Times reports that Brooklyn Bridge Gardens has opened in the old Five Front space... The Times also reports, "The owners of Moutarde Café, a Park Slope staple for many years, replaced the traditional bistro menu with simpler and cheaper fare." The reincarnation opens tomorrow and it looks like it'll be called Moutarde, Le Bistro De La Rue... Eater says that Goods, the airstream trailer on the corner of Metropolitan and Lorimer is in the soft opening stage and will officially open on June 19, serving "burgers, dogs, fish and chips, and these breakfast sandwiches. On Sundays, they'll be serving fried chicken and biscuits." ... Fork in the Road says that the Italian-restaurant-in progress at 68 Bergen will be called Broken English... And, as we mentioned yesterday, the Brooklyn Farmacy is now open.
Three New Brooklyn Bars
Greenpointers says that Veronica People's Club, the sister bar to Heathers is opening at 105 Franklin Avenue... Time Out New York reports on Lady Jay's at 633 Grand Street in Williamsburg: "Tailor chef Sam Mason (star of IFC’s Dinner with the Band) gets into the bar game with this Williamsburg country-rock joint, where beer and liquor reign supreme." ... TONY also spreads the word that Loreley Williamsburg, "a sister location of the LES German beer pub," is also opening in Williamsburg, at 64 Frost Street at Meeker Avenue.
After the jump: A new Williamsburg food shop, La Superior gets a liquor license at last, and reviews of Benchmark and the Frankies cookbook...
Pencil Factory 25% Sold
We reported earlier this month that condos at Greenpoint's Pencil Factory were being listed despite a loan default and a temporary shut down. Prices were around $500 a square foot, which prompted us to comment that "These should sell at those levels." Looks like we were right: In the first three weeks, 24 of the 93 units sold. The units are selling at "pre-completion" prices, with prices ranging from $323,000 for a 623-square-foot pad to 623 to $659,000 for a 1,280-square-foot two-bedroom. The development, which is predominantly one- and two-bedrooms, is slated to be open this fall.
Pencil Factory Back in Business [Brownstoner]
Singer Defaults on Pencil Factory Loan [Brownstoner]
Greenpoint's Pencil Factory Shut Down [Brownstoner] GMAP
Closing Bell: School of the Future
We're still not entirely sure what the deal is with this, but evidently a group called the School of the Future has gotten permission to construct a model of the school of the future in McCarren Park this summer. They're getting free design services from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, but they need help paying for materials. They also want to know what subjects the public wants taught there this summer. You can answer a very short poll here.
Another Bike Lane Show-down
A proposed bike land installation is ruffling feathers again in North Brooklyn. As part of a $5.8 million renovation of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, the city is planning to install two bike lines, each with a nine-foot buffer. The result: Two fewer lanes to accommodate the many trucks that use the Brooklyn-Queens connector on a daily basis. The proposed change comes on the heels of a new bike lane installation on Greenpoint Avenue that local industrialists blame for big back-ups. "They’ve really made Greenpoint Avenue a mess," said Paul Pullo of Metroenergy. The bike lobby insists more buffered lanes are necessary in the area: "Those narrow sidewalks [on Greenpoint Avenue] currently make it pretty hazardous for two cyclists, let alone two pedestrians, to comfortably pass one another," said Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives. "Separating bike and pedestrian traffic would do a lot to improve safety." And so it goes.
It’s Trucks vs. Bikes on Greenpoint Avenue [Brooklyn Paper]
Condo Sales Prevail in North Brooklyn
This may not come as a surprise for anyone who has strolled through North Brooklyn lately (especially along the edges of McCarren Park, pictured above), but the New York Times shares the news that, in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, it's all about the condos: "One of the most striking numbers to come out of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Brooklyn market report for the first quarter was 84.3. That’s the percentage of all sales in North Brooklyn that were in condominium buildings — the vast majority of which have gone up in the last few years." For the sake of comparison, 53.4 percent of sales in Manhattan during the same time period were condos. And in Chelsea, where there's been a lot of development lately, the percentage of condo sales was 63.5. Of course, this isn't very surprising given the relative lack of co-ops and brownstones and the condo building boom that's taken place over the last decade.
