Author Archives: Chad Purkey

Name: Trivia Night
Start: 2026-07-02T20:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-07-02T22:00:00-04:00
Location: Putnam’s Pub & Cooker

Birdflew Studios presents Pop-Up Piano Concert at FG Park This Thursday!

The BirdFlew Studios Pop-Up Piano Concert at Fort Greene Park
Thursday, June 13th, 6pm
Fort Greene Park NE Entrance (Myrtle and Washington Park)

Friends and neighbors – join us at the Sing for Hope piano designed by Robert Baird for some great music to kick off the weekend, inspired by #artforall!
– composer and pianist Ken McQueen
– pianist and singer Sonia Carrion
– Black Bear Tribe plays their blues rock originals
– Brooklyn based Ramon & Dylan plays tunes from their most recent album Elephant Walk

More about the artists:
Ken McQueen is music director for live theatre and composes for stage and screen. Ken has collaborated with award winning artists like Robert Thomas Jr. and Johnny Rodgers.
Sonia Carrion hales from Boston but has recently made NYC her home. She has recently released 2 Singles with Big Momma’s House Records and is currently working with Smash Haus Music Group.
Black Bear Tribe is a local rock band heavily influenced by the classic greats like Led Zeppelin. Recent shows include performances at Trash Bar, Parkside Lounge, and Arlene’s Grocery.
Since the release of Elephant Walk, the members of Brooklyn based Ramon & Dylan have been taking time to focus on their solo projects. As big fans of the Sing for Hope Pop-Up Piano project, Ramon & Dylan played at 2011’s piano Windows in McCarren Park and are excited to come together to play again at the new piano Doors in Fort Greene Park.

This event is made possible by Sing for Hope and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership.

Don’t forget…there are pianos at BLDG92 and Under the BQE – make sure to get your ivory-tickling in before they leave this weekend!

Wednesday is salsa night at Cielo Bar!

Put on your dancing shoes to toe tap to live conga drums, timbales and other instruments while enjoying delicious food and drink at Cielo Bar every Wednesday night. Come on out! Wepa! 8pm-midnight, no cover.

Cielo Bar is located at 474 Myrtle between Washington Avenue and Hall Street. Call 347.529.4143

Lunch at Palmers Cafe, Bar & Diner, oh yeah!

The meatball pizza at Palmers Cafe, Bar & Diner is delishhhhhh!

Check out the menu at Palmers for other delish fare, including:

mesclun salad with julienned carrot & roasted beets and mustard shallot vinaigrette; Bob’s cobb salad with warm and carmelized thick-cut bacon, tomato, avocado, hard cooked egg, blue cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette; starters such as coconut curry mussels with coconut milk and red curry broth; peking chicken quesadilla with scallion, smoked gouda, shredded carrot and hoisin sauce; entrees such as burgers with hand cut fries. Burgers are prime ground beef blend served on a potato roll with lettuce, tomato, onion and half sour pickle. Homemade veggie burgers (green lentils, rolled oats, sunflower and sesame seeds, fresh veggies, sundried tomato spread and mixed greens).

Palmers Cafe, Bar & Diner is located at 343 Gold Street (at Myrtle-Flatbush Extension). Please call them to order or for more information: 718.858.5866.

Safety Meeting on Myrtle Avenue, TONIGHT, 6/10 at 7pm

Please join us for a community meeting this Monday evening, June 10th at 7:00pm at SoCo Restaurant, 509 Myrtle Avenue to discuss recent crime, safety and quality of life issues in the neighborhood.

The meeting is an opportunity for local merchants and residents to collectively address concerns about recent illegal activity and violence. As a community, we will develop a unified response of zero tolerance for the illicit activity and nuisance behavior that have threatened our thriving community and commercial strip.

Splitty’s is open for business!

Soft opening this past Thursday for Splitty’s, the new bar located at 415 Myrtle Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clinton. Lots of locals stopped in to enjoy. If you haven’t had a chance to stop in yet, this weekend is a good time to drop by!

Great variety of draft beer, cocktails, bottled beer and red and white wine. Splitty’s also home of wonderful steamed buns–pastrami, shroom and banana nutella, yummm. Check out Splitty’s 50s inspired exterior and interior design.

Splitty’s is located at 415 Myrtle Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clinton.

FREE Events Abound Around Myrtle This Weekend!

