A summer-y pop up is officially putting down roots in the neighborhood.

Sailor & Siren, from Greenpoint resident Natalie Borowski, recently shared the news that the lobster roll pop-up would officially open a permanent location in the neighborhood.

You might have already spotted it—it’s the newly-painted butter yellow storefront at 817 Manhattan Avenue, on the corner of Calyer Street. 

The storefront previously housed a hardware store, which moved next door. 

Borowski started the pop up series last summer, bringing her lobster rolls and whoopee pies to bars across the neighborhood. Sailor & Siren promises a full lobster in each roll, which can be topped with caviar or uni (the economics of running a lobster restaurant in this day and age are undoubtedly tricky; we hope they fare better than the long-running Lobster Joint, which shuttered in 2024). 

Details, such as an opening date and hours, have not yet been revealed, but the team has applied for a liquor license.

The post Sailor & Siren Lobster Roll Pop-Up Finds Permanent Home in Greenpoint appeared first on Greenpointers.

Before Held Space became Greenpoint’s home for healing practices, it was just an idea that nurse practitioner Laura Temple would dream about: a place where she could see her patients, offer them the opportunity to be part of a broader community and explore different healing modalities, all while building a network of providers. 

“I noticed my patients weren’t following through with my referrals to practices like yoga, art workshops or volunteer work, not because they weren’t interested, but because they didn’t feel safe,” says Temple. “I wanted to build a space where they felt safe enough to try something new.”

As a nurse practitioner operating her practice solo, she frequently felt the isolation that many wellness entrepreneurs can relate to, something the pandemic only intensified. In 2022, that long-held vision for healing through community became a reality with the opening of Held Space. 

Through September 15, 2026, Held Space is offering 20% off the first month of membership with code GREENPOINTERS. 

Today, Held Space is home to several full time practices, including Laura’s private practice, Temple Psychiatry. Group classes such as yoga, breathwork, creative arts therapy, and more regularly take place in the space’s Gathering Room, a large sun-drenched studio on the top floor of the historic landmark building at 960 Manhattan Ave. 

The Gathering Room is surrounded by communal areas for members to hang out and smaller rooms where various providers house their practices full time, including Flossie McCall Acupuncture, Empower Chiropractic, and Moving Souls Therapy. With various classes across a range of modalities, the schedule and offerings are shaped by the local, women-led small businesses who have made their professional home there. 

You don’t have to be a wellness provider to enjoy Held Space—offerings shared on the public calendar are for anyone who is interested in exploring movement or creative practices, and membership options are available for those who are looking to land within a like-minded community. Whether that’s through a community membership with unlimited access to members-only events, or a residency membership for those who want a consistent space to share and grow their work, Held Space offers a place to belong and connect.

There’s an openness to how people gather here, too. Through Sunday Service, members can use the Gathering Room free of charge to host donation-based events, fundraisers, or free offerings for the community. Since their inception in 2022, there have been countless fundraisers and thousands of dollars raised for local charities, like the Brooklyn Community Kitchen.

In a time when connection can feel harder to come by, Held Space continues to center on something simple: being together, and creating space for the layers of life in all its forms.

Through September 15, 2026, Held Space is offering 20% off the first month of membership with code GREENPOINTERS. 

Held Space is Greenpoint’s home for healing practices, offering group classes in yoga, breathwork, and creative therapy; co-working, events, and more opportunities to connect.

Held Space is open from 7am-10pm, 7 days a week for members; and
by appointment only for non-members.

Get 20% off the first month of membership with code GREENPOINTERS!

Location: 960 Manhattan Ave, 4th Fl, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Website: https://heldspacebk.com/
Instagram: @heldspace.bk

The post Find your community at Held Space, Greenpoint’s home for healing practices appeared first on Greenpointers.

Good evening, Greenpointers.

The city is abuzz with Knicks fever!

Soak up some of that infectious energy and get out and about with our events guide. But if another sport has your heart, consult our list of options to watch the World Cup when it kicks off on June 11.

Brooklyn Brewery will soon open a new flagship on Wythe Avenue. A mysterious object left on the steps of Culture House prompted a traffic shutdown and an NYPD investigation.

Well, that didn’t last long. The free shuttle bus from The Ordinary suspended service, allegedly due to a lack of permits.

Primary election day is only a couple of weeks away! A rare vacancy in New York’s 7th congressional district has pitted progressive against progressive. Meet two of them: Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Assemblymember Claire Valdez.

Rose Marie will shift into a new location of Yellow Rose, an acclaimed Tex-Mex spot in the East Village. It’s much-welcomed news, in light of another Southern-themed spot, Dolly’s Swing and Dive, closing indefinitely due to liquor license issues.

