October 20, 2007
Red Hook update: Showboat Weekend to Sixpoint Ale
Although the Post (and others) have lately been eager to declare Red Hook "over" that prognosis may be premature. A few Red Hook updates:
Today is the Red Hook Harvest Festival, and this is the big Showboat Weekend at the Waterfront Museum, featuring vaudeville to calliope performances as well as scholars and former showboat operators.
Viva restaurant has opened in the former spot of favorite hole-in-the-wall El Huipil (at 116 Sullivan Street.) . The Tex-Mex sign on the new awning makes the Mexican fare sound less authentic than it is. They've also been giving away a free margarita with each entree.
Look North, an inviting new Inuit art gallery recently opened upstairs in the Fairway building. In another Civil War-era warehouse nearby, the current BWAC weekends-only art show, "Narratives," runs through October 28.
While the website for the Sixpoint Craft Ales is sleeping, the brewery is still goiong strong. Head brewer Aaron Stumpf told NewYorkology they'll have eight new beers by the end of the year, inlcuding three Belgians: an IPA, a rye strong ale and a triple. The new IPA is currently on tap exclusively at Mugs in Williamsburg. And free brewery tours can be arranged on weekends by emaling jeff @ sixpointcraftales.com.
Down the street at the corner of Dwight and Beard, work is underway to open a new seafood/lobster shack with a bar and space for bands. One of the partners is Neil Ganic, who operated the original La Bouillabaisse on Atlantic Avenue and now runs Petite Crevette on Hicks. When open, the space should have a stunning park and waterfront view, he said.
 Along that stretch of Beard is where you'll find construction underway for the massive Ikea, and deconstruction of the old sugar factory. The sugar dome is long gone, and the lone smokestack has been rapidly coming down brick-by-brick this week.
The Pier Glass Art Studio, which recently participated in Open House New York, is only open to the public on select weekends. The next time is October 27 and 28 from 1 to 6 p.m. They'll also open for holiday hours in December on the 8th, 9th, 13th through 16th and on the 20th and 21st. In addition, you can schedule your own one-on-one glass blowing class for $100 by calling 718-237-2073.
The Queen Elizabeth 2 has been visiting Red Hook recently, as part of her final year of sailings before heading to Dubai as a permanent hotel.
The Red Hook Boaters hope to hold one more free kayaking/canoeing session for the season at the Valentino Pier. Weather permitting they'll have the boats out October 28.
The retired oil tanker Mary Whalen, still docked at the container port, is once again seeking weekend volunteers to help turn the ship into a museum. You must rsvp to mail @ portsidenewyork.org to take part.
The bad news is that 360 and Pioneer BBQ remian closed and the food carts at the Red Hook ball fields may be serving their last weekend of meals. Liberty Heights Tap Room has changed hands, now operating as Rocky Sullivan's, but the teen rock 'n' roll shows will continue.
Despite rumors of its closing, LeNell's (likker + booze) is still open in the same location, next door to one-year-old bar/cafe Tini's and across the street from Good Fork (which just got a mention in the new Michelin guide.)
 For more Red Hook, check out NewYorkology guide from June and see the ongoing Red Hook calendar of events maintained at the Mary Whalen website.
Nearby in the not-quite-Red-Hook neighborhood of the so-called Columbia Waterfront District, a wine shop is getting ready to open across the street from the now BYOB Schnack restaurant; Bouillabaisse126 has completed its ownership change and is now the French/African Korhogo; and the Art Lot at Columbia and Sackett has a suspiciously real-looking sign up for the Royal Retreat Hotel that promises to transfer guests to the nearby cruise ship terminal "by means of a beautiful Air Yacht parked on the roof."
 Also on Columbia, check out the Brooklyn Collective, which is now showing its third anniversary collection, featuring the works of local artists Lj Lindhurst and Joe Guest. A new collection (and opening party) rotates in on the first Saturday of December.
Down the street, the Jalopy arts space has amped up its music and film programming, and even a staging of a Sam Shepard play this weekend.
October 20, 2007 01:36 PM in Out of Manhattan
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