Search Results for: &quot;red hook&quot;

While volunteering at a Washington, D.C. homeless shelter a few years ago, Kerry Brodie witnessed how food can facilitate conversations among diverse groups of people. “If I have one background, someone else a different one, but we have this shared experience of cooking with our mothers and grandmothers, there’s got to be something else we can do to propel change,” Kerry said. With the idea to help those from disenfranchised communities find jobs and feel empowered doing so, she quit her job in public policy, moved to New York, and enrolled in culinary school. A month after graduating, Kerry founded Emma’s Torch, first as a pop-up in Red Hook to now a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Carroll Gardens, where it’s been for about a year. The nonprofit, named after Emma Lazarus whose poem is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, serves as a culinary school for refugees, asylum seekers, and survivors of trafficking. Applicants who are accepted to the 12-week paid program not only learn how to cook in a high-pressure setting but also work on English language skills and career planning. 6sqft recently sat down with Kerry at Emma's Torch ahead of a graduation dinner, a night where the students take over the menu and "cook from the heart." Ahead, learn more about the mission of Emma's Torch, the challenges of operating as a nonprofit, and Kerry's plan to expand beyond New York City.
See the space and meet the founder of Emma's Torch

Mayor de Blasio begins first-ever lead paint testing program in 135,000 NYCHA apartments

Image via Wikipedia

April 16, 2019

Mayor de Blasio begins first-ever lead paint testing program in 135,000 NYCHA apartments

Mayor Bill de Blasio kicked off a new lead-based paint testing program today, to be implemented in NYCHA apartments. 135,000 apartments will be tested with portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers as part of the mayor's LeadFreeNYC plan to eliminate childhood lead exposure. The effort will determine whether lead paint is present and abate any hazards found in the tested units, which were built before the federal ban on lead paint in 1978.
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Policy

Mixed feedback from LPC on proposed open-air pavilion at Fulton Ferry Landing

Rendering by Starling Architecture

April 9, 2019

Mixed feedback from LPC on proposed open-air pavilion at Fulton Ferry Landing

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) on Tuesday gave mixed reviews for a proposed new concession pavilion outside of the landmarked fireboat station at the Fulton Ferry Landing. The proposal, chosen last December by the Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP), includes constructing an outdoor restaurant and bar that would connect to an adjacent utility shed and sit in front of the two-story fireboat station, previously home to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. While Alex and Miles Pincus, the operators of the proposed space, designed the outdoor concession to be simple and airy, some LPC commissioners expressed concern over the structure possibly blocking views of Manhattan and the need to keep the space as open as possible.
See the proposed project

Study for Utica Avenue subway extension launches four years after city secured $5M for it

Photo via Flickr

April 8, 2019

Study for Utica Avenue subway extension launches four years after city secured $5M for it

A study examining the feasibility of extending Brooklyn's Utica Avenue subway line has finally launched, NY1 reported. As part of the Utica Avenue Transit Improvement Study, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the city will look into extending the 3 and 4 train south of Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights to neighborhoods like East Flatbush and Marine Park. Funding for the study has been in place since 2015 when Mayor Bill de Blasio designated $5 million for it as part of his One NYC plan.
Details this way

NYC Comptroller proposes turning the BQE into a truck-only roadway with a park on top

Via Wikimedia

March 13, 2019

NYC Comptroller proposes turning the BQE into a truck-only roadway with a park on top

By Alexandra Alexa

Adding another perspective to the many voices who are seeking a solution to the “most challenging project not only in New York City but arguably in the United States,” City Comptroller Scott Stringer has outlined his own proposal to save the crumbling BQE, advocating for a middle-ground solution to the heated debate. Stringer's idea (notably without a timeline or proposed budget) is to turn the BQE into a truck-only highway and build a linear park above. "We remain hopeful that the agency can view the BQE's deterioration not just as an engineering challenge, but as an opportunity to create something new and bold that both accommodates essential traffic and enhances surrounding neighborhoods,” he wrote in a March 7 letter to Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
See the new plan

Transit

56 Leonard sidewalk gets outlined in anticipation of Anish Kapoor’s bean sculpture

Rendering by Anish Kapoor.

