Vines & Voices 027: Live from 2026, It’s Mamdani’s NYC!
Dan Goldman’s re-election bid, Christmas tree recycling, The Met’s Brooklyn Bridge exhibit 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.
It’s 2026 and we are officially living in Mamdani’s New York. The subway now costs $3 a ride, Wegman’s is watching us, friction-maxxing is a lifestyle and rental ripoff hearings are on deck. Over the holidays, I read Rama Duwaji’s The Cut cover story and watched Zohran’s acceptance speech, both of which gave me some hope that we can turn things around before the decade’s over. Let’s do this :)
The Weekly Edit
Congressman Dan Goldman has announced his re-election bid for New York’s 10th Congressional District, following a December challenge by former city Comptroller Brad Lander.
Seven people were injured Monday when a fire broke out in a Brooklyn Heights rental building.
Audrey Gelman christened The Six Bells’ new Substack with a post about New Country Gear, a forgotten home goods brand that inspired Gelman’s Court Street country store.
Carroll Gardens game center The Brooklyn Strategist is relocating to Brooklyn Heights due to rent hikes.
A couple allegedly stole a live lobster from the Red Hook Lobster Pound on Christmas Eve.
I enjoyed this read about mixologist and Attaboy founder Sam Ross, who was given the opportunity to buy his longtime Red Hook apartment and the building that houses it, transforming both into his dream home.
Jao Brand has been on my radar more than ever. I spotted their products in a Copenhagen boutique over the holidays, and earlier this week, Kylie Jenner was papped alongside one of their cult-favorite hand sanitizers.
Goings On
Aspiring oenophiles should make their way over to Liz’s Book Bar for a wine workshop tonight at 7pm.
Mulchfest, the annual Christmas tree recycling program, ends this Sunday, Jan. 11. Here’s where you can drop your tree.
The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group is hosting a winter social at Valentino’s Pizza on Monday, Jan. 12.
Hunter Harris and Peyton Dix are performing live at The Bellhouse on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Bolo Bolo will teach people how to crochet square coasters and pot warmers on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
An installation at The Met Museum presents seven monumental early drawings of the Brooklyn Bridge. The city’s Municipal Archive features 11,000 drawings, making the bridge “one of the most thoroughly documented engineering projects of the 19th century,” according to the museum.
One Last Thing
Second graders across NYC participated between 2017 and 2019 in a competition to name the city’s ferries. As expected, the results (City Fishy!) are <3333