Vines & Voices 026: Is Madewell Moving Into Invisible Dog?
Plus, Movement Gym workers stage a practice picket, Amy Schumer sells 'Moonstruck' townhouse and more.
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.
This Week for Paid Subscribers
Consignment Brooklyn has been a fixture on Atlantic Ave since 2005, selling secondhand designer fashion and accessories so coveted, shoppers seek them out from around the world. Now, founder Eva Dayton is opening a dedicated jewelry store. It’s impressive not only that she’s built a lasting small business on Atlantic Ave, but that its success has inspired her to expand with a second shop focused entirely on jewelry. Read more about CBK Jewel Box here.
The Weekly Edit
Workers at Movement Gym Gowanus staged a practice picket this week as climbing gym employees nationwide accuse the fast-growing, private equity-backed chain of low pay, safety concerns and union-busting that clash with its progressive image, according to a press release.
Madewell is said to be taking over The Invisible Dog Art Center space, Ward 6 reports. This 2009 T Magazine article explains how the center got its name.
Amy Schumer and her now-possibly-former husband have sold their 200-year-old Brooklyn Heights townhouse, famously featured in Moonstruck, to TV writer Michael Saltzman.
A helpful explainer of the Brad Lander versus Dan Goldman primary.
Red Hook is pushing back against the spread of last-mile warehouses and the resulting truck traffic and pollution in residential neighborhoods.
Designer Dianne V has rebuilt her vegan handbag business after her Red Hook studio was destroyed in the September warehouse fire.
Two real estate stories, both in Cobble Hill: A pre-war rental with four closets asks $3,800, and a 12-foot-wide townhouse built in 1899 is renovated to perfection.
Goings On
There are several great holiday toy drives and giveaways happening throughout the borough this week.
Moss Boss will teach teens how to create moss art today from 4pm to 6pm.
Anais is throwing a holiday wine party tonight at 6pm.
Jamieri and Piscina are hosting a holiday shopping party tomorrow, Dec. 20 from 2pm to 7pm.
One Last Thing
What are your New Year’s Eve plans? Dancing it out, staying in with a puzzle or something in between? Tell us in the comments below.
The Movement Gym unionization story getting bundled with boutique retail and real estate fluff is kind of the perfect encapsulation of how hyperlocal newsletters navigate conflicting neighborhood interests. Private equity-backed chains undercutting labor while masquerading as progressive community spaces is an increasingly common pattern, saw something similar unfold with climbing gyms in Portland. Also the Madewell taking over Invisible Dog is genuinley sad, another cultural space cannibalized by mall brands. Appreciate the roundup tho, good mix of what's actually shifting in the nighborhood dynamics versus whats just surface churn.