Red Hook Job Board.

We just got this comment from Arielle through Facebook.  Thought we'd repost it to reiterate and also get it up on all of our outlets.

Arielle wrote: "Due to Sandy's devastation, many employees of Red Hook businesses may be out of work for brief or extended periods of time. Please use this as a job board to connect employees and employers: Red Hook employers looking to find work for their employees, Nearby local business owners looking for help or willing to carry some additional headcount during this unfortunate time, Displaced Red Hook employees promoting their available services. Neighbors helping neighbors... https://www.facebook.com/RedHookSandyJobConnect"

Calling All Volunteers for Park Clean Up.

Just walking around our neighborhood you can imagine what parks might look like with the fallen trees and whatnot.  Cobble Hill Park above had some fallen trees and branches as you can see above.  Brooklyn Bridge Park got hit pretty hard, they were under three feet of water, and could use your help.  So, if you are home from work, as most of you are, and would like to help out the info is below.

Wed October 31 | 9 am - 12 pm and 2 pm - 5 pm
Volunteers, please join us as we begin our Hurricane Clean Up. We will concentrate our efforts on the perimeters of the park, cleaning up debris left over from flood waters. Work will take place near Main Street from 9am-12pm and on Pier 6 from 2-5pm. Wear water-resistant shoes and clothes that you don't mind getting dirty.

If you have brooms, rakes, and gloves, please bring them. While we have extras, we're hoping that eager volunteers outnumber our current supplies!

Please rsvp to sward@brooklynbridgepark.org. And stay tuned for additional clean up opportunities in the coming days and weeks.

Cobble Hill Pics.

Here are some pics of Cobble Hill from just a few hours ago.  This area fared pretty well compared to the rest of New York.  The occasional tree down, as you can see above and below one fallen on a car on Henry near Kane and several down on Baltic between Clinton and Henry.  Also an awning here and there like the one below from Court Bagels.  Unlike, Red Hook, which was completely underwater last night and probably saw the worst of Sandy in our immediate area.  We haven't been out there yet but heard that the flooding has cleared out for the most part and now people just have to worry about their flood-damaged properties, which is undoubtedly extensive.  We are both so sad for everyone that have had flooded apartments and homes but relieved that we are all safe. 

New Red Hook Website.

RHED, or the Red Hook Economic Development organization, has launched a new website (in beta format) for Red Hook residents. The pic on their homepage, and also above, is of the iconic Red Hook sign on Van Brunt. What better way to welcome members onto their site than with a sign welcoming people into the neighborhood. The website is everything Red Hook from neighborhood news to a database of local businesses, organizations, and self-employed individuals.  It also has a calendar and they'd like your help filling it.


We believe rhedbrooklyn.org has great potential for our community. Please note the site will continue to develop over the coming weeks. In the meantime we welcome event submissions for the calendar as well as listings for the business database.

More to do for Halloween.

We blogged earlier this week about the parade in Mother Cabrini on Sunday and you already know about the parade at Cobble Hill Park on Halloween.  Let's give you one more option of things to choose from or add to your list.  This one (or two) is on Saturday the 27th and sounds really fun.  Carroll Park is hosting both a kids parade in the morning, at 11:30, and a karaoke party starting at 6pm.  Both are at the park and both will have snacks.  Hot cider at the karaoke party along with a 10,000 song library (suggested donation of $1 per song).  So much to do this weekend and coming week.  Have fun!

New Juice Bar.

Nectar has pretty much cornered the market on fresh squeezed juices and smoothies in their area but it looks like they have a little competition coming their way.  205 Court Street used to be the Wyckoff's Corner Pharmacy and they haven't been closed for that long but work has already begun and new signage tells us the new tenants are opening a "juice bar and grill".  We're thinking healthy sandwiches, juice (duh) and maybe some smoothies?  Nectar is always overflowing so we guess there are plenty of juice-lovers to go around.

Mother Cabrini Halloween Parade.

Most of us know about the parade/gathering at Cobble Hill Park on Halloween.  We think it's supposed to be a parade but turns into more of a giant herd of cute tots.  A lot of people still don't know about the parade and party that happens at Mother Cabrini Park, though.  This is the tenth year it's been going on and this year it'll be on October 28th.  The normal kids activities, such as face painting will be ever present, but they'll also have a NYFD truck and a parade led by Afro Funk Jazz band Underground Horns.

Red Hook Harvest Fest Success!

We went out the the Red Hook Harvest Festival last Saturday and basked in the very unfall-like weather.  It was gorgeous out and, with only the slightest chill in the air, the only way you could tell it was October was by the pumpkin carvings and cider press.  There was music, yummy food, as well as farm tours (farm animals!) and cooking demos.  Overall an awesome day!

Benefit at Muriel Guépin.

Wine, art, and a worthy cause.  Heights Chateau and Muriel Guépin are hosting this benefit, which is being given for teacher and artist Jaclyn Talley and her husband Jason, also an artist, who is fighting a rare form of Leukemia called AML.  The art auction VIP Preview is this Thursday, October 25th, between 6pm and 9pm at 47 Bergen.  Along with wine there will be cheese and charcuterie.  More info below.

