Maisson Premiere

Not only has Northern Brooklyn become THE place to eat in New York, its become THE place to drink as well. From newcomers like The Ides and Maison Premiere to older favorites like the Turkey’s Nest and The Abbey, there’s no place we’d rather have a cocktail than Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick.

With new watering holes seemingly opening daily, its become impossible to keep up. Who has the best Old Fashioned? The best garden? The worst service? We’re here to help you navigate. Here’s a list of our favorites bars in the neighborhood.

Image via Williamsburg Walks

(Via Brownstoner)

Saturday, June 9, Williamsburg Walks will be shutting down a portion of Bedford Avenue and opening it up to the public for a day of special events and activities.  The fun continues for the following Saturdays, June 16 and June 23, from 3pm to 8pm.  You can find more information as well as opportunities to participate and volunteer here.

Forget being a foodie, the new NEW Brooklyn trend is producing a web series.

There is Broad City, with its fancy New York Times profile and comparisons to HBO’s Girls. There is I Hate Being Single with its Upright Citizen’s Brigade cast and now there is Nights in UltraViolet, who borrowed actors from both shows (still a small “artisan” community, apparently) and is still putting out episodes and getting buzz. I’m sure there are 6794509 more and I’ll hear about every single one in PR blasts after this post. Thanks in advance, readers.

Nights in UltraViolet follows a shut-in author of legal thrillers who joins his freeloading friends for a night out, triggering a series of inexplicable events that HMMM mirror his stories? The latest episode, “The Whole World is Out To Get You” opens with slo-mo music video shot in the ‘burg. We can all get down with that.

You can catch up episodes at www.nightsinuv.com. Get to Nights and the rest of the web series before New York Times Style section gets to it, which Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan has aptly called “the herald of any modern day cultural apocalypse.”

Kool Keith will be there! Also:

The rapper GZA, one of the founders of the Wu-Tang Clan, will perform all the songs from his landmark 1995 album “Liquid Swords” as part of this year’s Northside Festival in Brooklyn, organizers announced Monday. He will be backed up by Grupo Fantasma, a Latin funk outfit from Texas.

All told, there will be more than 350 bands playing at 25 bars and music halls around Williamsburg and Greenpoint during the four-day music festival, which starts on June 14, the organizers said. Some of the concerts will also be held this year in Williamburg Park, a new indoor performance space on Kent Avenue that can hold 7,000 people.

The list of headliners released Monday during a press conference at Brooklyn Borough Hall was eclectic, to put it mildly, covering multiple genres and styles. They include Of Montreal, the oddball indie rock band from Athens, Georgia; Ceremony, a hardcore punk band from California; Tinariwen, the Tuareg desert-blues group from Mali; the Felice Brothers, a folk-rock trio from upstate New York, Dam-Funk, a California musician who specializes in funk music; and Screaming Females, the hard rock trio from New Brunswick, NJ.

More information at www.northsidefestival.com.

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Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, which as you all know, commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland something you won’t remember by 3 p.m. If you’re looking to stay local, here are some north Brooklyn Irish bars, some of which will be having specials.

Of course, if you’re really into the holiday, you may be better off leaving the area for, say, Bay Ridge or something. This isn’t Paczki Day, after all.

Williamsburg:

Banter, 132 Havemeyer St. (at S. 1st) 20 oz. pints and, starting at 10pm, DJ Dolanite

Gordon Bennett, 109 S. 6th St.

Iona, 180 Grand St. Happy Hour prices until 7pm, screening Ireland v. England rugby game

Mug’s Ale House, 125 Bedford Ave. (at N. 10th)

Spike Hill, 184 Bedford Ave. “A whole day of nonstop Irish partying” with music (Pitchblak Brass Band, The Fuego Quintet) and dancing (a “surprise” DJ). Also corned beef and cabbage, plus free giveaways.

Greenpoint:

Connie O’s Pub, 158 Norman Ave.

