Vines & Voices 031: 41 Days ‘Til Spring
Plus, NY Attorney General monitors ICE, DTBK former Macy’s is a living light installation 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.
I am deeply done with winter. The gray slush, the endless layers, this weekend’s impending Arctic chill — it’s starting to feel exhausting. All I can think about is leaving NYC for spring somewhere else.
I nearly lost my mind when I saw a video of the snow melting system in Niigata, Japan. Imagine infrastructure that actually makes winter livable! Japan feels like a good idea. Maybe it’s time for a trip? All of this is to say: 41 days until spring :)
The Weekly Edit
New York Attorney General Letitia James is keeping a watchful eye on ICE. Earlier this week, James launched the Legal Observation Project, which will document enforcement actions statewide and send trained personnel to watch and record that activity and any protests.
F&F Pizzeria is commuting into Midtown: The restaurant is opening an outpost at Shaver Hall, where Lord & Taylor used to be.
Melting snow and rock salt caused about 100 Brooklyn residents to lose power for at least four days this week.
Laurel Bakery is pausing all operations as it plans a move to Prospect Heights.
The Strong Buzz got the scoop on Confidant, which opened this week in the former Colonie space, from chefs Brendan Kelley and Daniel Grossman. A second project, Lou & Bev’s, will bring a hyper-seasonal bakery and evening pizza and wine bar next door, where Pips used to be.
Juliet Howard was sworn in to Kings County Civil Court this week, making her the second openly LGBTQ+ Black judge elected to Brooklyn’s Civil Court.
Sujuk has exited its Cobble Hill location.
Rockrose Developments is in a $100 million contract to buy a full block in Cobble Hill where the defunct Long Island College Hospital and SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University currently stand.
Female Founders Fund announced an investment in Audrey Gelman’s The Six Bells this week.
A $1.7 billion project, led by the City’s Department of Environmental Protection, aims to clean up the Gowanus Canal. Storage tanks to prevent sewage overflow and public waterfront spaces are part of the larger plan.
The New York City Housing Authority received $5 million in funding for much-needed renovations to the Red Hook East Houses.
Goings On
Maha Rose is hosting a Constellations Experience and a healing sound bath on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Two events from urban design nonprofit Van Alen Institute: First, a roundtable discussion with the authors of Value of Design: Creating Agency Through Data-Driven Insights — which examines how design impacts economic, social and urban outcomes — on Thursday, Feb. 12 from 6:30pm to 9pm. Then, a conversation with Studio Loutsis, REX, Snøhetta and journalist Diana Budds on What Language Leaves Behind: Integrating Graphics and Architecture, taking place Thursday, Feb. 19 from 5:30pm to 8pm. Both are free with RSVP.
Liz’s Book Bar’s upcoming events include a Wuthering Heights book and bouquet special on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
Chef Bun Cheam is taking over Red Hook Tavern for a Lunar New Year special on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Reservations can be made via OpenTable.
What was once the Macy’s in Downtown Brooklyn is now a living light installation, In Every Transition, A Pattern, running until March 16.
“The Endless Garment: Atlantic Basin” at Pioneer Works in Red Hook brings together fashion, sculpture and video to examine the human stories embedded in global textile production. Featuring nine artists and designers connected to Southeast Asia and its diasporas, the exhibition traces labor, identity and creative survival within the currents of global commerce, on view through April 12.
The Six Bells Country Inn added spring dates to its Death for Dinner immersive murder mystery experience.
One Last Thing
This story about an East River booze-cruise crashing into Domino Park is so chaotic. There’s the passengers “dancing carefree” mid-crash; the cruise line owner allegedly telling the park operators to “go f—k yourselves;” and the operators requesting payment for damages via cash app. The weekend energy we need to get through the Arctic temps ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!