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An Early Look at Ludlow House, By the Numbers

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Ludlow House. (Photo courtesy Soho House)

Ludlow House. (Photo courtesy Soho House)

After some very strident local opposition and the requisite haggling with the community board, the folks at Soho House have finally managed to turn an old funeral home into Ludlow House. Although the privacy policy at the members-only club keeps its gatekeepers from telling us how many film, media, and creative types have signed up to “eat, drink, work and play” there, we were able to score you some other data.

Here’s a look inside the Ludlow House by the numbers.

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Catching Up With Vic Sin, Bushwick’s Prodigal Boylesque Star

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Stephen Plante (Vic Sin) in his Vienna Boylesque Festival costume. (Photo courtesy Stephen Plante)

Stephen Plante (Vic Sin) in his Vienna Boylesque Festival costume. (Photo courtesy Stephen Plante)

Back in February we told you about how far Bushwick-based boylesque performer Stephen Plante (Vic Sin) was willing to go to fund his trip to the Vienna Boylesque Festival, pledging his body for “one night only” in return for a $3,000 donation. He told us it was “a joke, but at the same time, is it possible? Yeah.” Well, he reached his goal (without having to go full-on Pretty Woman), performed in Vienna, England and France, and now he’s back, with footage of his festival performance and a mission: to make the New York City arts scene more family-friendly. He’ll still be stripping, but he wants to do it with more support from other artists, both on and off of the stage.

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Latest Bushwick Art Fair Is a Bit of a Circus

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(Photo: @bushwickopen)

(Photo: @bushwickopen)

Since it was announced that Bushwick Open Studios will be taking place in October and not on their usual summer date, a couple fledgling fests have tried to fill the void. There’s been the Bushwick Arts Festival, which was a bit of a letdown, and the Bushwick Galleries Association’s Hot Summer Nights of extended hours, which are great but for galleries only. So when we heard tell of a new Bushwick art festival called the Bushwick Open Art Fair, we were skeptical. What would make their “Bears on Bicycles”-themed fair different from the other upstarts? But then the organizers told us they’re “currently looking into the permits required to have live animals at the show.”
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City Hall, news No Comments

Wendy’s Subway Is Right On Track After Moving Further Down the L Line

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The new Wendy

The new Wendy’s Subway storefront at 379 Bushwick Ave. (Photos: Karissa Gall)

At the start of 2016, after two years at their second-floor studio on Metropolitan Avenue, non-profit library and writing space Wendy’s Subway moved two stops down the L train to a storefront at 379 Bushwick Avenue. The move wasn’t necessarily by choice— in April DNAinfo reported that other artists who refused to move from the warehouse at the request of landlord Barnett Brickner ended up locked into a costly legal battle, and managing board member Rachel Valinsky told us they were “essentially evicted, as most people in Brooklyn studios end up at some point or another.” But, to borrow from colloquial literary metaphor, every cloud has a silver lining, and they’ve been making the most of their new, smaller space since announcing their first open hours January 31.

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These Guys Installed a FREE COFFEE Sign Over a Starbucks to ‘Keep Williamsburg Weird’

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The 65 Ainslie Street apartment "FREE COFFEE" sign from Union Ave. (Photo courtesy @chuckorcharlie)

The 65 Ainslie Street apartment “FREE COFFEE” sign from Union Ave. (Photo courtesy @chuckorcharlie)

Back in February, we noticed a FREE COFFEE sign hovering a few stories above the controversial Starbucks on Union Avenue and wondered if it was an olive branch to neighbors who were rankled by the corporate interloper’s bid for a liquor license. But a barista at the Starbucks told us there were no free Frappuccinos to be had, and it quickly became apparent that the glowing sign was either an art installation, an epic prank, or both. Curious to find out, we slipped a note under the door of one of the building’s top-floor apartments, requesting a word with the sign maker. 

Last week, we finally got a text: “This is the guy behind the free coffee sign.”

