Vines & Voices 036: You Need to Watch Voice of Gowanus’ Subway Take
An environmental investigation in Carroll Gardens, Tom Brady’s CardVault opens in DTBK 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.
Good Eats in the Neighborhood
As the weather warms (kind of), and my desire to venture out of my home intensifies, I have found myself eating my way through the neighborhood. Last Friday, I treated myself to the sardine sandwich special at Frankie’s Spuntino. A delight (so much so, I could have eaten two)! Then on Wednesday, I took my brother to 6 NYC for the restaurant’s one-year anniversary tasting menu. My coverage of 6’s opening last year marked CSJ’s first post on Substack, and the beginning of significant growth for this newsletter. My husband and I have also found our new favorite neighborhood pizza: the pinsa at Cremini’s. The La Bomba dessert is also *chef’s kiss* — I was craving one last night and stopped by just for that.
Elsewhere
A stretch of blocks in Carroll Gardens may become a State Superfund Site, Ward 6 reports. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation is looking into the four-block area spanning Nelson to 4th Place from Court to Smith. The DEC “identified dangerous cancer-causing soil vapors in the rectory and main building of St. Mary Star of the Sea Church (where Al Capone also celebrated his wedding)” back in 2024, when they were investigating the source of toxic solvents often associated with dry cleaning, Ward 6 reports. More from Ward 6 here.
CardVault, a sports cards and memorabilia retailer Tom Brady invested in, opened a store near the Barclays Center at 80 Flatbush Ave this week.
City lawyers have admitted that the Brooklyn Marine Terminal task force is purely advisory and cannot legally approve the vision plan it voted on back in September. This clarification of the task force’s role came out of a lawsuit filed by Columbia Street Waterfront District residents, who said the city violated the New York Open Meetings Law by not allowing the public to be part of the task force meetings.
Powerhouse Arts is hiring for a few positions — a part-time visitor services coordinator, a greeter, a house manager and a barista-slash-bartender.
NYU Langone opened a free health clinic offering first aid visits, vaccinations and even primary healthcare to students of Harbor Middle School and Summit Academy Charter School in Red Hook.
NYC’s free early-education program for three-year-olds is releasing 1,000 new seats this fall, including ones in DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill and Vinegar Hill. This news comes alongside recent reporting from NYPost, which found that 27 preschool sites, including one on Van Brunt Street in the Columbia Street Waterfront District, remain unopened despite NYC spending $400 million to develop them.
The Carroll Gardens Library is expected to reopen this summer after construction delays caused it to miss its big renovation reveal back in July 2025.
A warehouse fire in Sunset Park injured two firefighters on Wednesday morning.
A GoFundMe page supporting local dog walker and trainer Csaba, who died of pancreatic cancer last year, has raised more than double what it set out to.
Goings On
Jason Saft, designer and founder of Staged to Sell Home, will sell antiques, design objects, ceramic and visual works at a Collector’s Market on Saturday, March 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 80 39th St., Suite 22-302 in Industry City. Saft held a similar event last year, curating 1,100 pieces from his collection of more than 150,000. The items will be staged in “fully realized vignettes,” Saft told Surface. Entry is free.
The Brooklyn Seltzer Museum’s second annual SeltzerFest returns to Industry City this Sunday, March 15, with unlimited tastings, comedy, klezmer, family programming and a high-stakes egg cream competition. Last year’s festival sold out with 700 attendees. It looks like this year’s event has also sold out, though you can watch via livestream.
The NYC Economic Development Corporation is hosting a fourth community scoping meeting regarding the draft scope of work for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal on Monday, March 16. Register for the virtual meeting here.
The Center for Brooklyn History will screen Women Laughing, a documentary exploring humor through the work of New Yorker women cartoonists, on Wednesday, March 25 in honor of Women’s History Month.
The Brooklyn Heights Association is hosting an egg hunt and bakesale on Saturday, March 28.
One Last Thing
Martin Bisi of Voice of Gowanus, the grassroots organization advocating for the neighborhood’s cleanup, went on Subway Takes, Kareen Rahma’s viral show, to raise awareness of the city’s plans to build low-income housing and a school on toxic soil in Gowanus. VoG recently released a health survey conducted with NYU examining how the health of locals has been affected by longstanding toxicants in the area. Just this week, developers secured a hefty loan to build a residential tower in the Gowanus Wharf.