There’s so much going on in the neighborhood, that you can enjoy free events all weekend long and score deals and discounts at over 25 Myrtle restaurants and shops! Here’s a rundown of what’s happening:

SONYA Stroll : Over 43 local artists, studios and galleries will display their work and host a variety of events. Spend the weekend checking out locally produced art and enjoying deals<ahref=”http: myrtleavenue.org=”” myrtlebrunchguideforsonyastudiostroll2013.pdf”=”” target=”blank”>enjoying deals from your favorite Myrtle businesses.

Red Hook Crit: “The Crit” moves to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Saturday, 6/8, with events happening all day. You can click to download a Passport to find local restaurants, bars, coffee shops and bike shops AND score a free t-shirt! Collect your passport stamps!

Important UPDATE: Lola BKLYN will be closed for a private event on Saturday, June 8th. We apologize for any inconvenience. But you know what that means: Get your stamps at Lola BKLYN Friday and Saturday night after 11pm! Thanks!

Free Piano Concerts!: Sing For Hope has installed dozens of pianos across the city and you’ll find 3 of them right here in Ft Greene & Clinton Hill. You can create your own music or enjoy free piano concerts throughout the weekend. Click here for a full schedule.

Wine Tasting at Gnarly Vines, June 8th, 2pm – 5pm!

To add to the excitement of this weekend–a wine tasting! Sat, June 8 from 2pm to 5pm

Arts by Ava Tomlinson and wines of Chateau La Gordonne as well as the beloved Pink Flamingo Rosé from Domaine du Jarras

Avas’ work is a rich mixture of color, form and light, rooted in an American/Jamaican/European culture. Color dominates the paintings capturing fleeting moments, the slices of our everyday existence, from the urban landscape of New York, to the rural Caribbean countryside, from the traditional to the banal. Come by and discover her work while tasting these delicious wines from the Côtes de Provence practically all weekend long at Gnarly Vines!

2012 Chateau La Gordonne Blanc – Cotes de Provence, France – $16

2012 Domaine de Jarras Tete de Cuvee Gris de Gris Pink Flamingo – Sables de Camargue, Languedoc, France – $14

2011 La Chapelle Gordonne Rose – Cotes de Provence, France – $20

2008 Chateau La Gordonne Rouge – Cotes de Provence, France – $16

Gnarly Vines is located at 350 Myrtle Avenue between Carlton and Adelphi and can be reached by telephone at 718.797.3183.

SONYA Stroll arrives on Myrtle – June 8 + 9!

Myrtle Avenue is making a strong showing on this year’s SONYA Studio Stroll! This weekend, take this self-guided tour or SONYArtist studios and exhibitions at local businesses. A great way to support our local arts community…and it’s FREE!

Plan your route using this dowloadable Stroll Map. With all that walking, you’ll need some fuel – check out the 25+ deals and specials offered by Myrtle businesses!

Here’s a list of Myrtle businesses between Carlton and Classon hosting SONYArtworks (see the map more more detail):
Gnarly Vines
Le Petit Bakery
Huey’s Chueys
DC Optics
Green in BKLYN
Cielo
Hadas Gallery
The Emerson

Artist studios right here on Myrtle:
KiiK Create (412 Myrtle)
publicdraw (525 Myrtle)

While you’re here, check out these cool Public Art projects:
Tomorrow Sculpture by Akihiro Ito
Myrtle Tree Guards
Sing for Hope Pianos(FG Park, BLDG92, Soundwaves mural)

Join us on the Patio of Maggie Brown’s Tonight, 5-7PM

It’s a beautiful afternoon – join us for a Moscow Mule or SingleCut Beer and local snacks on the patio of Maggie Brown – 455 Myrtle tonight, 5-7PM!

This is the first of three #farm2nabe events. Tonight Maggie Brown will feature house-made ricotta on salted toasts made with milk from a Milk Not Jails dairy farmer, a Moscow Mule cocktail with Brooklyn Republic Vodka or a cold beer from SingleCut Beersmiths, and popular menu itmes Fried Pickles and Deviled Organic Eggs! While tasting and sipping you’ll get the opportunity to meet Lauren Melodia, founder of Milk not Jails, and hear more about the “brilliance of mobilizing people with the idea that you can change the prison system by eating more ice cream.” Also meet Mark of Brooklyn Republic Vodka and learn about his family owned distillery right around the corner in the Wallabout neighborhood.

Buy your ticket online or with cash at the door!

#farm2nabe events are sponsored by the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project & St. Joseph’s College

Concerns for safety at Myrtle/Ryerson – Call to Action

The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership is deeply concerned about the environment that continues to develop at Myrtle Avenue and Ryerson Street. We feel that alleged illegal activity is contributing to an emerging negative environment on this block, and that we must collectively employ strategies to improve the atmosphere for businesses and residents alike in the immediate term.