March 6, 2019

56 Leonard sidewalk gets outlined in anticipation of Anish Kapoor’s bean sculpture

Herzog & de Meuron's striking "Jenga" condo tower at 56 Leonard Street in Tribeca is a conversation piece on its own, with its cantilevered rectangles of glass rising into the sky. The long-anticipated flourish that will anchor the skyscraper–artist Anish Kapoor's reflective bean-shaped sculpture–is finally on the way, as evidenced by an intricate set of circles and arrows that just arrived on the building's sidewalk. The spray-painted outline will inform installation of the sculpture, which resembles a similar public art icon in Chicago, where Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" sculpture apparently attracts millions of tourists every year and has become an Instagram staple.
What's taking so long, the anticipation is killing us

Events & Things To Do

My 1,300sqft: Artist Rob Wynne’s glass installations mix with eclectic decor in his Soho loft

Our series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to artist Rob Wynne’s Soho loft. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

February 27, 2019

My 1,300sqft: Artist Rob Wynne’s glass installations mix with eclectic decor in his Soho loft

"If you have something to say, you figure out what material will help you fulfill that destiny," said artist Rob Wynne, referencing the various mediums in which he works, from hand-embroidered paintings to sculpture to molten glass. It's this "alchemy" that is currently being explored through his exhibit "FLOAT" at the Brooklyn Museum, a show of 16 works that "seemingly floating within the American Art galleries." But Wynne's talent is perhaps on display nowhere more so that his home and studio in Soho. Wynne moved to the artist's loft in the '70s, and what has resulted is an organic and eclectic mix of decor and furniture from decades of travel, meeting fellow NYC artists, and finding inspiration through various disciplines. 6sqft recently visited Rob at his home and explored his collections of curiosities. We also got an up-close look at the process behind his large-scale mirrored glass installations, as well as many of his other incredible works.
Hear more from Rob and explore his studio

Siah Armajani: “Bridge Over Tree” 1970/2019; wood, steel and evergreen tree. Photo: Timothy Schenck.

February 21, 2019

Siah Armajani’s ‘Bridge Over Tree’ now open in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Iranian-born, Minneapolis-based artist Siah Armajani’s installation "Bridge Over Tree" (1970) was unveiled Wednesday at Brooklyn Bridge Park on the Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. The seminal work, which was first shown as a temporary sculpture at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in 1970, is comprised of a 91-foot-long walkway with open, trussed sides and a shingled roof. A set of stairs at the sculpture's midpoint climb up and down over a small evergreen tree. This is the first re-staging of the installation in almost 50 years
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Events & Things To Do

February 6, 2019

VIDEO: See how bean-to-bar chocolate gets made at the Institute of Culinary Education

If you don't have chocolate on the mind yet, you soon will with Valentine's Day quickly approaching. And while there's plenty of trendy treats out there--think mushroom chocolate bars and a $375 spiked hot chocolate--there's nothing quite like keeping it simple with classic cacoa flavors and traditional cooking methods. Which is exactly the mindset behind the Institute of Culinary Education's bean-to-bar chocolate lab, the first in the nation. James Beard Award-winning chef and ICE’s Creative Director/head of the chocolate lab, recently gave us a private lesson in chocolate making, from roasting and crushing the beans to tempering the final product. Ahead, watch this entire tutorial and learn about the machinery that makes it happen, what makes "real" chocolate real, and how you can get in on the action in the lab.
Watch the video here

Food & Dining

City’s new $1.45B East River Park flood protection plan leaves community groups high and dry

Image courtesy of David Shankbone via Flickr

January 22, 2019

City’s new $1.45B East River Park flood protection plan leaves community groups high and dry

Last July, Rebuild by Design, a collaborative organization formed to address the affects of climate change, released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park. The project, a flood protection system conceived in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and budgeted at $760 million, was the first of three phases in a series of self-sufficient flood zones stretching from West 57th to East 42nd Streets. In October, the Mayor's Office announced an updated $1.45 billion design that would begin in spring of 2020. 70 percent of the original design was updated, ostensibly to allow flood protection to be in place a year earlier, by summer 2023. But, as the New York Times reports, the new plan, which basically calls for burying the park beneath 8-10 feet of landfill and starting over–has left community groups who participated in the original plan feeling like they've been hung out to dry.
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January 9, 2019

NYC’s 10 best offbeat and hidden museums

By Rebecca Fishbein

New York is home to world-class institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim, and MoMA. But this city’s museum scene has more to offer than just the Temple of Dendur—in fact, it’s full of smaller, way funkier spots serving up found art, oddities, and history, including the history of this ever-odd city itself. Here are 10 of our favorites.
Start exploring

Events & Things To Do

Checking in on the tallest building at Cobble Hill’s River Park development

Editor’s note: A previous version of this post included renderings and details that do not represent the final project and have been removed.

