Three years ago, I went to a friend’s record release party at a club in New York City. In an adjacent room, there was a DJ playing Noel’s “Silent Morning“. I walked in, listened to this Classic record at full club volume, and it was like hearing it for the first time. I being not old enough to hear this record in a club when it first came out understood immediately why this music became huge in the first place. Continue reading
Volunteering is a great way to help out in the community, learn new skills and meet new people. This Saturday May 19, 2012 from 10am-2pm at the McCarren Park Greenmarket, check out the North Brooklyn Volunteer Fair!
From soup kitchens to parks groups, connect with community organization and learn how you can volunteer in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
Help spread the word and RSVP on Facebook.
Sponsors: Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn, Greenpointers, Lincoln Restler, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Burned Green, GrowNYC
What did Greenpointers do? Aside from promoting the you know what out of it, we made the poster! You likey?
If you love screen prints, there is a great show at Picture Farm in Williamsburg that you must see. Kayrock Screenprinting was formerly at Monster Island, but since the building evacuation, the shop has moved to the GMDC Building at the north end of Manhattan Ave, hence the name of the show “We Have Relocated.” (Note: The GMDC building stands to win $3 million in preservation funds if you vote here).
Karl LaRocca, owner of Kayrock Screenprinting (and martial arts master), printed each piece in the exhibition, which includes works from artists invited to participate, alongside his own work. See the list of artists and works available here.
I HEART YOU MOM!
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Happy gorgeous Saturday!
• NY Times: As Greenpoint Gentrifies, Sunday Rituals Clash: Outdoor Cafes vs. Churchgoers
• NY Post: Pull No Brunches!
• Brokelyn: Like it or spike it? Your new CitiBank bicycle
• Brooklyn Based: Calyer
• Gothamist: Nabokov’s Favorite Butterfly Invades NY (and other places)
Calm down because you have one day left not to be a jerk to your Mom. A simple phone call is nice. “Good morning, thanks for birthing me!” And hugs are really sweet.
Cards & gifts are good, too. And food! Nothing says “thanks for putting up with all my crap” better than a delicious meal!
Don’t go buy a soulless hallmark card, make one. You can get all the glue sticks and crayons you need at Jam’s Stationary (835 Manhattan Ave) or buy a handmade card. the one well 165 Greenpoint Ave) has an assortment of recycled paper letterpress greeting cards ($4-$6).
Mom likes to read? Check out Word’s April Top 10 Bestseller list for some ideas.
I’m sure she loves wine! Get her a nice red from Dandelion Wine (153 Franklin St) or sign her up for Wine 101 ($55) at The Brooklyn Kitchen (100 Frost St.)
Boxes make perfect Mom gifts; they’re great for stashing jewelry, pills and lottery tickets. Check out this adorable Mermaid Box ($32) from Old Hollywood (99 Franklin St.)
Vintage Modern has this really pretty striped stoneware vase ($125) for that gorgeous bouquet Mom deserves for all those temper tantrums you threw (or still throw) in the supermarket.
Fill it with cut flowers from the Dutchmills Gardens stand at the Greenmarket. If she doesn’t have a greenthumb, Brandywine Gardens sells pretty cacti and other succulents. Too hung over to make it to the market on Saturday? Head over to the Greenpoint Florist on Sunday (703 Manhattan Ave.)
If she has her own garden, check out Hayseed’s Big City Farm Supply’s Mother’s Day Special for $60 (218 India St.)
Bad allergies or the rotten cat you left her is a plant murderer? Flowers might not be a great idea, so pick-up scented oil from Genie in a Bottle at Kill Devil Hill (170 Franklin St.)
And of course food is always a great idea, especially for the person who has fed you since the day you were born. Cook for her! Here are a few quick and easy recipes.
Sink filled with dirty dishes? Take her out to brunch or dinner. My Mom absolutely loves Fives Leaves but if the wait is too long, head over to Nights & Weekends and enjoy the delicious Croque Signora Sandwich or check out the new Bellwether (594 Union Ave.)
How about a picnic in the park? I hear that the Lobster Joint will deliver to McCarren! Or get a yummy cheese and salami spread from Eastern District (1053 Manhattan Ave.)
Take her out to dinner. My favorite, The Greenpointer pie from Paulie Gee’s (60 Greenpoint Ave) always hits the spot, or the Cola Dorada, braised oxtail with rice and beans from Cafecito Bogota (1015 Manhattan Ave.) Give her an authentic Greenpoint experience on a budget with a BYOB dinner at the eclectic and delicious Lomyzynianka (646 Manhattan Ave.) Get pierogies and get them fried! The cheese filled blintzes for dessert are killer!