Condos Dominate North Brooklyn Sales [NY Times]
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
New in Brooklyn Heights: River Deli
We already mentioned that a new Italian restaurant was in the works for Brooklyn Heights, and now Time Out New York reports that a pair of Sardinia natives have successfully converted the deli on the corner of Joralemon Street and Columbia Place into a "quaint, sunlight-bathed restaurant, specializing in authentic dishes from the Italian island. Expect malloredus sardi alla campidanese, a traditional short pasta with a tomato-and-sausage sauce, and a charcuterie-and-cheese sampler served on taglieri—imported handmade wooden trays."
Today's NY Times Dining Highlights
Sam Sifton gives Williamsburg's Fatty Cue one star and says it "looks like a biker bar for the kind of bikers who don’t ride Harleys in leathers and boots, but stripped-down Schwinns in boat shoes and skinny jeans... The food is incredibly good. Fatty ’Cue is a restaurant worth traveling to visit." ... Ligaya Mishan's $25 and Under column hits up two Prospect Heights spots, finding The Vanderbilt "slightly calculated... The menu is almost too ecumenical, as if it had been focus-grouped." Kaz an Nou gets a warmer review: "They make earthy, comforting food: rich pheasant pâté enveloped in puff pastry ($7); smoky jerk chicken ($13); lamb lasagna with a hint of nutmeg ($13)."
Exploring Brooklyn's Chinatown
Once the rain clears and the weather warms up, it'll be prime time for sampling new foods around the borough. CHOW's Outer Borough Digest sets a starting point for a Chinese food crawl: "There’s a wok master in residence at Zheng Yuan Bao Gourmet. Jim Leff describes beautifully stir-fried chow rice noodles, balanced and deeply satisfying, from this tiny Fujianese-run spot in Sunset Park’s Chinatown. Another knockout dish pairs perfectly cooked squid with slightly charred 'Chinese New Year' rice cakes."
After the jump: $10 coffee in Crown Heights, new spot in Pomme de Terre space, and more...
DIY Reno Project in McCarren Park
A couple of weekends ago we played in the first annual Williamsburg Open in McCarren Park to raise money for the first phase of the court renovations. This past weekend, a die-hard group of volunteers from the non-profit McCarren Tennis tackled the renovation of Court 7 themselves. Impressive! Let's hope that some of the developers of new buildings near by step up with some donations to finish the rest of the courts! For more photos of the renovation, check out this Flickr set.
Williamsburg Rezoning Turns 5
"In the 2005 Points of Agreement between the Council and Mayor's Office, 20 City-owned sites were identified for the development of 1,345 units of affordable housing," writes Brooklyn 11211, on the fifth anniversary of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Waterfront Rezoning. "To date, none of those units of housing has been constructed. The closest to completion of the 14 units of senior housing being developed by North Brooklyn Development Corporation at the former Herbert Street Police Station. Only 1,331 units to go." Click through for more analysis on how the open space portion of the plan is faring.
Pencil Factory Back in Business
The Pencil Factory's had a tough last year, what with the default by the owner and the work stoppage. All hope is not lost, though. Curbed notes that the condo listings popped back up on the radar screen late last month with a pricing makeover. For example, a 1,280-square-foot two-bedroom pad that used to be $732,000 is now $659,000. That's approaching the $500 a foot mark. Not bad at all. These should sell at those levels, we'd think.
Pencil Factory Sharpened for Clearance Sale [Curbed]
Scaffolding Down at Greenpoint's Pencil Factory [Brownstoner]
Singer Defaults on Pencil Factory Loan [Brownstoner] GMAP
Greenpoint's Pencil Factory Shut Down [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
New Mexican for Greenpoint
It won't be open in time for today's Cinco de Mayo festivities, but Vamos Al Tequila is getting ready to open at 162 Franklin Street on May 9. NYS snapped some photos of the place, and while the menu isn't finalized yet, they'll definitely be serving up enchiladas.
