One dead drop later, I joined the Cobble Hill Gossip Line
Let’s go Knicks!, Emma Straub and Elizabeth Moss big link, Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie pens an open letter about AI and more.
Good morning! Normally we see each other on Fridays, but this has been a week. I am in the busiest season of my full-time job and really appreciate your patience with these next two newsletter sends. I’ll soon be on the other side :)
The top thing on everyone’s minds today has to be The Knicks. LGK! God bless that team for shaking this city awake and giving us something good to bond over. Tonight will be big, and the watch parties will be in full effect — just not at Prince Street Pizza. ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
In this issue — I joined the Cobble Hill Gossip Line, Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie’s open letter on AI, Emma Straub links up with Elizabeth Moss, Brad Lander is found not guilty, the city is ordered to tell us when it dumps raw sewage into the Gowanus Canal and more.
A Place to Gab and Gossip
One of my new joys is receiving a text from the Cobble Hill Gossip Line. You may recognize the name from their zine or last week’s Feed Me mention. If I’m being honest, I was surprised by Emily’s take, so I figured I’d text the line and find out for myself.
I was not expecting how immersive the initiation process would be. After some brief back and forth, I received a location and a photo of a dead drop packet. I went out into the heat with my tiny little dog, picked up the materials and filled them out. I was in.
Who’s behind the Gossip Line? I’m sure some sleuthing would reveal all, but not knowing is part of the experience. What I do know is that this person(s) is chatty. Where do they find the time to dead drop packets across West Brooklyn and circulate screenshots of local gossip, all via 1:1 text messages? And what’s it for?
“it’s half community clubhouse half participatory site-specific performance art installation,” the entity tells me, in their signature low-caps way. “no hard rules, except be a good neighbor. my commitment is to keep this real (not for social, not transactional, extremely sassy, locals only).”
What I appreciate most about the Gossip Line so far is its underground aspect that feels like a direct response to what’s been missing in NYC. Call it a lack of gatekeeping, a cultural flattening, an affordability crisis driving out the very people who give this city the character we love. Whatever it is that has been sucking all the vibes out of this city, the Cobble Hill Gossip Line feels like a rose through the concrete, something scrappy and alive pushing through anyway.
Text 917-244-8867 to join.
The Roundup
Elizabeth Moss is turning American Fantasy, Emma Straub’s newest book, into a movie. What a blessed occurrence to come out of a Watch What Happens Live appearance. HUGE congrats to Emma! Future neighborhood watch party?
An appellate court ruled this week that the city has to tell residents when it dumps raw sewage and polluted stormwater into local waterways, such as the Gowanus Canal.
Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie posted an open letter titled AI and the Death of Customer Service this week. It’s both an explanation for why they’ve suspended shipping and a larger commentary on big companies replacing human jobs with AI that tries to “handle” us.
A report from the Environmental Defense Fund says that the delivery warehouse boom, which includes Amazon’s Red Hook locations, is increasing fossil fuel emissions and disproportionately impacting lower-income neighborhoods in the process.
Bess Wohl, of Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights, became the fourth woman to win a Tony Award for Best Play last week. She wrote Liberation about a second-wave feminist group of women in ‘70s-era Ohio. My husband and I saw it together. It was fantastic. How fitting that Bess quite literally made women’s history in the process. Life writes better than any of us!
Brad Lander was found not guilty this week of obstructing an elevator at 26 Federal Plaza, the federal building where his September 2025 ICE protest took place.
I need to tell you about Unitea Blends, my therapist’s herbal tea brand. It is difficult to find caffeine-free tea that is also organic and delicious; Unitea is all three. My favorite is Inner Radiance because it helps ease digestive discomfort (and I like cardamom). Janeese draws from her mental health expertise to craft the blends, which also support mental clarity, hormonal balance and sleep.
Goings On
En Garde Arts and Make the Road New York are hosting a benefit concert of Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) tomorrow, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights. The piece, adapted from interviews with immigrant communities across the city, follows a group of undocumented immigrants on the eve of an ICE crackdown whose gathering becomes a defiant celebration of community and resilience. All net proceeds benefit Make the Road New York. Tickets here.
The Carroll Street Bridge is reopening, and locals are planning a fête for the public on Monday, June 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Hoyt Street Open Street is next Sunday, June 21 (a.k.a. Father’s Day) from 5 to 7 p.m. There will be live music as part of Make Music New York, the city-wide summer solstice celebration.
I Scream Theater, a one-woman multimedia cabaret by C.M. Soto, comes to Brooklyn Art Haus on August 7 and 13 at 7:30pm. The two-act show blends poetry, noir film, neo-burlesque, comedy and circus arts into a confessional journey through addiction and abuse toward creative salvation. 18+ content advisory. Tickets here.
Charli xcx’s Music, Fashion, Film Tour includes two nights (September 14 and 15) at the Barclays Center this fall. Tickets here.