I know that Mother’s Day seems like another consumeristic holiday, but she actually made you alive, which is a big deal, so a small token of gratitude once a year is the least we can do. And keep it local silly!
While there was no choice to opt out of “CITI” branded bike-share locations in Greenpoint altogether, we voted and here is a draft map of where they will be placed in the neighborhood.
Locations:
• India St Ferry Terminal
• Franklin & Java St
• Freeman and Manhattan
• India & Manhattan
• Milton & Franklin
• Meserole & Manhattan
• Bedford @ Lorimer
• Eckford & Driggs
• Russell & Driggs
• Nassau & Sutton
• Norman & Humboldt
• Richardson & North Henry
I was so delighted when I got this great news from Nicole Reed, the hero who is behind starting the petition to get a green market in McGolrick Park!
“Hi Jen: I’m happy to report that Community Markets has confirmed the farmers market at McGolrick Park will open on June 3rd! As of then, it will run every Sunday, from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm, through November 18th, 2012. We are confirming vendors as I write this, and so far we’re lining up a wide variety of local produce, cheeses, meats, pickles, honey, breads and baked goods. The vendors will set up along the Russell Street sidewalk, with ample space for everybody, between Driggs and Nassau Avenues.
Community Markets wishes to thank everyone who encouraged this market by signing the petition of support. We also thank the Community Board 1, Stephanie Thayer of the Open Space Alliance, District Leader Lincoln Restler, Reverend Griffin Thomas of The Lutheran Church of the Messiah, and the Friends of McGolrick Park. This market is happening due to their community advocacy — and the vocal support of many others. We’re thrilled to bring fresh foods from regional farmers and artisanal producers to Greenpoint!
AND there’s more: Due to an under served demand for local food in our area, Community Markets is also opening a farmers market at Cooper Park in East Williamsburg. It will also begin on June 3rd and run every Sunday through November 18th, from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Shoppers will find their vendors on the Maspeth Avenue side of the park. We’re getting enthusiastic response from area farmers about this market, too, and we’ll forward the full vendor list once it is confirmed.
Thank you,
Nicole Reed”
Currently showing at Cleopatra’s, a small art gallery (sidenote: here’s a brief story about its inception) tucked into a thin slice of space on a quiet stretch of Meserole, is an array of drawings by Poznań, Poland based artist Leszek Knaflewski, or, as he signs his drawings, Knaf. I’ll leave Cleopatra’s website to chronicle the lion’s share of the history of Knaf’s work, but it is important to recognize his work in the context of the collective with which he associated, Kolo Klipsa.
The works on display at Cleopatra’s utilize a number of quotidian images – boxy, stereotypical houses, basic furniture, trees, cats, and so forth – run through Knaf’s surreal imagination before being drawn out. It reminded me of images that you may hold in your mind of half-remembered places and people to which you ascribe dreamlike qualities to make up for a lack of actual details. Did the vase look like the cat, or did the cat look like the vase? Simple inversions in elements of even the most basic drawings, as in the work pictured above, add a depth to images that far exceeds their composition.
Knaflewski’s work will be on display at Cleopatra’s (110 Meserole Avenue) until May 27.
You can’t get more eyetalian with a name like Toby Buggiani, who is a newcomer on the Greenpoint bar scene and is opening Adelina’s, named after his Nonna, where the recently closed Gypsy Bar was on Greenpoint Ave.
Toby’s bar is a fraschetta, which he described as “a blue collar wine bar,” similar to those in Rome, where he was born. Wine, not only Italian, will be on tap, served in a glass or carafe. Just 5 reds and 5 whites. And 2 types of beer.
In the daytime we can look forward to cappuccino, espresso and fresh cornetti, which are sweet Italian croissants. He hopes to introduce truffled eggs with fontina and asparagus, pizza frita (served at Forcella in Williamsburg) & arancini (RICE BALLS!), with the help of Will Levatino (of Arancini Brothers) and Dan Ross (of Vinegar Hill House).
Adelina’s will be Toby’s first bar, but he comes with a lot of experience as the former manager of Cafe Reggio, an Italian joint in NY on Macdougal St that opened in 1927 and “introduced the first cappuccino to the US,” he said.
Why Greenpoint? He looked at a lot of different areas but, “nothing struck me in the way Greenpoint struck me,” he said.
Adelina’s is opening in mid-June 2012.
Further Reading:
Tree Hugger: Wine on Tap: A Cheaper, Greener and Fresher Alternative to Bottles
NY Times: On Tap? How about Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
Gawker: Wine Snobs are Enemies of the Environment
Grub Street: Drink Wine on Tap in Astoria
