Tag: williamsburg

Hindy Sells Stake in Brewery

After 25 years as a partner in Brooklyn Brewery, founder Steve Hindy is selling his voting shares in the company to his long-time partners, Eric and Robin Ottaway. Hindy is planning to stay on at Brooklyn Brewery in a managerial position and will remain on (and lead) the board of the company, but according to BeerPulse, he is looking forward to enjoying some well-deserved “fruits of [his] entrepreneurship”.

Zach Galifianakis’ First Video

03/27/2012 | Comment

Via Huffington Post, here is Zach Galifianakis’ acting debut, in a student short shot on the Northside in the early 1990s. Worth a look to see old shots the L Cafe (and the apartment listings there) and Teddy’s in an earlier (but not too different) incarnation. Oh yeah, and goatees – I forgot about those.


And this one, which was shot in the ruins of the old Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal (somewhere between the Edge and the Bushwick Inlet soccer field today):


St. Vincent De Paul Sells

12/20/2011 | Comment

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Photo: Heather Roslund

According to Brownstoner, the broker handling the sale of St. Vincent De Paul Church on North 6th Street has announced the sale of the property for $13.7 million. MNS, the broker, says that the mystery owner plans to convert the church.

The church owns two parcels on North 6th Street. One of those parcels (lot 30) is the rectory, a four-and-a-half story building that was constructed in 1869 (Patrick Keely, architect). The other parcel (lot 15) wraps around the rectory and consists of the church itself (also constructed in 1869 and designed by Keely), as well as the large parking lot to the west of the rectory and the 1960s (?) school on North 7th Street.

So the first question is, which properties did the church sell? The second question is, what does the new owner plan for the rest of the site? Taking at face value the claim that the church itself will be converted, there is still a huge development potential for the rest of the site (the larger site – excluding the rectory – is over 33,000 sf; that is a lot of development rights, even at the R6B zoning for the block).

UPDATE:The Real Deal posted the story last night; according to their piece, the lot is 37,500 sf (my figure was from Oasis). The article is also a bit squishier on the fate of the church (” the buyer may choose to develop within the existing structure of the building”), and it notes that the sale went into contract last Spring, and only closed this week.

Nü Williamsburg

Erik Stinson in The Atlantic:

Nü Williamsburg dates back to a 2005 change to zoning laws allowing for the construction of new residential units in the areas of North, South, and East Williamsburg, semi-defined divisions of the sprawling Brooklyn neighborhood. In 2008, the housing boom busted, but, slowly, many of the then-new projects are being completed and filled.

But why does Nü Williamsburg need an umlaut?

A Better Look at Triangle Court

04/22/2011 | Comment

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Triangle Court (proposed)
Architect: KOH Architecture
Photo: KOH Architecture via Curbed


Yesterday, Curbed posted a better image of Triangle Court. Here it is in all it’s glory.

The building will occupy the former gas station site on the western half of the triangle formed by Grand, Keap and Borinquen. The future of the rest of the triangle (under separate ownership) is not known.

Mable’s Smokehouse

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Mmmm, brisket
Photo: Village Voice


An Oklahoma-style barbecue restaurant has opened at 44 Berry (the old NY Quinine Co. building). Bob Sietsema is impressed:

If someone had told me five years ago that Williamsburg would become the city’s foremost barbecue destination, I would have guffawed. After all, most of the BBQ joints in town then—which numbered about a dozen—were located in Manhattan, whining that they couldn’t do the job properly because of city regulations against airborne emissions. The “smoke scrubbers” required to meet environmental guidelines were prohibitively expensive, the owners maintained. Turns out they were full of crap, saving themselves money by brushing baked meats with cloying sauces and calling it ‘cue, figuring nobody in New York could tell the difference. They were wrong.

(He was so impressed that he also posted pictures.)