Another Lunch Option for Carroll Gardens
"Starting this Monday, Abilene at 442 Court Street at the corner of 3rd Place will be serving lunch on week-days. They will be opening at noon instead of 5pm. How perfect for those of us who work from home and need a little lunch break," writes Pardon Me For Asking.
What Will Become of Brown Betty?
Clinton Hill Blog mourns the loss of Brown Betty Cafe and claims that its old space at 466 Grand Avenue will soon be home to a creperie. However, commenter bree writes, "Sorry but looks like the former Brown Betty space is a barbershop called the grooming lounge." Anybody know what's going on here?
Inside the Greenpoint Remediation Project
Petroleum refining in Greenpoint of Brooklyn goes back to the 19th century, when five oil companies that would later be rolled up into Standard Oil operated in the area. In 1966, Mobil, which by then owned the land, ceased refinery operations, selling part of the property off to Amoco in 1968. In 1978, with ExxonMobil now the owner of record, it was discovered that petroleum products were leaking into Newtown Creek and began some remediation. In 1993, ExxonMobil stopped all oil-related operations on the site at that point. In 2007, the company removed the above-ground tanks and started removing the underground pipes. Last year, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website, 26,500 gallons of product was recovered from underground. Here's how the DEC describes the current set up:
The current ExxonMobil Terminal product recovery system includes 5 dual phase recovery wells located on or near the Terminal property. Groundwater from these 5 wells, as well as 5 of the new off-site recovery wells, is pumped to a treatment system located on the former ExxonMobil Terminal property. The effluent is discharged to Newtown Creek through an outfall located off the terminal property.
Last week, a Brownstoner reporter, Thomas Santella, was given access to the remediation facilities at 400 Kingsland Avenue. Below, you can find a pictorial tour of the site along with explanations of remediation activities.
Continue reading "Inside the Greenpoint Remediation Project"
Le Gamin Opens, Soft Then Hard
Le Gamin opened at full capacity yesterday at 108 Franklin Avenue in Greenpoint. Le Gamin will serve a variety of sweet and savory crêpes, sandwiches, salads, and desserts in a casual, French inspired space. “The ‘full bistro menu,’ with items like steak-frites and moules-frites, differs slightly from Le Gamin's Prospect Heights location,” according to Grubstreet. For about the last week or so, Le Gamin has had a “very soft” opening, in which food was prepared outside in Le Gamin’s mobile truck (photo on the jump). Starting yesterday, the truck will head for Malibu, CA and the kitchen will be open. Founder Robert Arbor told us that he had received approval from the community board for a liquor license, so while it's BYOB for the time being, you can expect beer and wine offerings soon. — Thomas Santella
Le Gamin Coming to Greenpoint [Brownstoner] GMAP
Closing Bell: Tree of Life
No comment necessary. Photo from McCarren Park via New York Shitty.
House of the Day: 118 Kent Street
There aren't a lot of blocks in Greenpoint with the kind of large brick and brownstone houses you might find in Fort Greene or Boerum Hill. Kent Street is one of them though. This listing at 118 Kent Street hit the market last November with a price tag of $1,900,000 and has had a few small price cuts since, most recently settling at $1,795,000. The house looks great from the outside; the interior looks to be in good shape, though it's clearly had a makeover that removed at least some of the historic vibe. Given the scarcity of these houses in North Brooklyn, we're surprised they haven't gotten a decent offer yet.
118 Kent Street [Greenpoint Properties] GMAP P*Shark
McCarren Park Land Grab?
