Celebrating Community
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 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, 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Li-Lac Chocolates is an old time chocolate maker, operating in Greenwich Village since 1923. They made a celebrated expansion to Sunset Park’s Industry City a few years ago. I visited them on a rainy Thursday morning in January, in anticipation of their busy season of February 14. When I got there, they were prepping and making chocolate cherry cordials. Master […]
The community has welcomed The Great Room, a haven for caregivers and children alike, warmly since it opened in the Columbia Street Water District in June 2018. The prenatal and parenting wellness space, co-owned by local mothers Susannah Gersten and Jessica Rich, is meant for kids and adults to explore, find solace and share joy. “We’re both therapists, and we […]
Brooklyn Heights artist Samantha Dion Baker published her first book last August. She is a BASIS Independent Brooklyn parent, and has been holding student workshops there. “Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal” is an instructive guide that delves into Baker’s creative process and provides ways to develop and master a […]