Tickets are $50 cash or check at the door

To reserve tickets to this tasting benefit, Please contact Heights Chateau atinfo@heightschateau.com or by calling (718) 330-0963

 

New Signage at Old Athena.

213 Smith Street used to be the Athena restaurant.  The Greek restaurant was never really crowded and unfortunately very short-lived.  The new sign we saw, as you can see above, is for something called Hunter's Brooklyn.  We can't seem to find anything online about this place.  We can only speculate.  Is it a restaurant that serves interesting game?  Is it an arcade filled with Big Buck Hunter?  Only time will tell.  If anyone has the scoop, please share!

New Tea and Coffee Shop!

Do we need more coffee in the neighborhood?  Some would say "always!".  We could certainly use more tea and this new shop opening on Court and 9th Street will have both.  Here's an interesting name, Teaffee.  The logo is cute.  The letter "T" in Teaffee is a coffee bean with a tea leaf popping through.  After looking this place up we learned that it isn't a chain.  Here's their facebook page where you can check out pics of what's to come.  From our photo above you can see they still have a ways to go but keep an eye out for them in the fairly near future.

Lilla Cafe now Brooklyn Southern!

Lilla cafe, on Union Street between Hicks and Columbia, has finished it's menu, inside, and name changes and it's now Brooklyn Southern.  We love this change.  Although the old restaurant was good, we like having more affordable options in the neighborhood and mmmmmm, southern food.  The menu is well-rounded with a pretty equal amount of veggie, meaty, and seafood meals.  They have po boys, baskets, gumbos, and our favorite "breakfast all day", which consists of things like "fried chicken and waffle" and "biscuits and gravy".  And again the menu does look decently priced.  We hope this change works well for them!

Dassara Review.

We blogged about Dassara just prior to it's opening and shortly afterwards before we had heard any buzz about it's success.  Well, reviews are in!  One big one at least.  TimeOut New York featured the ramen joint in this weeks magazine and gave it four stars!  For those of you who don't read TimeOut, they don't give out their stars willy nilly so that's a really good review.  As you can see the matzoh ball ramen with smoked meat from Mile End above, which was taken by TimeOut, looks amazingly delicious and worthy of all of those stars! Good ramen. Check. Now we just need an awesome upscale Chinese restaurant.

The New Karloff

So, Karloff reopened it's doors a short while ago, less than 3 months.  Has anyone tried the new menu?  We'd like to hear a review in the comments section if you have.  We really enjoyed the old Karloff.  The ice cream was amazing and there were rumors that it was going.  Read this excerpt from the Carroll Gardens Patch.

"NOOOOOO!!! Don't get rid of the ice cream case. You have the best ice cream in the neighborhood," called out Eat It Brooklyn from the Carroll Gardens Patch comments section upon the announcement.
Another reader, Caroline Bailey, chimed in further down the scroll.
"Not the ice cream case," she said. "It's the only spot in the 'hood to get good ice cream without a ridiculous price tag."

Well, no worries the ice cream is still there, although the case is gone and the ridiculous price tag has been added.  A source tells us that the prices for the pints and scoops have gone way way up.  That's too bad.  To anyone who would like to try the revamped menu there is a groupon right now that you can purchase.  Again, let us know what you think!

Introducing Nicole May!

Meet one of the newest additions to Realty Collective.  Nicole is originally from New York and after living overseas, mainly Australia, for several years came back and is now residing in the Park Slope neighborhood, which she loves.  Here's what Nicole has to say about how she came to work for us.

When moving back to New York City, what I found most difficult was finding a place to live. My search was long and frustrating.  Although I had a background in event management and music, I was inspired to make a career change and become a real estate agent so that I might help others avoid the many pitfalls and run around when searching for their new home.  Brooklyn has so much to offer and I feel very fortunate to live here. 

Check out this Advent Calendar!

This is really cute.  Orange You Glad design studio, at 423 Smith St, has put out a Carroll Gardens-themed Halloween advent calendar.  We came across this story on DNAinfo New York.  It's counting down the days to Halloween with haunted scenes from Carroll Gardens and this is the second year the design studio is producing these spooky calendars.


This year, the theme of the calendar, called Mystery at 423, is a spooky dinner party in a haunted brownstone.
Inside the calendar — or in this case, the house — a dinner party is in full swing. There’s a spooky scene dedicated to every day in October and the scenes are revealed by opening the flaps for each day.
The calendars are priced at $13.95, and are sold at the Court Street Grocery, located at 485 Court St., or online. Animated scenes from the calendar are revealed on the studio’s blog every day.

Silent Films at Farmacy Tonight!

Three nights over three months Farmacy will host an event they call "Silent Films at the Fountain" (soda fountain, of course).  Tonight is the first in the series.  From 7-9pm you can go in, get an egg cream, watch some comedic silent films like Chaplin or Keaton, and feel really old timey.  The event is sponsored by The Musician's General Store, has live musical accompaniment by Ben Model, and is free!!!  If you can't go tonight mark your calendars for the future screenings, November 7th and December 12th.

Save The ClockWorks!

Das WunderKammer  Puppet Kabarett  ” Save The ClockWorks ! ” Edition was a packed house.  As some of you may already know the Clockworks Puppet Theater on Columbia Street near our office needs to raise money to stay afloat.  They had a show hoping to raise money, although they owed $10,000 in back rent which is a hefty sum, and you can check out pics (like the one above) from that event here.  We hope they can raise what they need but it doesn't look good.  Director Jonathan “Jonny Clockworks” Cross told the Brooklyn Paper, “If this show’s our last, we’re going to go down singing,".  Fingers crossed for some generous donation.

Neighborhood Preschools.

There are so many nursery schools in the neighborhood and maybe even more than most know about.  Schools that most people know about, like Brooklyn Heights Montessori (pictured above), Open House, and Cobble Hill Playgroup have lots of write-ups.  There are a couple in the Colombia Waterfront area, though, that surprisingly aren't even on google maps.  Red Hook Playgroup is at 295 Columbia and you may very well walk right past it if you weren't paying attention.  They have a few classrooms for different age groups starting at 2 1/2 years old and last we heard they still had a few spots open for this school year.  You can learn more about them here.   Also in the neighborhood is Casa Montessori.  This bilingual preschool is on Union near Columbia and consists of one really cute small classroom.  Unfortunately for those on a budget these schools run about on par with the prices around the area.  Since Amico child center is closing on Court Street, we haven't really heard of an affordable alternative.  Anyone know of any hidden gems?

Book Court For Kids Saturday!

Every once in a while we like to blog about events happening at Book Court.  We love having an indie book shop in the neighborhood and so we like to remind people to head out there and check it out sometimes.  Usually these readings we share are for adults but we noticed that they've been holding children's events too.  The flyer pictured above has mainly past events but one left for this Saturday, October 6th.  Amy Bloom, author of a children's picture book called Little Sweet Potato will be at the store at 4pm.  Head down with the kids for story time with the author! 

New Kids Shops Worth Checking Out.

So, there are a few relatively new kidcentric stores in the neighborhood for all you parents, grandparents or people who get invited to kid's birthday parties.  We can tell you right off the bat, all of these stores are kind of pricey, although you may get lucky with a sale here or there.  We recently lost a shoe store called Peek-a-boo shoes but gained Running Wild on Court Street and Area Kicks and Cuts on Smith (pictured above).  Kicks and Cuts is, as the name suggests, both a shoe store and hair cutting shop.  Picnic, a kids clothing and accessories boutique is also on the recent list.  It's a cute cozy store at 192 Amity.  If you're looking for a more affordable place, Cookie's in the Fulton mall is a fav among parents looking to save some bucks.  So, there's our run down, hope it helped!

Freaky Friday!

The video store at 244 Smith Street has made a lot of changes both inside and out.  This new addition is really awesome.  They now have deal days, that is a different deal for certain days of the week.  Such as "Movie-Mad Monday" where you can rent one movie and get another movie that has that week's "special theme".  Last Monday's theme was "the future" and a friend who wanted to get a movie for herself and one for her daughter had help from the owner, who is extremely friendly, helpful, and picked out a kids movie about robots.  Another example is "Trivia Tuesdays" where after renting a movie you get a chance to guess one of three trivia questions to win a free rental.  We'd like to suggest "Freaky Fridays" where you rent a movie but have to switch films with another customer!  Jokes. Seriously,  we're so happy this place exists.  The new owner is so psyched about movies and you can feel that energy when you walk through the door.  Go check them out!

Upcoming BGI Events.

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative has some upcoming events beginning in October and one benefit in November.  This coming Saturday, October 6th, they have two.  "Dance on the Greenway" is at Erie Basin Park from 1pm-5pm and the book launch for "Images of Red Hook"  starts at 5pm at the BGI gallery (above and below), 153 Columbia Street and goes until 9pm.  Other events are listed below.  For more info on any of these as well as the schedule for their Greenway Fall Cleanups, visit their website. 


Brooklyn Navy Yard Bike Tour
Sunday, October 14th 12:30pm

Fall Greenway Benefit at Chio
Monday, November 12 6pm-9pm

Martial Arts On Columbia.

We recently blogged about a martial arts studio at the corner of Columbia and Sackett called Aikido.  We noticed a few days ago that only a few blocks away, at 157 Columbia, another martial arts studio is opening up.  It's called Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu  and it looks like thay'll be opening up fairly soon.  The website, which you can check out here, indicates that the studio is coming soon and from the signage on the window it looks like they'd like people to start signing up for classes pretty soon.  This place already has a handful of locations around Brooklyn.  From the looks of their website the practice seems intense, although they do have a juniors class.