For the past decade or so, a couple of Greenpoint residents named Gina and Walid have created a garden in McCarren Park at the corner of Bayard and Lorimer, presumably with the implicit approval of the Parks Department. The couple erected a wooden fence over time and, based upon recent comments on New York Shitty, it's unclear how open to the public the space was. On Saturday, the Parks Department began dismantling the fence, apparently in order to hand the space over to the Boy Scouts. The first tipsters to write in to New York Shitty were outraged, as was the blog author. "All in all, I think this stinks. BIG TIME. I am especially troubled that an organization that refuses admittance to atheists, agnostics and homosexuals should be given preference in a PUBLIC park which is undoubtedly patronized by significant numbers of all the previous. Who does this park belong to— the public or private organizations? I’d really like to know." One commenter took an opposite view: "I feel no sympathy for an entitled couple for the loss of their appropriated corner of my park and your park. And that garden is a sorry excuse for a garden, I might add." Update: The person who took this photo has included a bunch of background info on her Flickr page that we've reposed on the jump...
A McCarren Park Land Grab? [New York Shitty]
Photo by miss mousey brown
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
Lobster Pushers Take to the Streets
Brooklyn Flea favorite Red Hook Lobster Pound hired Suzannah Drake of DLAND Studios to draw up this potential lobster cart, "complete with faux lobster tail made from parachute material stretched over aluminum," says Grub Street. The Lobster Pound is one of the many eateries that are vying to opening a concession stand at Brooklyn Bridge Park... In other crustacean news, the proprietor of Greenpoint's Underground Lobster Pound has assumed a new identity to peddle his not-quite-legal homemade lobster rolls. Thrillist shares a photo of the Lobster Pusher Man in full regalia, which includes a life-size golden lobster claw medallion (Illustration by DLAND Studios via Grub Street.)
More Changes for Mamary Joints
Jim Mamary's Lincoln Park Tavern (in the old Fly Fish space at 49 Lincoln Road in PLG) is opening this week, the New York Times reports. The paper also mentions that Mamary closed Pomme de Terre about a week ago (much to the dismay of many Ditmas Park Blog readers), and has "plans to reopen it as a gastropub in late spring."
More Brooklyn Openings
Sushi Tatsu opens its fourth location on the corner of Bedford and Jefferson Avenues, bringing Bed Stuy its first sushi joint, says Bed-Stuy Blog... The New York Times and Eater report on St. Anselm (355 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg), which will be serving calves’ brains, neck bones, marrow poppers, veal heart steak, deep-fried hot dogs, and other goodies when it opens on April 19... And Hawthorne Street reports that the owners of The Farmers Diner are looking for investors to help them open a "restaurant to be open 24/7, [with] a separate take-out station with prepared meals (a la Whole Foods), and a full bar" at 552 Flatbush Avenue in PLG.
After the jump: Dram, Mission Dolores, a new wine bar for the Columbia Street Waterfront, and Earth Day at Habana Outpost...
Closing Bell: Doubles Anyone?
As we told you last September, the non-profit McCarren Tennis group has some pretty grand ambitions for creating a world-class tennis center on the site of the ravaged concrete courts, but for now they just want to get them resurfaced and install some new wind screens. To stimulate interest and raise a few bucks toward that end, they're hosting the Williamsburg Open on May 1 and 2. It's an open doubles tourney. Entry fee is $35 a person. Prizes, fame, windscreens can be yours.
Photo by ol' db
Latest Restaurant Additions
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Teeda
added July 30, 2010 12:00 PM in Columbia Street Waterfront -
Bean Post Pub
added July 29, 2010 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Cobble Grill
added July 28, 2010 12:00 PM in Cobble Hill -
Agnanti Meze
added July 27, 2010 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Margaret Palca Bakes
added July 26, 2010 12:00 PM in Columbia Street Waterfront -
Skinflints
added July 23, 2010 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Joe's Restaurant
added July 22, 2010 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Elia
added July 21, 2010 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Abilene
added July 20, 2010 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Pegasus
added July 19, 2010 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge