Tagged: DIY

Brooklyn’s Innovative and Independent Local Economy

By Nicole Brydson

At the Brooklyn Night Bazaar in Williamsburg this past weekend we were thrilled to check out all the DIY designs, live music and tasty and inventive snacks on hand (peppermint patty CAKE, omg). Thousands of locals came out to see the crafts and culture and share it with friends this holiday season. Tweet us @bklyntheborough or use #BKLYN if you see any good items out in the markets and we’ll share it with the borough.

Etsy Artisans to be Profiled on NYC TV

By Nicole Brydson

It seems the local DIY culture is starting to get noticed by the big leagues for its capital power. NYC life gets next to Etsy in a new series.

Spring Cleaning For Your Soul

By Nicole Brydson

As the temperature in Brooklyn inches closer and closer to 60 degrees and we begin to shed our layers of clothing once again, it’s time to emerge from our cold weather cocoons. Here’s to the rebirth of spring and the rituals that keep us sane: gardening, nurturing the mind and body and learning to live sustainably.

The New DIY: Atomic Tom Goes Viral on the B Train

By Jason Orlovich

Brooklyn locals Atomic Tom released the homemade video for their latest single on October 14 and nearly two million YouTube hits later found themselves charting below Lady Gaga in iTunes sales for the week — all without touching an instrument that does not require charging. The viral video features the band playing “Take Me Out” using their iPhone instrument apps to a sparse crowd on the B train as it crosses the Manhattan Bridge.

Miracle of 86ed: Kevin Devine Is Brooklyn’s Middle Class of Indie Rock

By Nicole Brydson

Singer/songwriter Kevin Devine tells us about his treacherous trip with Capitol Records, and finding a new independent home on Favorite Gentlemen Records.

The Future of Urban Agriculture in a Bushwick Microcosm

By Lauren Raheja

The Secret Garden – its actual name – is part of the Linden-Bushwick Community Garden, is one of hundreds of community gardens in Brooklyn that has the potential to nourish its community both nutritionally and mentally.

Though Brooklyn is Missed, Independence is Gained in Julie & Julia

By Lauren Raheja

Cinema loves Brooklyn. In classic films like Dog Day Afternoon, Do the Right Thing, and Saturday Night Fever, Hollywood takes us to the bumper cars at Coney Island, through the Bed-Stuy of the 1980s, and across the Brooklyn Bridge. But in Brooklynite Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, our borough is present only through its absence—as the beloved home that one of our protagonists wishes she weren’t leaving. Here, Brooklyn represents comfort and familiarity, rather than the brand new adventure that it does for so many of the young people who are now settling into it.

Anything But Bland: Creative ‘Arsenal’ Opens in Williamsburg

By Susannah Gruder

Tucked into the fourth floor of the Armory’s edifice is The Arsenal, a multipurpose loft run by fashion designer Bob Bland, who has turned the ancient space into one her clients may customize to fit their modern creative and professional needs.

Happy Fourth of July From Jimmy Carter

By Nicole Brydson

Thirty years later, on our Independence Day Jimmy Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” speech is still apt. The televised warning to Americans was given just shy of 30 years ago on July 15, 1979 and quickly derided by republicans for attacking American values, government and way of life.

The King of Pop, Charlie’s Angel – Now Yoko Devereaux, Too

By Nicole Brydson

Sad news for the fashionable man. Williamsburg menswear shop Yoko Devereaux will be closing after its parent company Wing Son Garments / WS & Company became saddled with financial issues and pulled the plug.

At New Dumbo Gallery, Cops Critique Recession-Proof Art

By Nicole Brydson

“We’re just going to do it,” said Kris Graves, sitting on an ottoman in the center of Kris Graves Projects, his new eponymous Dumbo gallery. “Fuck it.”

It was a recent Sunday afternoon and Mr. Graves, 26, was explaining the sentiment he felt when he and his cousin Gravelle Pierre, 29, decided to open the gallery. It’s a sentiment that seems to have pervaded Brooklyn’s creative class as of late.