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City Hall, news, Social Justice No Comments

As Vote Looms, Tenants Ask Rent Guidelines Board to Give Them a Break

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RGB public hearing attendees protest embattled landlord Steven Croman. (Photo: Karissa Gall)

RGB public hearing attendees protest embattled landlord Steven Croman. (Photo: Karissa Gall)

How many landlords does it take to change a lightbulb? Metropolitan Council on Housing volunteer Mary Crosby posed the rhetorical question to members of the Rent Guidelines Board at last night’s public hearing at Cooper Union. “None, because everyone knows landlords don’t do repairs anymore,” she said. Here’s another one for you: how many owners does it take to change a lightbulb? You’ll never guess… it’s also “none,” she said, “because the owners have removed the light sockets during an eviction.”

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Hundreds Line Up in Bushwick to Say: 'Fuck Rape Culture'

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(Photo: Karissa Gall)

Hundreds lined up for GRLCVLT’s Fuck Rape Culture event Wednesday night. (Photo: Karissa Gall)

Yesterday, on the same day that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office revealed that Judge Aaron Persky was removed from a new sex assault case at the request of prosecutors, over 700 letters petitioning for him to be permanently unseated were signed at a “Fuck Rape Culture” party in Bushwick. GRLCVLT’s event at Holyrad Studio drew women and men dissatisfied with the lenient, 89-day county jail sentence Persky handed down for the sexual abuse committed by Stanford student Brock Turner. The response was overwhelming not only because hundreds signed their letters while lined up outside of the packed, 150-capacity studio, but also because of the sheer emotion as women shared their personal stories of sexual assault, and called for an end to the abuse and injustice.
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Business, news No Comments

‘Make Bushwick Great Again’ With This Limited-Edition Hat

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(Photo courtesy Father Knows Best)

(Photo courtesy Father Knows Best)

How do you trump a Make America Great Again hat? It’s easy. Go to Father Knows Best and snag a “Make Bushwick Great Again” snapback.

Just don’t get it twisted: Chris Taha and Colleen Makary, the Bushwick cafe/bar’s owners, aren’t Trumpkins, and they’re not insinuating that Bushwick has been less than great of late. “Some people don’t take it as a joke and think that we’re Trump supporters, which is really silly, because the whole idea is that we’re making fun of the thing,” Taha told us. “We’re just being silly and making fun of Trump.” More →

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Mini Me’s, Selfie Scanners and Other Futuristic Finds at Northside Innovation Expo

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The Northside Innovation Expo features zero gravity chairs, umbrella vending machines, 3D selfie scanners and more. (Photos: Karissa Gall)

The Northside Innovation Expo features zero gravity chairs, umbrella vending machines, 3D selfie scanners and more. (Photos: Karissa Gall)

Dreamcrusher’s “nihilist queer revolt musik” and the other bands worth seeing aren’t the only innovators at Northside Festival this year. Today at the Brooklyn Expo Center, entrepreneurs, industry heavyweights and the b2b enterprises in between are on elevator pitch-mode from 10 am to 6 pm. Here’s a look at what constitutes cutting-edge this year, minus all the awkwardness of approaching a booth that ends up being of no interest, looking at the one eager staffer there and saying “hi” because now you feel like you owe it to them, taking one last look at the fanned out informational materials, feigning thoughtfulness, then distraction, and casually walking away.

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Business, news No Comments

Bushwick, You’ll Soon Be Able to Vape It Up While You Crepe It Up

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Creative Crepe and Coffee co-owner Malwina Gutierrez experiments with a Rice Krispies crepe. (Photo: @creativecrepeandcoffee)

Creative Crepe and Coffee co-owner Malwina Gutierrez experiments with a Rice Krispies crepe. (Photo: @creativecrepeandcoffee)

Remember that Austin Powers in Goldmember scene where Goldmember and Queen B offer Austin a pipe and a crepe? (Or a shmoke and a pancake, or a bong and a blintz…) He refuses, and Goldmember exclaims, “Then there is no pleasing you!” Well, a couple of entrepreneurial Brooklyn natives are hoping that the blinged-out bad guy was actually on to something. They’re in the process of opening their cross-branded Creative Vape and Creative Crepe and Coffee shops at Wyckoff Avenue and Hancock Street in Bushwick, where they’ll be putting an inspired (and arguably healthier) twist on the pipe/crepe combination by pairing colorful, made-from-scratch crepes with custom-made, hip hop-based e-juice and vapes.

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