After two years and multiple iterations, the coffee shop formerly known as Pan Pan will end service this Sunday (but Falansai remains intact).

These closures illustrate a sad-but-true fact—it is too damn hard to run a business these days. That’s why we’re celebrating Turkey’s Nest reaching the milestone of 45 years in operation. Thankfully, businesses in East Williamsburg will get a much-needed $20 million in new grants to boost the local economy.

In and around North Brooklyn

Open to any and all theories about the sewer people!

Inside Williamsburg’s French-influenced jazz scene.

Greenpoint Open Studios got a nice write up in Hyperallergic.

NY1 hosted a debate for the NY-7 congressional candidates on Wednesday.

The post Greenpoint This Week: Yellow Rose Officially Opening, Free Bus from The Ordinary Suspended, and More appeared first on Greenpointers.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday that East Williamsburg had won grants totaling $20 million from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) and NY Forward.

The grants will be used to strengthen commercial corridors, create and improve public spaces, support workforce development and expand housing opportunities.

The Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and the Graham Ave and Grand Street Business Improvement District (BID) led the application for the DRI grant. The application included “extensive community outreach, hundreds of survey responses, and detailed feedback from residents, business owners and community organizations like St. Nick’s Alliance, Evergreen Exchange, RiseBoro, Boricua College and Williamsburg Houses,” Reynoso said during a press conference at the Williamsburg Community Center.

Some of the proposals Hochul highlighted during the announcement to improve quality of life in the neighborhood involve upgrading Cooper Park, including a new playground and running track; turning the area around Boricua College into an outdoor plaza, opening STEM innovation centers, and improvements in public housing. 

“For too long, East Williamsburg has watched investment flow to other parts of North Brooklyn while its own needs and opportunities went overlooked, but not anymore,” said Reynoso. He  described the investment as “a resounding victory for the generations of families, workers, small business owners and community organizations that have built East Williamsburg and stood by it through decades of change.”

The Grand Street and Graham Avenue BIDs, established in the 1980s, together represent 395 businesses. In 2025 they hosted more than 20 events, including Restaurant Week, community clean-ups, small business consultations and street festivals. In September, the two BIDs were also awarded a $350,000 Avenue NYC Commercial Revitalization Grant by the New York City Department of Small Business Services.

“Our neighbors in East Williamsburg have been showing up for decades, through the hard times and underinvestment, advocating at local meetings, caring for their blocks and building community,” said Francesca Fernandez Bruce, executive director of the Grand Street BID. “Now it’s our turn to honor that commitment and help our neighbors not just survive, but thrive.”

The post New York State Awards East Williamsburg $20 Million To Boost Local Economy appeared first on Greenpointers.

Greenpoint’s Pan Pan (120 Norman Ave.) is closing this week, dissolving the bakery part of the space, but leaving Falansai in tact.

Pan Pan’s Michelle Lobo confirmed the closure, noting it was for personal reasons. She said she will concentrate on JR & Son (575 Lorimer St.), an Italian tavern that she opened last year alongside the team behind Nura, Pan Pan, and Kellogg’s Diner.

Pan Pan’s concept has undergone several shifts since its inception. In 2024, the team from Nura opened Pan Pan Vino Vino as a bakery by day and a wine bar by night.

One year later, Vino Vino’s service ceased and the bakery portion joined forces with Falansai’s Chef Eric Tran to bring Falansai to Pan Pan. 

The space’s signage beared a new name, but it still acted as a bakery by day with the “same Pan Pan crew” and a wine bar by night, but with Vietnamese and Mexican twists, influenced by Chef Tran’s heritage.

Now, just seven months after the latest transition, Pan Pan is shutting down. The last day of service will be Sunday, June 7.

Falansai is staying in the space and offering dinner service in the evenings and lunch on the weekends. The lunch program soft launches on June 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The post Greenpoint’s Falansai Ends Coffee and Bakery Program, Formerly Known as Pan Pan appeared first on Greenpointers.

It can feel like a milestone to hit five years in business in the neighborhood, let alone 45. Which is exactly the landmark anniversary that family-owned bar Turkey’s Nest Tavern celebrated over Memorial Day Weekend.

Opened in the early 1980s, The Nest has been holding down the fort at 94 Bedford Avenue on the corner across from McCarren Park. Hailed by some as “the last of the old-school dive bars,” it represents simpler times in Williamsburg with a lack of pretension and exclusivity (unless you’re trying to pay with card—the bar is cash only) to match.

