Vines & Voices 029: We Have 48 Hours to Cover NYC in a Snow-Proof Dome

Plus, Bar Ferdinando’s March opening, Van Alen's inaugural Vanguard 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.

Image via ABC7NY

My husband and I each picked up a pair of Blundstones last week. Naturally, I now see them all over the neighborhood. They have good traction on ice and are great for stomping through light snow, though I’m not sure they’ll hold up to the six to 12 inches we’re expected to get in this weekend’s storm. My schedule’s clear, save for CSJ housekeeping, closet organizing and reading. What will you do during the snowstorm?

The Weekly Edit

• Brooklyn Eagle gave a beautiful tribute to Ronald Williams, a beloved doorman in Brooklyn Heights who died unexpectedly in December. Rest in peace, Mr. Williams.

• A fire broke out at a warehouse in Red Hook, not far from where a five-alarm blaze devastated a building back in September.

• Sal Lamboglia’s Bar Ferdinando is set to open in March, Cititour reports. Ferdinando’s Focacceria’s Panelle Special and arancini will live on, paired with a new, Italian-leaning cocktail program.

• Red Hook Tavern is nominated for the 2026 James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality. The top honors are announced June 15.

• NYPD detectives said they were disrespected and potentially mistaken for ICE agents at NYU Langone Health in Cobble Hill.

• An alternative, all-maritime vision for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, presented by Tom Fox of the City Club of New York and developed with Red Hook residents and experts, builds on decades of community planning to preserve the neighborhood’s historic working waterfront.

• The discount did it: Lilly Allen and David Harbour finally found a buyer for their Carroll Gardens townhouse. Will the fur-lined sitting area stay or go?

• A federal judge’s ruling allowing work on the Empire Wind offshore project to resume clears the way for nearly half a million Brooklyn homes to still get clean wind energy. Gov. Hochul released a statement on the ruling this week.

• Van Alen Institute announced its inaugural Vanguard, “a dynamic network of emerging leaders committed to civic life and design.” The group is responsible for creating public programs and exhibitions that rethink how design impacts civic life.

• I have somehow gone half a decade in this neighborhood without dining at Marco Polo, but The Infatuation’s review of the restaurant will be the thing to make me change that. Call me by my name (“bella”).

Goings On

• A few job postings: Brooklyn Library is looking for a junior designer; Page Sargisson is hiring a bench jeweler; and Place des Fêtes is adding more chefs to its kitchen.

• The Ace Hotel is throwing a kimchi-making workshop on Sunday, Jan. 25 from 1pm to 4pm.

• June Wine Bar is hosting a dessert and wine pairing on Sunday, Jan. 25 from 2pm until sell-through.

• Anais is having its first-ever trivia night on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 7pm.

• The Brooklyn Museum’s “Monet and Venice” exhibition ends next Sunday, Feb. 1.

• Entrenous is celebrating its one-year anniversary (and the end of dry January) with a ticketed party next Sunday, Feb. 1.

One Last Thing

I enjoyed this story about architect James Biber and his late wife, graphic designer Carin Goldberg, renovating their Carroll Gardens brownstone over two decades. The vision to transform “a wreck” into something of taste and the patience to make small, continuous tweaks spoke to me. And they did it together <3