City Planning’s February 6th event to show the public the progress of their Gowanus rezoning plan turned into a kerfluffle when the 5th Avenue Committee sent Red Hook’s Karen Blondel into the PS 32 auditorium with chairs and a megaphone. “After two years of community engagement in this process, the City of New York continues to exclude any commitments to […]
Author: George Fiala
NYC Restaurant Week Winter ’19: South Brooklyn Edition
There’s no need to leave the borough for delicious food and fine dining, South Brooklynites! Here are the neighborhood eateries that are participating in NYC Restaurant Week Winter ’19 (Jan. 21 – Feb. 8), according to nycgo.com. Prices listed below are per guest and do not include beverages, taxes or gratuity. Benchmark Restaurant – New American steakhouse (Park Slope) Chef […]
DEP’s CSO proposal explained to Gowanus CAG
The first Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting for the new calendar year was held on Jan. 22 without Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s presence due to the partial federal government shut-down – the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which had reached Day 32 by the meeting’s date. CAG member Brad Vogel facilitated the night’s agenda that featured the NYC Department […]
Gowanus by Design Discusses Rezoning Framework Before Big Meeting
Gowanus by Design, a local non-profit urban design advocacy, made a presentation at Community Board 6’s Landmarks & Land Use committee meeting held on Jan. 24. Team leader David Briggs talked about some of the goals and impacts of NYC Department of City Planning (DCP)’s Gowanus Rezoning Framework. “What we’re trying to do is give the community a tool and […]
P.S. 15 gets involved, by Erin DeGregorio
P.S. 15 students were invited to celebrate the New Year with Mayor Bill de Blasio as he publicly announced the enactment of a Styrofoam ban. NYC manufacturers and stores can no longer sell or offer cups or plates made from the crunchy white synthetic material. There will be a six-month grace period from the ban’s Jan. 1 start date before […]
Uhuru Design’s Red Hook Roots and History
Uhuru Design, headquartered in Red Hook, is a multi-disciplinary design firm, founded in 2004. Bill Hilgendorf, Uhuru’s co-founder, explained that he had studied abroad in Sweden for a semester, which is when and where he really fell in love with furniture design and interior spaces. He and his business partner Jason Horvath both attended the Rhode Island School of Design […]
Going Behind the Scenes with Furniture Studio Hachi Collections
Japanese designer Shuya Iida attended furniture design school in Tokyo, where he learned how to build cabinets and chairs. After graduating in 2009, he moved to New York and studied English. Soon after he began working for a Japanese construction company, making furniture pieces and learning how to build rooms from the ground up. Four years later Iida founded Hachi […]
Brooklyn Craftsman Gene Manigo Rebuilds Life and Builds Custom Home Furnishings
Eugene “Gene” Manigo, 66, lifts a long piece of wood that looks like a door and places it nearby a saw in his workshop, Hammer Time Studios. He provides instructions to his apprentice, explaining what length and width he’d like for this piece and how thick the wood should be. The two discuss and confirm numbers before the electric saw […]
Getting to Know Furniture Artist Joseph Cauvel and CAUV Design
CAUV Design is located at 132 Van Dyke Street in Red Hook. Modern furniture artist and owner Joseph Cauvel had a knack for building since he was a kid growing up in northwestern Pennsylvania. His father was a firefighter, who would also work a second job for a contractor. “He always had a hobby workshop in the basement or in […]
Q&A with Local Architect Allison Reeves
Architect Allison Reeves has been practicing her trade for the last 25 years – working on a range of residential, restaurants and small-scale retail designs to large-scale cultural and educational projects. Her goal has always been to provide modern design with a focus on the innovative use of materials and research-based solutions. Reeves thought about going out on her own […]