Vines & Voices 025: Your Guide to West Brooklyn’s Holiday Markets

Plus, an interborough train and a "Severance" star's first date in the neighborhood.

Welcome to Vines & Voices, your weekly look at life across West Brooklyn. Curated by CSJ, this free newsletter brings together the local news and goings-on shaping our neighborhoods, plus a few extras worth knowing. Have a tip, a story idea or something you think deserves attention? Write to us. Your voice helps shape the story.

CSJ’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide

Graphic by Preston Tietjen

Still shopping for presents? You’re not alone. Our 2025 gift guide spotlights the best of West Brooklyn’s local offerings. From Rue Saint Paul’s postcard sweaters to Pasticceria Monteleone’s traditional panettone to The Six Bells’ wooden heart menorah, these gifts are all worth wrapping.

The Weekly Edit

• The Columbia Street Waterfront Association’s tree lighting will take place Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 5:30pm, followed by a gathering at Jalopy Tavern.

• All aboard the Interborough Express? A planned transit line connecting Brooklyn and Queens would be the city’s first major new transit route in decades.

• New York City comptroller Brad Lander has entered the race for Congress in New York’s 10th District, setting up a high-profile Democratic primary against incumbent Dan Goldman. Watch his Mister Rogers-style campaign video here.

• The city is piloting a program under its Blue Highways initiative to move freight between the Brooklyn Marine Terminal and Manhattan’s Pier 79 by boat, aiming to shift goods transport from trucks to waterways to ease road congestion and reduce emissions.

West Brooklyn Holiday Markets

• Pioneer Works’ “Press Play” fair celebrating books, music, art and “cultural risk-taking” is this weekend, Dec. 13 to 14.

• Gowanus’ San Art Holiday Market takes place at 254 Third Ave this weekend from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday.

• FAD Holiday Market is popping up throughout West Brooklyn, including:

  • 51 Bergen Street (Boerum Hill), Dec. 13-14, 20-21 from 11am to 6pm

  • St. Paul’s (Cobble Hill), Dec. 13-14, 20-21 from 11am to 6pm

  • Empire Stones (DUMBO), now until Dec. 21 from 11am to 6pm

• Brooklyn Pop-Up’s Red Hook Holiday Market takes over Hook Studios Dikeman Street this weekend, Dec. 13 to 14 from noon to 6pm. The DUMBO Holiday Market will take place at Smack Mellon Gallery next weekend, Dec. 20 to 21 from 11am to 6pm. Another Red Hook market next weekend will be at Vivid Kid (71 Commerce Street) Dec. 20 to 21 from noon to 6pm.

• Red Hook Makers Market will take place at Strong Rope Brewery on Sunday, Dec. 14 from 1pm to 6pm.

• The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition is hosting a benefit for artists impacted by the Red Hook warehouse fire. The live fundraiser will take place at The Cidery at The Red Hook Distillery on Sunday, Dec. 14 from 3pm to 6pm.

One Last Thing

Actor Michael Chernus, known for his role as self-help book author Ricken Hale in “Severance,” told NYTimes that he and his wife went on their first date at the now-closed Buttermilk Channel. RIP to a fantastic first date spot.