We have requested the following from the 88th Precinct:
1. Station an NYPD officer/patrol car near this block on Thursday – Saturday evenings. The presence of the car should help to deter illegal activity on the sidewalk and to prevent large loitering crowds.
2. Respond to noise complaints immediately for a period of a few weeks, in order to send an immediate message of intolerance.
3. Employ strategies to dissipate crowds and discourage loitering, especially after a certain point in the evening. There are hundreds loitering on the sidewalk (many of whom are drinking and fighting according to anecdotes from residents and merchants). This is impacting the livelihoods of nearby merchants and is a nuisance to residents navigating the sidewalks to their homes.

We are crafting an action plan to target all the agencies, authorities and elected officials that can help us address this situation. We are working to organize merchants, property owners and residents to document incidents and report them through the proper channels.

You can help. Here’s what you can do:
1. Report any suspicious activity to 311 and/or 911. We urge you to make these calls for each and every incident you witness – it is crucial that everything is documented in order to rally the necessary resources to our community.
2. Attend the 88th Precinct Council Meeting, which takes place on the 3rd Tuesday of each month (location varies). Contact the 88th Community Affairs line to get the location 718-636-6526.
3. If you suspect that illegal alcohol activity is taking place in connection with a business, please file a complaint with the NY State Liquor Authority http://www.sla.ny.gov/register-a-complaint

Let’s work together as a supportive, collaborative Myrtle Avenue community do everything possible to prevent the loss of another innocent life.

Join us at Maggie Brown #farm2nabe Event Tomorrow

Join us at the first of three #farm2nabe events tomorrow, June 4th 5-7PM at Maggie Brown – 455 Myrtle – featuring house-made ricotta on salted toasts made with milk from a Milk Not Jails dairy farmer, a Moscow Mule cocktail with Brooklyn Republic Vodka or a cold beer fromSingleCut Beersmiths, and popular menu itmes Fried Pickles and Deviled Organic Eggs! While tasting and sipping you’ll get the opportunity to meet Lauren Melodia, founder of Milk not Jails, and hear more about the “brilliance of mobilizing people with the idea that you can change the prison system by eating more ice cream.” Also meet Mark of Brooklyn Republic Vodka and learn about his family owned distillery right around the corner in the Wallabout neighborhood.

Buy your ticket today!

#farm2nabe events are sponsored by the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project & St. Joseph’s College

Trilok Summer Event this Sunday

All are welcome to celebrate the opening of the Trilok Garden and welcome in summer at their Earth Day market this Sunday, June 2nd 10AM-PM!

Myrtle Eats Fresh Community Chef Oliver Peters will be there chopping up fresh veggies for his Seasonal Veggie Salad recipe. Stop by for a taste, get the recipe and shop right on site from Farm to Neighborhood merchant Fresh Fanatic who will be there selling his farm, fresh produce!

Where: 143 Waverly Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205 (corner of Myrtle and Waverly
When: Sunday, June 2, 2013
Time: 10:00-6:00 PM

Live Music, Great Food, eco-venders, artists, plant sale, children’s activities and more.

El Cofre: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Did you know about the $5 and $6 lunch specials at El Cofre? Lunch specials are available everyday, 11am-4pm. If you haven’t stopped into this popular treasure chest (‘cofre’ is the Spanish word for treasure chest) of Dominican cuisine, what are you waiting for?

We usually order the avocado salad w/grape tomatoes, romaine lettuce, red onions and El Cofre’s homemade special vinaigrette; or baked chicken, mixed veggies and mashed potatoes; or fresh fish with a side of tostones (sliced green plantains) or platanos maduroas (fried ripe plantains); or pollo guisado (stewed chicken); or a plate of rice and beans….so many choices! Most of the heaping plates of delicious cuisine at El Cofre can be shared by two!

El Cofre is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

El Cofre is located at 454 Myrtle Avenue between Waverly and Washington Avenues. They can be reached at 718.935.1153.

DINE, SUPPORT & MINGLE locally at upcoming Farm to Neighborhood Events!

Join us at the first of three #farm2nabe events on Tuesday, June 4th 5-7PM at Maggie Brown– 455 Myrtle – featuring house-made ricotta on salted toasts made with milk from a Milk Not Jails dairy farmer, a Moscow Mule cocktail with Brooklyn Republic Vodka and more delish menu items that are sure to become a favorite of all foodies! While tasting and sipping you’ll get the opportunity to meet Lauren Melodia, founder of Milk not Jails, and hear more about the “brilliance of mobilizing people with the idea that you can change the prison system by eating more ice cream.” Also meet Mark of Brooklyn Republic Vodka and learn about his family owned distillery right around the corner in the Wallabout neighborhood.