Two weekends ago, Turkey’s Nest threw its anniversary bash, a weekend-long celebration of everything that makes the bar what it is: plenty of alcohol, karaoke, nostalgia, and—above all—community (whether you were here for the styrofoam to-go cup era or not).

“The main goal was really just to get everyone together who’s ever supported the bar,” Steve Ehresman, who took over ownership of the bar from his father and grandfather before him, said. “We surprisingly have a lot of people still living the neighborhood, all the ones that have been here for a while still come to the bar, plus people who move to the neighborhood and slowly start to join the group. So we wanted to throw a little party for everybody.”

And party they did. The festivities included signature frozen margs and the other usual libations with a welcoming potluck feel; friends of the bar were barbecuing outside (yes, even in the rain) and some celebrants bought their own snacks and other appetizers and dishes to share. And despite the weather and Ehresman’s father having to miss the reunion due to flight cancelations, spirits remained high.

But the 45th wasn’t the only birthday being celebrated. Turkey’s Nest’s longest-tenured employee of thirty years, Frances, rang in her 88th complete with singing “Happy Birthday” and sharing pie and lemon bars with all.

There was also a speech in support of years-long security guard Jimmy Venezia from his family as he battles with colon cancer, which the bar has been helping raise funds for (donations can be made via GoFundMe here).

To Ehresman, what’s helped the beloved dive bar endure for all these decades in our ever-changing neighborhood is being comfortable in its identity.

“Our niche is that we’re a family-owned bar where everybody knows each other,” he explained. “All these other bars are constantly rotating employees, bar names. We have several employees who’ve worked for us for 20 years. It’s more of that family feel; when you walk in, they already know your drink and name and bust your chops.”

Here’s to making it to year 50 and beyond!

The post Celebrating 45 Years of Turkey’s Nest in Williamsburg appeared first on Greenpointers.

Another primary election season is upon us!

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez’s announcement last year that she would not seek reelection set off a scramble for power as a handful of challengers look to replace her in New York’s 7th congressional district. 

We’re interviewing four of those contenders—Vichal Kumar, Antonio Reynoso, Claire Valdez, and Julie Won. All four are running as progressive candidates. We recently spoke to Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who has the endorsement of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

As a reminder, Greenpointers does not take money for political ads from any candidate, ensuring our independent coverage.

Read our most recent interview, with Reynoso here.

The primary election is June 23.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. 

Tell us about you, and your relationship to this district.

I am a New York State Assembly Member representing a good part of the Queens’ side of NY-7: Long Island City, Sunnyside, Bushwick, Maspeth, and Ridgewood, which is also where I live. And before I was in the State Assembly, I was a member of UAW Local 2110 at Columbia University. And that was my kind of introduction to building collective power, to organizing together across all kinds of political differences for the things that we deserve as workers—good wages, better working conditions, better healthcare—and really understanding the kind of solidarity that’s required to win those things. So I ran for assembly in 2024 to take the fight for local power to Albany, and it’s very much the thing that continues to animate this run for Congress. 

At a moment when the federal administration is attacking not just workers’ rights, but immigrant rights, attacking our trans siblings, I think having people who know the power of solidarity and collective organizing go to Congress is a really essential way for us to fight back against the destruction of our democracy and basic rights. 

What are some of your proudest accomplishments on the job?

We’ve been introducing a lot of legislation around unemployment insurance and expanding worker protections, particularly for people who have really precarious working conditions: adjunct workers, delivery workers, gig workers who are often not treated as full employees, either by their bosses or under the law. So giving them some more protections has been a really important part of our legislative portfolio.

Also, last year, when Mahmoud Khalil was kidnapped from his apartment building on Columbia’s campus, I led the letter demanding his immediate release, demanding ICE to get off of Columbia’s campus. Alongside Council Member Alexa Avilés, we got dozens of signatures from city, state, and federal elected officials to join us in that call. And I think in the same way that when I was organizing in my union and really there for my coworkers during really difficult grievance hearings and disciplinary meetings and all kinds of moments when they were under attack, I was there with Mahmoud at an incredibly difficult time for him and his family. And it was a really difficult political moment, I think, to be standing up. And I’m incredibly proud of that, and I’m very, very happy that he’s with his family, and we’re going to keep fighting to make sure he stays in New York City. 

Obviously affordability is really at the forefront of this election and this district, which some have dubbed the “Commie Corridor” due to its support of progressive politicians. What does your vision of affordability look like for this district?