January 7, 2019

Checking in on the tallest building at Cobble Hill’s River Park development

The second phase of Fortis Property Group's five-building project in Cobble Hill will continue into the new year, with the complex's tallest tower expected to enter the market soon. 2 River Park, located at 91 Pacific Street, will top out at 28 stories, 475 feet tall. In addition to being the tallest at River Park, the condo tower will become the tallest in South Brooklyn, which contains Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Red Hook.
Check it out

New Developments

Ikea’s first Manhattan store will open this spring on East 59th Street

Rendering of what the new Ikea storefront will look like, via Ikea

December 3, 2018

Ikea’s first Manhattan store will open this spring on East 59th Street

After teasing us last week with news that they were in the "preliminary" planning stages of opening a city-center store in New York City, Ikea has today announced, that they will, in fact, open their first Manhattan store in spring 2019. The IKEA Planning Studio--a delivery-only store concept that focuses on "smart solutions for urban living and small spaces"--will open at 999 Third Avenue, right across the street from Bloomingdales at 59th Street and just over the Queensboro Bridge from Long Island City where Amazon is readying to bring 25,000 employees.
All the details

Uncategorized

November 19, 2018

New Williamsburg rooftop hotel bar looks like a water tower you can party inside

Any new Williamsburg rooftop hotel bar has some tough acts to follow given the reputation and views at veteran hotspots like The Ides at the Wythe hotel and the doesn't-even-need-a-name rooftop bar at the McCarren Hotel and Pool. The Williamsburg Hotel at 96 Wythe Avenue, however, has decided they're not taking any chances and created an attention-grabbing rooftop party spot that resembles a classic New York City water tank, wrapped in glass. Dubbed The Water Tower bar, of course, the chic new nightclub and lounge officially opened on November 16.
Check it out

City Living

Photo via Flickr cc

October 17, 2018

Smorgasburg opening two indoor food halls in Brooklyn

Photo via Flickr cc In a not-very-surprising move, foodie phenom Smorgasburg has announced that it will open indoor markets in Fort Greene and Williamsburg this winter, according to Eater. Since first opening as an outcrop of Brooklyn Flea in 2011, Smorgasburg has grown to operate seasonal outdoor markets in Williamsburg, Prospect Park, Brooklyn Flea, as well as the indoor Berg’n food hall and even another outdoor market in Downtown LA. Their newest spots will be a 25,000-square-foot space in the Atlantic Center mall across from the Barclays Center and a night market in collaboration with Vice Media at their Williamsburg event space Villian. The latter will also have a full bar, DJs, and art exhibitions.
All the details

Food & Dining

City will spend $250M+ connecting and greening 32 miles of Manhattan waterfront

Concept rendering of Harlem River Greenway Link view toward RFK Bridge.

October 11, 2018

City will spend $250M+ connecting and greening 32 miles of Manhattan waterfront

The NYCEDC, the NYC Parks department and NYC DOT announced today the results of a study on how to close the 32-mile loop of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway along with plans to invest over $250 million to get the project started in Inwood, Harlem, East Harlem and Midtown. The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway announcement outlines a strategy for connecting open waterfront spaces that total over 1,000 acres that will add about 15 acres of quality open space and integrate the Greenway into surrounding neighborhoods.
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Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will get fast-tracked with an updated design

A previous rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group of ESCR, courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency

October 1, 2018

Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will get fast-tracked with an updated design

In July, Rebuild by Design released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park, a flood protection system conceived in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. ESCR is the first of three phases in Bjarke Ingels' Big U, a series of self-sufficient flood zones stretching from West 57th to East 42nd Streets. Under the city's new mandate, construction on ESCR, which spans the loop from Montgomery Street on the Lower East Side to East 25th Street, will begin in spring 2020. Roughly 70 percent of the design will be updated, allowing flood protection to be in place one year earlier, by summer 2023, with the entire project wrapping up six months sooner. According to a press release from the Mayor's Office, the updated $1.45 billion design will also "raise the entire East River Park, with the flood wall at the water’s edge integrated with the bulkhead and esplanade that does not obstruct views to the water."
More details on the updated plan

August 23, 2018

100 things to do in NYC that are completely free

Despite being one of the most expensive cities to live in, New York City offers many free activities, events, and attractions all year round, letting you pinch pennies when the rent check is due. From free lectures at the Met to free group meditation classes, there are tons of activities that don't cost a dime. To help New York visitors and natives alike, we've put together a guide of the 100 best wallet-friendly things to do in the Big Apple.
See the full list