Buy your ticket today!

At all events, you’ll taste each chefs local flavors, meet some of their regional producers & support two local farm education programs that bring farming education and nutrition awareness to Fort Greene & Clinton Hill youth – City Growers & PS 20 Farms!

LuLu & Po – 154 Carlton
June 11th – 6-9PM
Featuring Anthony Nappa Wines, Brooklyn Grange & Feather Ridge Farm

Putnam’s Pub & Cooker – 419 Myrtle
June 18th – 5-7 PM
Featuring Hudson Valley Harvest, Stinky Bklyn , and local beer and spirits.

Buy your tickets today!

Join the Greene Hill Food Co-op on Saturday for a Backyard Party

This free, casual party will be a bring-your-own-lawn-chair (or blanket) hangout — a great way to meet Co-op members, learn how to become a member and enjoy some fresh air and fresh ingredients. It’s a potluck so bring a food item to share. Beer and wine for sale — cash bar.

Where: 18 Putnam Ave, 11238
When: Saturday, June 1, 2013
Time: noon-4PM

For more info / to help email: events@greenehillfood.coop

Colin Devlin to open Myrtle restaurant in July

Award-winning restaurateur, Colin Devlin is opening a new dining establishment at 458 Myrtle between Washington and Waverly, at the site of the former Anima Italian Bistro.

Colin is owner of popular restaurants, DuMont, DuMont Burger and Michelin-rated Dressler. The new restaurant will offer delicious “American fare” in a casual environment.

The yet unnamed restaurant (Colin says it won’t start with a ‘D’) is expected to open in July.

MARP Receives Award for Historic Preservation Work

The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC (MARP) was honored this past week by the Historic Districts Council (HDC) with a 2013 Grassroots Preservation Award. Each year, HDC grants awards to organizations and individuals “who have worked tirelessly for their neighborhoods and communities, and have strove to better our city through their efforts.” Over the years, MARP has been involved in several local preservation projects, including the advocating for several historic districts in Wallabout, producing the Wallabout Homeowner’s Preservation Manual , and providing grants through the New York Main Street program to property owners on Myrtle Avenue to rehab their historic buildings. We are proud of these past successes and are excited to continue to use historic preservation as an important tool in revitalizing the neighborhood.

Thank you HDC for the award and congratulations to all of this year’s award winners! Please visit HDC’s website to learn more about the impressive organizations and individuals who also received awards.

MARP’s preservation efforts were also honored this past December with a NY State Historic Preservation Award from the New York State Historic Preservation Office at their annual meeting in Albany.

Myrtle Avenue is now on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Hey neighbors! Are you following us on Twitter and Instagram? Do you like us on Facebook? We’d love to connect with you to share the latest Myrtle Avenue and other local news! Help us spread the word–tell your friends and family.

We’ve got something special brewing for our 1000th Facebook follower: two tickets to one of the #farm2nabe food events (if we reach 1000 in time for any these June events) OR a gift certificate to a Myrtle Avenue business.

Here’s how you can win: like us on Facebook AND also become a follower on Twitter, Instagram, or both!

Thank you, we look forward to connecting with you!

Buy Your Farm To Neighborhood Event & Fundraiser Tickets Today!

DINE, SUPPORT & MINGLE locally at three of our #farm2nabe restaurants in June: Maggie Brown, LuLu & Po & Putnam’s Pub & Cooker!

Come to an event, or even better all three!, and taste each chefs local flavors, meet some of their regional producers & support two local farm education programs that bring farming education and nutrition awareness to Fort Greene & Clinton Hill youth – City Growers & PS 20 Farms!

The first event is coming up – Tuesday, June 4th 5-7PM at Maggie Brown– 455 Myrtle – featuring house-made ricotta on salted toasts made with milk from a Milk Not Jails dairy farmer, a Moscow Mule cocktail with Brooklyn Republic Vodka and more delish menu items that are sure to become a favorite of all foodies! While tasting and sipping you’ll get the opportunity to meet Lauren Melodia, founder of Milk not Jails, and hear more about the “brilliance of mobilizing people with the idea that you can change the prison system by eating more ice cream.” Also meet Mark of Brooklyn Republic Vodka and learn about his family owned distillery right around the corner in the Wallabout neighborhood.