Palace Café, 206 Nassau Ave. (at Russell)

Shayz Lounge, 130 Franklin St. (between Kent and Java) Live traditional Irish music

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I’ve posted a fair amount about Brooklyn’s controversial Whole Foods store coming to Gowanus in 2013. But now it turns out the chain is opening a location much closer to home. According to the New York Post, a Whole Foods is coming to 242 Bedford Ave (at N. 4th St.).

The site had been vacant for years and sold on Monday for $23 million. It will also house a New York Sports Club and luxury apartments.

So can we expect a reaction similar to the one in Gowanus? Probably not. The main arguments there are that the store disregards zoning laws and will change the character of the neighborhood. But that’s not true in Williamsburg, where Bloomberg’s 2005 rezoning paved the way for places like this, and where the character of the neighborhood is constantly changing (for better or worse). Some, like Portlandia‘s bike guy, will take this as yet another sign that the neighborhood is over. Others will just be glad they don’t have to take the G to Gowanus to get their organic food.

Whole Foods has yet to make an official announcement.

Update 4:30 p.m.: Whole Foods confirmed the project to The New York Times. Construction will begin in the next two to three months and the location will open in mid-2014, a year after the one in Gowanus.

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The American Atheists billboard controversy continues today. According to sources, the landlord of the S. 5th Street building where the billboard was scheduled to go up on Monday refused to let the workers on the premises. Now the billboard is planned to go up on the BQE tomorrow. Landloard Kenny Stier is keeping mum.

Things are getting messy though, if not downright anti-Semitic, with AA President David Silverman reportedly telling the press, “The Jews have stopped the billboard” and blaming “powerful neighborhood rabbis” for preventing the sign from going up. Silverman tweeted throughout the ordeal:

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Update: The billboard finally went up mid-day on Wednesday. The New York Times has a photo. Happy Purim!

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Open Space Alliance, the nonprofit that organized Williamsburg’s summer concerts in McCarren Park and East River State Park, has put out a call for proposals for this season’s new site. This summer, the concert and event series will move from East River State Park to 50 Kent Avenue, between North 11th and North 12th Streets.

The proposal describes the new location as “an empty industrial site” and asks for entries that include “a comprehensive visual identity, perimeter screening, designated VIP area, shade elements, water features, lighting…[and] recreational opportunities for non-concert days.” A jury will decide which proposal to present to the Parks & Rec department based on cost, construction feasibility, and sustainability. Finalists will be notified on April 8th and the concert season begins on June 1st.

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Today, the organization American Atheists unveiled the billboards that have been stirring up controversy since first announced last week. The Williamsburg sign, which features both Hebrew and English writing, is located near the Williamsburg Bridge.

To the non-religious eye, the billboard seems controversial in its message and location, but JewishPress.com sheds new light on just how offensive the sign is to the local religious community. According to the site, not only does the billboard’s unveiling coincide with the important Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins on Wednesday,  but also it contains a Hebrew word that cannot be erased. This makes trashing the billboard a sin.

“The Hasidic Jews of Williamsburg have certainly not been involved in pushing a national agenda of any kind,” writes JewishPress. “Posting an intrusive and insulting billboard in the midst of their neighborhood is nothing short of an unprovoked attack.”

Meanwhile, Dave Silverman, the president of American Atheists who ironically has a Jewish-sounding name, told CNN, “The objective is not to inflame but rather to advertise the atheist movement in the Muslim and Jewish community.”

Update: I’ve been having trouble finding a photo of the billboard. Turns out, it wasn’t unveiled on Monday as planned.

Our fancy friends over at Hella Bitter are throwing a launch party this Friday to show off their new fancy cart that maybe you helped build with a donation to their Kickstarter. This would be a good time to go and try the Vanilla Kumquat bitters, if I may so humbly recommend a bitter.

We’re finally ready to roll our the Seltzer Cart and Hella Bitter! We’re having a party in Brooklyn to celebrate, and we insist that you come to it. If you pledged at the $100 level admittance is free. For everyone else, it’s just $10 for all the delicious cocktails you can drink. Come and show your support, check out the cart, and help us make the world a bitter place.

March 2
Windmill Studios, 287 Kent Ave
7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.
$10 buckaroos