June 18, 2018

The 1936 ‘Summer of Pools’: When Robert Moses and the WPA cooled off NYC

By Lucie Levine

On June 24, 1936, thousands of Lower East Siders turned out for a spectacle the likes of which New York had never seen. They jammed Hamilton Fish Park, filled Pitt Street, and perched on surrounding fire-escapes and rooftops to get a glimpse. With great fanfare (and the swim stylings of the Jones Beach Water Troupe) Mayor La Guardia and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses officially opened Hamilton Fish Pool. The dedication kicked off New York’s “Summer of Pools.” One by one, for each week of the summer, 11 gleaming outdoor pools, financed and built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), opened in underserved neighborhoods across the city, providing recreation and relief to millions of heat-addled, Depression-strapped New Yorkers.
Learn more about the summer of 1936

History

The state of food trucks: Why owners are fed up with outdated regulations

Photo via Wikimedia

May 9, 2018

The state of food trucks: Why owners are fed up with outdated regulations

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

According to a recent report by Food Truck Nation, New York City takes 9th out of the top places to run a food truck. The report ranks three categories: ease of obtaining permits and licenses, complying with restrictions and operating a food truck. And with a composite score of nine, NYC is falling behind other cities, specifically Portland, Denver and Orlando which take the top three spots, respectively. Based on the data, obtaining permits and licenses is what drags the city's scores down, falling to spot 26. Some cities have many fewer barriers to entry. For example, Denver requires ten different procedures to obtain a license, whereas Boston has a whopping 32. Unsurprising, Denver has 594 food trucks in operation. But Adam Sobel, the owner of Cinnamon Snail, the vegan food truck which is ranked as the top food truck in the New York City by The Daily Meal, has stopped running its food truck business on the streets of New York. Sobel only uses his food trucks for special events a few days a week, like farmers markets, because he says that every food truck on the streets of New York is basically illegal.
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NYCxDesign 2018: A guide to this month’s best design events

Photo courtesy of Industry City

May 3, 2018

NYCxDesign 2018: A guide to this month’s best design events

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Photo courtesy of Industry City New Yorkers love good design. They also love good festivals. And who doesn’t love a custom cocktail? Put those three together and you’ve got NYCxDESIGN. With over 400 different exhibitions, installations, trade shows, panels, product launches, open studios, and more, NYCxDESIGN runs from May 11–23 across the city’s five boroughs and is the biggest design event of the year. And to top it off, restaurants throughout the city are designing custom NYCxDESIGN cocktails, the perfect end to a perfect day. To help you navigate the scene, 6sqft has put together a guide to all the events you don't want to miss.
Check it out!

The city wants you to bike to work to celebrate National Bike Month

Photo via NYC DOT/Flickr

May 1, 2018

The city wants you to bike to work to celebrate National Bike Month

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

May is National Bike Month and Transportation Alternatives (TransAlt) is hosting its Bike Commuter Challenge. TransAlt and the city are challenging New Yorkers to swap their normal commuting routine and cycle to work. With Citi Bikes on almost every block, over 250 miles of new bicycle lanes, and the hellacious winter behind us, there is no excuse not to “man up.” Especially since, according to NYC DOT, more than 800,000 New Yorkers ride a bike regularly, which is 140,000 more than rode five years ago and means that NYC commuters already bike to work more than any other U.S. city.
There's more bike-related fun to be had in May

6sqft’s series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Boerum Hill home of Ample Hills founders Jackie and Brian. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

April 18, 2018

Our 2,200sqft: The founders of Ample Hills ice cream give the scoop on their sweet Boerum Hill home

If you've ever indulged in an Ample Hills ice cream cone, you know that their fanciful flavors (Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, the Munchies, and Snap Mallow Pop, just to name a few!) are perfectly matched by the Brooklyn company's whimsical shops. But founders Jackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith definitely didn't grow in seven years from their first storefront in Prospect Heights to nine locations, including one in Disney World, and a forthcoming Red Hook factory where they'll produce 1 million gallons a year, without a lot of hard work and business smarts. And it's this combination of playfulness and attention to detail that they've carried over to their adorable Boerum Hill home, which they moved into two years ago with their eight-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. A triplex in a quintessential Brooklyn brownstone, their home has cheery pops of color, mid-century-modern furnishings, and an eclectic mix of decor and family mementos. 6sqft recently visited the couple to tour their space, hear why they love Brooklyn, and learn about Ample Hills' plans.
Tour this sweet home and hear from Brian and Jackie

March 19, 2018

The best pop-up food markets coming to New York City this spring