Buy your ticket today!

After the Maggie Brown event join us at the following:

LuLu & Po – 154 Carlton
June 11th – 6-9PM
Featuring Anthony Nappa Wines, Brooklyn Grange & Feather Ridge Farm

Putnam’s Pub & Cooker – 419 Myrtle
June 18th – 5-7 PM
Featuring Hudson Valley Harvest, Stinky Bklyn , and local beer and spirits.

Buy your tickets today!

New Home for Pratt’s Film and Video Program: PrattSTORE to close

Pratt announced last week that the PrattSTORE, the Institute’s 15,000sf art supply store located at 550 Myrtle Avenue between Steuben and Emerson, will soon be the new home ofthe school’s Film/Video Program, complete with screening room, sound stages, recording studio and mixing rooms, according to Jacki Ochs, chair of Pratt’s Film/Video program.

The PrattSTORE will close on June 30th. The building is expected to undergo a major overhaul before the Film and Video Program opens at the site in 2014.

Here is more of the story from DNA Info.

Prince Street Spruce Up on Sunday, 5/26!

The Ingersoll Youth Alliance (of the Ingersoll Tenants’ Association) is sprucing up Prince Street between Myrtle and Tillary on Sunday, 5/26 from 12noon to 4:00pm! The spruce up will include painting, loads of plantings, food, music and fun. All hands on deck!

Please come out and join in the fun! Volunteers are welcome!

Storyboard P at Whitman Houses on Sunday, 5/26!

Storyboard P, dancer known for his broad knowledge in both underground/urban dance styles and contemporary movement will perform at the Whitman Houses Basketball Courts (Park and Cumberland) on Sunday, 5/26 at 2pm.

Storyboard P, who earned the name ‘storyboard’ while in film school because of his masterful skill of storytelling on paper and later as a dancer, through his body movements, is said to have one of the more unique dance styles out there, seeming to even defy the physics of balance and gravity.

Check him out in his work with Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Kanye West, Fab 5 Freddy and many others.

The performance is part of MoCADA’s public exchange series and also includes musical performances by IAMPOPULA, MosRuf and DJ Ason James.

photo credit: MoCADA

Bardos Ballet Debuts ‘Burrow’ in Fort Greene Park, Fri., 5/24 at 7pm

It makes perfect that the daughter of a famous set designer (her dad) and a ballerina (her mom) would produce a work that seeks to merge dance with the environment, in this case the environment is Fort Greene Park. Such is the case for dancer, choreographer and director of the Bardos Ballet Theater, Anne Stanley who collaborates with architect, Maria Sieira on this latest piece, ‘Burrow.’

The ballet performance is free to the public, begins at 7pm and take place in Fort Greene Park at the stairs of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument.

In Burrow, 12 women emerge from a mirage of World War II era styles, music and sounds. Watch the dancers construct, inhabit, & disassemble dwellings both primal & domestic. Burrow is an exciting new work that explores the role of women as architects of society while honoring those that waited on the home front during WWII. The work itself is inspired in large part by Stanleys grandmothers, who passed away within a week of one another, activities of daily life as well as burrowing animals, hence the piece’s name.

Burrow debuts in a series of free dance sneak-attacks in select NYC parks, the second of which takes place tomorrow, Friday, 5/24 in Fort Greene Park. Feel free to being a picnic blanket or a chair. Connect with the Bardos Ballet Theater on Facebook for additional information or any last minute venue changes due to weather conditions.

Hope to see you on Myrtle for pre- or post- performance dinner or drinks!

Get ready, get ready! All you can eat crab at Five Spot Soul Food!

All you can eat crab coming soon to Five Spot Soul Food and Supper Club! This all you can eat crab fiesta will take place on Mondays, 4pm-until.

Stop in and check out Five Spot’s other delicious menu offerings as well as their full entertainment schedule.

Five Spot is located at 459 Myrtle Avenue and can be reached at: 718.852.0202.

Joseph Tyler Salon offers neighborhood special: 15% off haircuts!

Here’s one just in time for summer, yes!

Hey neighbors: Joseph Tyler Salon now offers 15% off haircuts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!

Whether you are in the mood for a brand new summer cut or whether it’s just time for a cut, stop by Joseph Tyler and take advantage of this special they offer to the neighborhood!

Please call for an appointment at 718.802.9200. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Joseph Tyler Salon is located at 456 Myrtle Avenue (Washington/Waverly) and can be reached at 718.802.9200.