(Photo: Rich Mitchell)
Yesterday, Bruce Springsteen played to a packed house at Madison Square Garden, but many fans missed out on the opportunity to see the Boss. General admission seats, priced at just $155 before the show quickly sold out, were going for over $1,200 on sites like Vivid Seats.
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
It’s official– the sockpocalypse has come and gone, and the Sock Man is gone for good. His iconic awning came down this morning, and we were there to witness the carnage. Marty Rosen, the “grumpiest man on earth” (per Chloe Sevigny), was nowhere to be seen, as he’s now minding his online store. When we spoke to him earlier this month, the St. Marks denizen told us, “I don’t want to leave this block. As bad as it is, I don’t want to leave.” If it makes you feel any better, Sock Man, we’ve snagged the awning and are keeping it safe in the B+B vault, right next to this tile from Mars Bar.
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(Photo by Kavitha Surana)
Sound the trumpets– or the alarms– Bushwick’s first boutique hotel has opened its doors on 9 Beaver Street, blocks from the JM Flushing stop. BKLYN House (who needs that extraneous “ROO”?), the first hotel from developer Moris Yero Shalmi, sits in the shadow of NYCHA’s Bushwick Houses. It looks a bit like an alien spaceship dropped on a block consisting of quiet one-story warehouses, a public school, and a bodega.
Verb Cafe is back, this time on Nassau Avenue (Photo: Nicole Disser)
It was one of the last vestiges of a bygone Williamsburg– a grungy, cavernous little coffee shop with worn-down wood floors and a lifetime of coffee grounds seemingly plastered onto every surface. Verb Cafe, which opened in 1999, was nothing fancy– no one went there to get a pour-over or fawn over bespoke beans with tasting notes. But when the place closed in June 2014, there was more than a bit of sadness (which was compounded when life imitated every joke ever told about Brooklyn hipsters and the coffee shop was replaced by an artisanal soap boutique with handmade, organic cupcake soap).
There’s always something fun going on at Greenpoint beer bar The Diamond (you’ll recall their staring contest, mutt show, and David Lee Roth tribute, among others), but last week’s Chili Cookoff was really cool beans.
(Photo by Daniel Maurer)
As of Friday morning, a 15-year-old boy was in critical condition after he was struck by a red minivan in a hit-and-run the previous night on Broadway between Havemeyer Street and Marcy Avenue. [Gothamist]
Despite the storm, on Saturday 400 people attended Donut Fest NYC at Verboten in Williamsburg. [NY Daily News]
In the same nabe the next day, many residents were displeased with the lack of snow removal. [Yeshiva World News]
Scumbags & Superstars in the former Jessy’s Shop location (Photo by Kavitha Surana)
Walk into Scumbags and Superstars and you might feel like you’re on the old St Marks Place (the one that still counted the Sock Man on the scene). Here you’ll find vests covered in monster patches, hats that say “Eat shit and die,” and plenty of dudes dressed in black hoodies ogling the wares.
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(Photo by Kavitha Surana)
With so many one-of-a-kind boutiques and vintage shops on 9th street, it’s somewhat surprising there isn’t already a high-end tailor on the block to cater to all those strangely proportioned 1960s dresses and awkwardly fitting fashion pieces. This week, Nigel Ramsey entered the scene with Tailor’s Atelier, hoping to complement the strip’s identity as a one-stop destination for discerning shoppers.
Snipping and sewing has been Ramsey’s lifelong metier. When he was 17, his father sat him down and laid out his options: He was either going to find a job, go to school, or get out. Ramsey thought he might like welding, but on his first day of class he burned himself so badly, he still has a scar.
(Photo by Kavitha Surana)
You’re going to have to suck in and ruffle a few feathers to squeeze into this tiny new wine bar-resto — Ruffian‘s space is snug. But if you manage to snag a seat at the bar without elbowing someone, you can breathe a sigh of relief– and, while you’re at it, breathe in the garlic sizzling on the stove in front of you.
Galeria (Photo by Kavitha Surana)
The signage that was covering up the goings-on inside of Galeria, Clinton Street’s new hybrid art-restaurant-concept shop, has finally been ripped down. Last night, we found Jairo Barros sitting in the back, a small chef’s hat on his head and his hands wrist-deep in beets as he tweaked recipes in preparation for the opening.