Yeah, this is a really important question. You know, 77% of NY-7 is made up of tenants. It’s a district that’s made up of so much of people who rent our apartments. I myself am a tenant. And so I think tackling the housing crisis is so essential to tackling the affordability crisis, and taking a position that is ambitious with considering what the federal government can and has built in the past. I think really using every tool we have at the federal level to fully fund NYCHA around the district, to make the repairs that are necessary, to repeal the Faircloth Amendment so we can build more NYCHA housing and to develop as much social housing as possible. 

To me, so much of the story of this district is immigrants and artists and workers and families made our homes here and built really beautiful communities here together, and private equity and real estate speculation has displaced so many of us. I’m really proud that I’m the only candidate in this race who hasn’t taken any money from real estate developers, precisely because so many of us have been forced out of our neighborhoods because of rising rents and development that prioritizes luxury apartments over deeply affordable ones. 

So I think using the federal government to invest in deeply and permanently affordable housing and advancing rent control so people who live in the apartments that we have now and love them can stay there, too. So I think tackling the housing crisis is really at the forefront of tackling the affordability crisis in this district. 

One of the more hot button issues lately in Greenpoint and Williamsburg has been the Monitor Point project. It’s a city government issue, not necessarily a federal one, but still curious to get your thoughts on the project and whether that would be something that you’d support.

I understand the pain and frustration of residents who are seeing development happen in a place where for many, many, many years activists and residents have been fighting for green space, for the Bushwick Inlet Park to be completed. It’s really exciting to see Motiva is open now. But there’s so much more to be done to make sure that that project is made whole and that access to the waterfront and green space is available. 

When thinking about housing policy, especially at the federal level, we really do want to be thinking about what kind of housing we’re building, and for who? And so that’s why I’m really excited about social housing and decommodified housing that the federal government can really advance as an alternative to real estate industry building developments that make them a lot of money but are unaffordable or out of reach for average working people. Making sure that the housing we’re building is affordable for the long haul, and that it isn’t built for the private market to sustain itself, that the federal government can act in that.

That project and so many others are in the shadow of the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront rezoning, which irrevocably changed our neighborhood. 

We have three Superfund sites, less open space access per capita than most neighborhoods in New York City, and a still unfinished Bushwick Inlet Park. How would you use this office to advocate for Greenpoint’s environmental needs? 

Throughout this campaign, I’ve been really moved and excited to meet so many activists who are building deep community around these issues and really taking on the corporate polluters who created the mess in Newtown Creek, who are responsible for the really deep and longstanding environmental degradation of Greenpoint and really inspired by people like Bronwyn [Breitner] who’s been leading on making McGuinness Boulevard safe, Chris [Roberti], who leads the bike bus—I got to ride on the bike bus last weekend. It was really just joyful to see Greenpointers come together, build community, take back public space and advance a vision of Greenpoint that is green and habitable and beautiful. And the work that I want to do in Congress is directly to support the local activism on the ground and to help take on the corporate polluters that are responsible for so much of the degradation. 

We have to remediate Newtown Creek. We have to make it a space that’s beautiful, that’s accessible for Greenpointers because there is so little public space and green space in Greenpoint. And we’ve been working on the Queens side to take on local polluters, like Green Asphalt, that are causing all kinds of air quality issues and noxious odors that I know so many people in Greenpoint have been experiencing for far, far too long. And that’s the kind of work that I want to keep doing in Congress, too, making sure that polluters are paying, thinking about how we can be creative with community block grants to fund the local projects that are happening on the ground and support that work and making sure that the EPA is continuing the work to clean up Newtown Creek. I think it’s really essential that that project moves forward. 

Over the past few years, we’ve seen so many small business closures. How can we better help small businesses? 

I mean, one of the big frustrations certainly in Greenpoint that I’ve experienced that I know so many others have as well is the shutdown of the G train over the weekend. I think that’s definitely hurting foot traffic to part of the district [where] that’s the main way to get to and from Greenpoint. I think the federal government has a big role to play in making sure we’re funding our transit projects so they’re finished very quickly, so there are as few disruptions as possible.

My colleague Assembly Member Emily Gallagher carries a commercial rent stabilization bill at the state level. I think we should talking about commercial rent stabilization at the federal level, too. Rent going up is such an issue for so many small business owners. In our climate platform, we also talk about the rise in costs of utilities that are also a huge factor for a lot of businesses staying open or not staying open. So I think there’s a role for the federal government to play in advancing commercial rent stabilization, in tackling utility costs, and then just making sure that people can actually come to the neighborhood in a way that’s much easier. So I think those are the things I would say for just keeping businesses open and making sure that they have the foot traffic that they need to sustain themselves. 

What is a local business closure that really bummed you out, and what’s a new opening in the district that has you excited?

I’m really excited about the opening of Three Decker Diner (695 Manhattan Ave.), which I know just reopened.