Brooklyn Designers Seek Collective Efforts as Economy Worsens

By Nicole Brydson

Fredriksson Fall 2009

It’s fashion week in New York City, but not everybody is flashing their luxury wares in the tents of Bryant Park. Out in the borough, designers and boutique owners are worried about the sour turn of the economy, and are coming together to promote locally produced garments, jewelry and crafts. Brooklyn The Borough caught up with Williamsburg designer Helena Fredriksson, owner of the eponymous H Fredriksson, to hear about her fall line, a new Williamsburg pop up shop and get her thoughts on the future of Brooklyn’s fashion community.

Thorns of Life Exist, Play Show

By Nicole Brydson

A few weeks ago a friend took me to see Blake Schwarzenbach play a few songs at Matchless Bar in Greenpoint, and now a live show of his new band, Thorns of Life, playing at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California, has made its way onto the internet

Video: What We Learned About Crown Heights Today

By Nicole Brydson

If you haven’t tuned in to Brooklyn Community Access Television you surely don’t know what you’re missing, but in non-crazy person TV news, the channel is now running a new episode of Neigborhood Beat, featuring Crown Heights. Here’s what we learned today.

Brooklyn Flea Opens Second Pop Up Shop

By Nicole Brydson

After a month of success at their winter pop-up market in Dumbo, Brooklyn Flea has expanded to a second storefront across the street at 76 Front Street.

Sit and Read Furniture was there hocking early American and mid-century wares. Owner Kyle Garner had managed to sell his most expensive (a gorgeous marble table) and least expensive (a pair of chairs) pieces by late afternoon, and said business was steady all day.

Overheard in Park Slope

By Nicole Brydson

“If I had a nickel for every smores party I’ve been to…” said one guest at a Park Slope soiree on Saturday night.

“You’d have a nickel,” responded a new acquaintance from across the fire pit, which was perfectly centered in the frosty backyard of a brownstone on 5th Street.

Landlord As a Second Language

By Nicole Brydson

A week ago, I received an email about a vacant industrial warehouse on 46th Street in Sunset Park that recently sold for $1,100,000. Each of the 4,900 square feet came to $225. I wondered why a bare bones property like this would cost so much, but somewhere out there a landlord was probably excited that it cost so little.

This is the landlord-tenant language divide.

Sartorial Swingers!

By Nicole Brydson

“WE ARE IN A RECESSION!” screamed the words from my in-box back on Nov. 16, and whether it was official yet or not, the wardrobes of Brooklyn’s 20-somethings were feeling it.

Williamsburg Calling Party Chats Up Voters

By Nicole Brydson

“I’ve often heard people say it doesn’t matter who you vote for, they’re all the same,” said Jimmy Ellis, a 56-year-old MoveOn.Org member and host of a calling party Thursday night for Barack Obama in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “But now, since the election in 2000, I think we can see really clearly, even if you don’t have your perfect candidate, it makes a difference who gets into office.”

ACORN in Brooklyn

By Nicole Brydson

Last Wednesday, on the evening of the final presidential debate of this cycle, held at Hofstra University, Senator John McCain alleged in the most cautious terms he could muster, that ACORN “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”

Nearby, in the Uniondale section of Hempstead Iona Emsley cringed. For the last 19 years, Ms. Emsley has worked with various chapters of ACORN—in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island—to fight for social, housing and immigrant rights.

Our Town

By Nicole Brydson

“First off, there’s no question—in my humble opinion—that the literary center of New York has moved to Brooklyn,” said our oh-so-humble Borough President Marty Markowitz celebrating the Brooklyn Book Festival in the ornate lobby of Borough Hall this past Sunday. “The authors live here, the illustrators live here, and the energy—there’s that energy!—among residents of Brooklyn.” And of course, Marty is the first to throw a party for them.

Ikea’s Benevolent Despotism

By Nicole Brydson

With the opening of Ikea Brooklyn on June 18, no longer is a trip to Elizabeth, N.J., a staple of New York residential life; instead, it’s a ferry or bus ride to the faded industrial port of Red Hook.