Saint Vitus (1120 Manhattan Ave.) closing, I think, was so heartbreaking for so many people. Music venues and art venues in Greenpoint have been closing for a long time. I come from an arts background. I moved to New York because I wanted to pursue a career in the arts. And like so many other artists who did that or who were born here, it’s just so expensive to make art and be a performer in New York City and seeing spaces that have nurtured new talents and built community close is also just really heartbreaking. 

Anything else you want readers to know about you?

I come to this work not just as a union organizer, but as somebody who wanted to be an artist when I moved here, and I know that’s an experience shared by so many people who live in Greenpoint and around NY-7. And seeing music venues and art galleries and spaces where the creative community has really thrived close is really devastating, and it’s something that we can absolutely fight back against when we organize together. And it’s something that I actually want to do if I’m elected to Congress.

The post Greenpointers Election 2026: Claire Valdez, District 37 Assembly Member appeared first on Greenpointers.

Dolly’s Swing & Dive (146 Wythe Ave.), a Williamsburg neighborhood bar, has temporarily closed. Dolly’s first opened in 2019 and relocated to Wythe Avenue this past January.

Earlier this week on Instagram, Dolly’s announced that the abrupt temporary closure. The post said that the team “spent the greater part of the last year relocating Dolly’s Bar…and engaged in legal disputes” with Dolly’s former landlord. 

“This same landlord has done everything in his power to stop the transfer of our liquor license to our new location before the Community Board and State Liquor Authority. As a result of his efforts, we are now forced to submit a new application,” Dolly’s explained. 

“In the interim, we must temporarily close our doors to our beloved community and dear friends as we wait on the application process to run its course,” Dolly’s wrote. “You will all be deeply missed…We will be back soon, stronger than ever.”

Dolly’s co-founder Raffaello Van Couten told Greenpointers that the team does not know when they will be able to reopen Dolly’s. The team declined to comment further regarding the landlord situation.

The post Dolly’s Swing & Dive in Williamsburg Closes Temporarily appeared first on Greenpointers.

An unknown object left on the steps of Culture House (807 Manhattan Ave.), the cannabis dispensary at the historic Greenpoint Savings Bank building, prompted a temporary traffic shutdown and an NYPD investigation. 

Head to Reddit to see a photo of the cartoon-ish bomb. Thankfully, it all turned out to be a false alarm, though not much else is known about the situation.

Below is a statement from the NYPD:

“On Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 1556 hours at Calyer Street and Manhattan Avenue police responded to a 911 call of a suspicious package within the confines of the 94th Precinct. A complaint was recorded and it states an unknown person found a device at the location. The Emergency Service Unit responded and determined that the device was safe. It was vouchered and the investigation is ongoing.”

We will update the story if we hear anything further about the situation!

The post NYPD Investigate Unknown Object Outside of Greenpoint’s Historic Bank Building appeared first on Greenpointers.

Last week, Greenpointers reported that Williamsburg’s Rose Marie (524 Lorimer St.) is closing its doors on June 13 after less than one year. 

The Southern-inspired sequel to Manhattan’s Yellow Rose opened last June and announced the upcoming closure last week on Instagram, noting that the past year “has been a rollercoaster of high highs and low lows” for the restaurant. 

Rose Marie’s team told Greenpointers that they would be opening “something new in the space,” and would be making an announcement about the new project. 

As previously promised, this week on Instagram, the Rose Marie team announced that the space at 524 Lorimer Street will serve as the second location of the team’s original Tex-Mex eatery Yellow Rose.

Starting on Saturday, June 20, just one week after closing Rose Marie, the restaurant will be flipped to Yellow Rose, offering breakfast tacos, donuts, and coffee in the morning and “Yellow Rose classics” like margaritas and other frozen drinks at night.

“When we opened Yellow Rose in the East Village in 2020, we poured our heart and souls into our lil’ corner of the world,” the team wrote on Instagram. “What started out as a pop up eventually became a real deal restaurant. We had no funding, just a space that we decorated with everything from our apartment and a new dream of bringing our South Texas roots to our home in New York City.”

The post continued by saying that “since opening Rose Marie a year ago,” the team accomplished their goal of trying something different. “When the time came to make a decision…we realized that Yellow Rose is the truest representation of us…and what made the most sense in our new community it would be this iteration of our first baby.”

According to the Instagram announcement, Yellow Rose’s Brooklyn location will be open daily, have outdoor seating, and operate as a casual spot where customers order at the bar. The post promised that more information will follow.

The post Yellow Rose Opening This Month in Former Home of Rose Marie appeared first on Greenpointers.